Did you know that inefficiencies cost businesses 20 to 30 percent in revenue every year? If you are in the construction industry, this statistic may feel especially close to home. Most construction projects need a lot of time and effort to complete. But there are ways to speed up timelines without compromising on safety.

One of the best methods of boosting productivity in the construction industry involves using paperless software. In this post, we look at how you can increase efficiency by going paperless.

1. Recognize Your Paper Usage (and How it Limits Productivity)

Almost every industry depends on documentation of some kind. The general office is home to financial records, time cards or time sheets, contract agreements, customer profiles, and more. In today’s digital age, a lot of these documents are digital or stored in the cloud. But in industries that involve manual labor or work performed outside of an office, paper can play a larger role.

Start by recognizing the extent of your company’s paper usage. More importantly, how does this paper dependency hinder productivity? Take time cards, for example. Most construction crew members have to input their shift time on a daily basis to keep track of contractual hours. You may already have a digital system in place for this. Yet a lot of crews still use paper documentation when submitting time cards. The time it takes to submit a time card per employee and process them can turn into hours and even days over a given year!

The same goes for manual accounting services and any other paper-based task. Once you realize how a paper dependent office leads to more administrative hours, it’s easier to go paperless.

2. Replace Outdated Technologies

Take a look around your company: what outdated technologies can you replace today? For example, a lot of construction companies still use fax machines. While these may be useful in some cases, they can be time-consuming to use and clunky to operate. Fax machines also take up a lot of office space!

The benefit of using upgraded models extends beyond having a shiny new device. Newer software is likely to offer faster speeds of operation in general. This means less time spent with your IT guy and more time spent on a site.

3. Migrate to the Cloud When Possible

If you have those steel giants lurking in the corners of your office, it’s time to migrate their contents to the cloud. This may seem like a daunting task, but it’s not as hard as you may think. Going through your file cabinets and shredding unneeded documents is the first step to getting organized.

Set aside any valuable documents, those you will need to refer to in coming months. These include relevant tax documents, existing contracts, recent contracts, expense forms, and more. Generate digital copies of these documents by scanning and uploading them. Store all relevant documents in secure cloud-based storage. 

A lot of construction company owners are reluctant to do all this. However, think about how much less time it will take to access important documents. When stored as digital files in the cloud, documents are accessible with a couple of clicks. Physical files, however, require a lot of searching and rifling through folders. This takes up administrative time, especially if you lose documents and have to create new ones.

4. Send Digital Invoices

The construction industry depends on invoices. How else can you get paid for projects? Instead of sending out paper invoices and spending money on postage and packaging materials, go digital. This can save an extraordinary amount of time and money!

It’s easy and secure to send digital invoices through a variety of platforms such as Quickbooks. These platforms can also sync with your tax and other accounting programs.

5. Digitize Field Data and Employee Timecards

Now is the time to streamline the way your employees submit hours worked. Now is the time to digitize! With digitized time cards, employees can input shift hours in less than thirty seconds. What’s more, managers can review these hours in a matter of minutes.

This can improve payroll accuracy and give foremen more time on site and less spent on filling out tedious paperwork. Some programs also include mobile applications that enable the submission of field data and notes composed on the job. 

6. Use Paperless Software to Optimize Site Performance 

Foremen can also rely on paperless software to optimize crew performance at every job site! For example, with Rhumbix, managers can get a birds-eye view of sites at any given moment. They can identify who is on site, review key project notes, and even keep track of unit costs. Managers can also communicate with foremen to drive production and identify issues with project completion. The best part about this? No paper is necessary to accomplish these things. 

Using Paperless Software to Optimize Productivity

Don’t let extensive paperwork stand between you and your crew’s productivity. Use Rhumbix to boost efficiency in the office and on the field. Learn more about how this works here!