6 Ways Information Technology Gives you a Competitive Advantage

Innovation plays a major role in leveling the playing field for small to medium businesses. We recently sat down with Jordan Howe, Construction Manager at Perteet, Harold Hall, Chief Inspector at Aguirre & Fields, and Roger Lee, Chief Information Officer at Aguirre and Fields to hear how construction technology has enabled their teams to deepen strategic relationships, win more work, and scale their businesses. Here are their top 6 takeaways from the CMAA webinar. You can also watch it on-demand here.


 

1. Improved Communication

It is well established that improved communication results in a higher quality of finished work and increased productivity. Better communication means their teams can easily and effectively convey project information and issues from a job site in real-time, saving time and money.

“Recently, we had a project where we had a long stretch of sewer pipe, which was supposed to be a relatively easy install in the existing location of an old pipe. It turned out that that old pipe was installed around many existing utilities. We were able to use photos taken with HeadLight to share with project stakeholders from an adjacent project and the designer to coordinate our redesign relatively quickly and to be able to facilitate the successful installation of that sewer main, which is was a really exciting really successfully just to get that thing done, because otherwise that pipe may never, never have been built.”

– Jordan Howe, Construction Manager for Perteet
2. Remote Connectivity

As a Chief Inspector, Harold is responsible for coordinating multiple projects, various sub-contractor firms, and dispersed teams. Fieldbook provides him with real-time project data in a clear and concise view, enabling him to view and act on that information to ensure the highest quality of work. Increasing the ability to coordinate business activities can unlock the ability to reach broader geographic territories.

“There’s a lot of activity going on and even if you’re out there riding around, you can only hit the high points. With HeadLight you can see it in real-time, you can catch mistakes, you can see if your guy needs help with documentation, and it just improves the day, really.”

– Harold Hall, Chief Inspector for Aguirre & Fields
3. More Insight

More data leads to better outcomes. Fieldbook allows teams to collect mission-critical information to make data-driven decisions. This data helps improve the collaborative efforts between designers, contractors, and project owners. Fieldbook’s dynamic search capabilities ensure the data is quickly accessible allowing teams to find project information within minutes- avoiding time spent digging through boxes of old paper reports. Questions can be resolved quickly and firms can effectively mitigate claims. In the end, the more you know, the better (and more protected) the project will be.

“It’s one thing to collect the data. But if you can’t find it, that’s not all that helpful.”

– Roger Lee, Chief Information Officer for Aguirre & Fields
4. Proof of Performance

The proof is in the… photo! Annotated images from the job site provide a clear source of truth from the field. All data is geotagged and timestamped automatically, so you know exactly where and when the photos, videos, and multimedia content originated. Use Fieldbook data to track what equipment has been used, when contractors are on-site, what work is being performed, or to show site conditions. HeadLight offers a visual source of truth that mitigates risk at each step of the construction process. After all, seeing is believing.

“HeadLight has been really useful in being able to quickly provide the one truth about what happened.”

– Jordan Howe, Construction Manager for Perteet
5. Immediate Impact

During various phases of a large construction project, like the I-30/ SH 360 project, it is expected that many different construction teams will be on-site at various points. HeadLight’s wealth of historical project data is laid out in an easy-to-view format, making it simple to bring new firms- or new employees- up to speed quickly.

“With a new employee, it may take 3-4 weeks learning the client’s software before they’re ready but with HeadLight, they immediately have the ability to document and get into the flow of things.”

– Harold Hall, Chief Inspector for Aguirre & Fields
6. Collaboration

The ideal construction project management software plays nice with others and includes the support to do so. HeadLight’s open data architecture allows customers to securely connect data sources between silos, reducing the potential for data errors and duplication. Aguirre & Fields field personnel can seamlessly submit their monthly estimates for contractor concurrence and project owner approval. HeadLight simplifies your data management: data is entered once and available to all your systems: you own it. Through APIs and technical help, HeadLight integrates with your existing systems.

 

Watch the webinar on-demand to hear how both firms were able to keep working and maintain accurate historical data in the face of cybersecurity breaches to their client’s software system.

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Fieldbook: Digital Data Capture Equips New Teams with Vital Information

Having a visual source of truth for all your organization’s data will provide both current leaders and incoming hires with the ability to capture, share, and act on this information straight from the field. Photos and imagery will level up your daily construction journal and allow your firm to successfully deliver complex infrastructure projects while reducing risk and improving project quality and timeliness.

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