5 Softwares You Need For Construction Industry

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Nowadays, we’re encountering an ever-growing dependency of the construction industry on the evolving technological trends. On the one hand, some methods (like scaffolding) haven’t changed for several millennia, then again, every contractor, even a construction worker has a smartphone on them. In fact, some brands are even specializing in smartphones for a construction site, that is resistant to both water and impact. Nonetheless, these tools are completely useless unless you know how to use them in a proper way. That being said, there are several tools that your construction company could greatly benefit from on nearly every level.

Cost comparison software

The first thing you need to do is a software that will allow you to compare the prices of both equipment and materials. This will play a major impact on your overhead, as well as the efficiency of your work. The reason why you need a software backed by a database instead of just checking manually before every project is because the latter method is not very efficient.

Instead of relying on your repeated surveys of the market, you should be notified whenever there are better terms somewhere. The automation is also quite important, seeing as how the conditions of the market change by the minute. Here, you can go with Electrical Estimating Software developed by McCormick Systems. The reason why this platform might be ideal for beginners is due to the fact that it uses other pricing services in order to update its own database.

Building information modeling (BIM)

In the digital world, you have the privilege of building a digital representation of the place long before you start laying the foundation. This is important not just because you get a more accurate visual presentation but because you get to “test” physical and functional characteristics of the place in a safe environment. In this way, if anything seems off, you don’t have to make expensive corrections, waste materials or put the lives of others in danger.

To you as a contractor, gaining an insight into every single stage of the building design might end up being a game-changer. Nevertheless, since this particular tool may have a tad steeper learning curve, you should definitely go with a software that offers an outstanding Autodesk helpline. Needless to say, this will help you master the trend in question much faster and enable you to use it to the full extent of your abilities much sooner.

Downloadable guides

Self-improvement and self-education are cornerstones of success, regardless of your industry. In the construction industry, this goes double fold. Not only does the value of the property shift with each passing hour but it also undergoes some substantial changes in the form of technology, trends and even government regulations. Fortunately, in 2018 a contractor doesn’t have to spend a fortune on books and magazine subscriptions when they can find all the downloadable guides they need online. This results in your ability to make more effective decisions, thus, providing more value for your business as a whole.

Exploring the VR

The next important thing that we need to take into consideration is the existence of the VR technology in the construction industry and its growing influence. The first major benefit that comes from this is the ability of the architect, the contractor and the client to see the construction before the work even begins.

The advantage of this over a standard projection lies in the fact that it’s easier for a client to visualize the building. This means that they can complain about anything they don’t like in advance, instead of forcing you to make adjustments later on. One of the tools you can use for this is the amazing IrisVR. With this tool on your side, along with a VR device (like HTC Vive or Oculus Rift), you can give your clients a preview experience of their lifetime.  

Project management

At the end of the day, we’ve already agreed on the idea that the majority of people at the construction site already have a smartphone. With that in mind, why not go a tad more creative and use a non-standardized industry tool in order to get a higher level of organization for your project. For instance, you can get a collaboration tool and assign each member of your team with tasks for each day. In fact, construction site managers could even upload their daily and weekly reports here so that you have all the data for analysis, later on.

In conclusion

Finally, it’s worth keeping in mind that software upgrades may not be enough on their own in the nearest future. We’ve all seen 3D printers capable of building an entire house in less than 20 hours and it’s only a matter of time before this becomes an industry standard. Still, for the time being, you would be surprised at just how big of a spike in productivity you can make by employing these five simple digital tools.

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