5 ways APAC construction companies can benefit from content services
Think about how many documents exchange hands during a typical week in a construction project. From invoices to contracts and various licenses, the litigious nature of construction means accurate and timely management of documentation is essential to ensure a project runs smoothly.
Despite huge technological advancements in other areas of the industry, paper-based methods remain the norm when it comes to managing these documents. It’s not uncommon, for example, for project managers to have to travel back to head office on a designated day each week (usually Friday afternoon) to manually approve invoices.
Imagine being able to stay on-site and using a mobile device to access invoices at any time – eliminating the burden of waiting until Friday afternoon to get invoices approved and paid.
Just as building information modeling (BIM) and architectural software platforms relay design changes from the planning office to the construction site in real-time, a powerful content services platform does the same for your administrative and core business processes.
The top 5
Here are five ways a content services platform can benefit your construction company:
1. Time savings
The right platform acts as a primary repository for every document involved in day-to-day operations, eliminating the need to search through endless filing cabinets or systems for the document you need. Tailored solutions include tools such as a vendor portal where vendors can access plans, documents and project details that are relevant to their part of the build – significantly reducing the volume of vendor phone calls and emails.
2. Superior search
Not only must you securely store delivery records, contractor credentials, agreements and quotes, you also need to make them available 24/7 and easy to find at a moment’s notice. The first step is transitioning documents into a digital format, but a good content services platform can go a step further with intelligent capture – identifying each document and classifying it based on its particular disposition.
This allows you to search through document texts using keywords. Instead of static documents, data imported through intelligent capture can become a useful source of information for future decision-making.
3. Tracking
If you need a project’s current specifications at any point, the answer may largely depend on who you ask. Misalignments occur because stakeholders are using multiple products and processes to manage and share documents – with various entities approving multiple versions.
Without a robust content services platform, the risk of error grows each time a document moves between applications. However, an information hub that stores and indexes these documents, with user-based access to different data levels as appropriate, can eliminate these gaps in the workflow. This allows design and engineering staff to manage changes to plans, track records and specifications, and trace materials back to their sources – with a permanent revision history for each document, ensuring an audit trail for any changes made.
4. Best possible security
The security benefits of a content services platform are obvious; paper documents can go missing or be destroyed, while digital documents properly managed – especially in the cloud – are immune to loss, theft and natural disasters.
In large organisations, around 20 percent of paper records are misfiled on average – one in five documents go “missing”! Even if you store construction documents in perfectly indexed filing cabinets, a catastrophic event such as a fire or flood could destroy them – with zero chance of recovery.
To negate such risks to the business, look for a content services platform that offers the best possible security by allowing you to specify security levels and individual permissions. Users can only access the documents they need, and audit trails provide full visibility into any amendments, including who made them and when.
5. Improved compliance
As you know, construction is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world. Besides contracts between the owner, contractor and subcontractors, construction companies must keep meticulous records on the project’s daily operations. Safety regulations, building codes, insurance requirements, credit and background checks, contractor certifications and registrations, training manuals and zoning approvals are just some of the documents that you need to manage on a daily basis.
The right content services platform not only safely stores and categorises these documents, it makes accessing them easy – yet secure.
Easier information access, more-informed decisions
Investing in a scalable content services platform that enables company-wide efficiency ensures your organisation maintains a competitive advantage in the long run. With the right platform, you:
- Scale your platform and solutions across corporate and branch locations, while managing information in a central repository
- Promote faster inter-departmental processing, allowing staff to make better, more informed decisions
- Provide users with mobile access to information on their phones and tablets, allowing them to work on projects no matter the time or their location
