Long timetables, unexpected events, and sudden circumstances can throw figurative wrenches into the work of construction projects. No wonder delay happens more often. Natural disasters aside, most construction delays happen because of inadequate planning. If you start with a robust construction schedule, you can lessen the impact of common construction delay factors, such as weather, contract dispute, or material shipping delay.
In the construction industry planning and timing are critical to any project, but when it comes to the construction project scheduling the groundwork laid in the planning phase can make or break you. Over 40% of construction workers say scheduling errors interrupt their workflow daily.
A comprehensive construction schedule combines important project scope, timeline, and budget details into a plan of action from resource allocation to onsite risk management. Most importantly it impacts your bottom line and so requires the right planning. This is where construction scheduling software for complex projects.
Scheduling software plays a crucial role in keeping your work on track. Construction scheduling software can significantly improve information sharing, efficiency, quality, and financial aspects.
This article will help you to understand how this scheduling software can help to improve the construction process, how overall it will affect your business and how you can choose the best scheduling software available.
What is construction scheduling software?
Construction scheduling software is stand-alone software or an integrated feature in construction management software. It focuses on helping users create an execution plan with identified tasks, start and finish dates, resources, dominions, and milestones. Construction scheduling software provides both access to office and on-site users for effective communication, avoiding missing deadlines, conflicting work schedules, and increased budgets.
Though the traditional approach has both weaknesses and strengths, they all share one fatal flaw: the construction schedule is created on a single variable. On complex construction projects, where delivery hinges on the timely completion of thousands of interdependent project tasks, this is a wrong approach.
Advantages of construction scheduling software
Now that we have an understanding of the construction process we will now look at the benefits that construction scheduling software can provide and how it can help to improve the processes. Here are just a few of the ways that this scheduling software can benefit your business:
- More precise plans for execution
- Higher quality
- Quick schedule updating if condition changes
- Reduce the risk of unexpected events
- Higher efficiency
- Greater accountability
- Streamlined process
- Quicker completion
- Cost savings
- Increased customer satisfaction.
The main focus of construction scheduling software is a project timeline; however, it can also create a variety of other project benefits by encouraging discipline and promoting information sharing.
Which construction scheduling software do you need?
The construction schedule is the backbone of any successful project. Engaging in timely and accurate construction scheduling rewards everyone you, your company, employees, clients, and contractors you work with. Scheduling may be a time-consuming process, but with the proper construction scheduling software, you will be able to create the most accurate schedule. The main goal is to find the sweet spot between complexity and cost. You want to choose affordable yet sophisticated enough to meet your needs.
To kick off this process you must first determine how complex your project scheduling needs are. The larger and the more complex a project, the more likely you will need mobile access, multi-user functionality, and the ability to schedule a large number of projects.
A complex project requires a lot of subcontractors, so your scheduling software must have a feature to create an individual schedule for everyone. Large commercial projects may also require construction scheduling software that offers a performance tracking reporting function so that project owners can keep a note of cost and scheduling performance.
Lastly, if you deal with multiple projects at once, you just want to be able to handle them in a single view. Ultimately you need to be aware of your requirement and look for construction scheduling software or scheduling software that meets as many of those requirements as possible.
Construction scheduling software consideration
There are many construction scheduling software and the factors that you need to consider:
- Cloud-Based
For the majority of construction schedulers, cloud-based software offers ease to access since users can access the schedule from any location. The solutions are mainly designed to support multiple users, which makes coordination and collaboration much smoother.
- Security
Security is probably one of the most significant factors that you will take into consideration when trying to find construction scheduling software. Of course, scheduling information would be a major concern, but also think about how other information might be compromised.
- Cost
Last but certainly not least. You must take into consideration the price of the software. The price of the construction scheduling software is determined by its functionality, but the cost can also reflect things such as what kind of customer service the vendor offers, how many account users you will need, and also how the system is deployed.
Best Construction Scheduling Software
eRS is a cloud-based resource scheduling software, which means it can be used by anyone and anywhere, which is of course a benefit to construction scheduling, where work occurs on-site and among multiple teams.
Along with this, the suite of tools featured offers a means to control every aspect of the construction planning, from task organizing, cost, and resources to linking tasks and setting up the milestones to breaking the complex schedules into smaller bits.
4D BIM construction is important for the construction projects either big or small, new construction or a re-build for the successful BIM progression. Each and every stage of 4D construction scheduling that utilize manpower management, materials, machinery, and other activities require effective planning and scheduling of other construction activities.
