New Survey Shows That Mobile Tools Boost Jobsite Productivity
Mobile technology and tools are becoming an increasingly ubiquitous part of society, extending beyond personal convenience to important business uses. Construction is no exception, with mobile tools serving as a critical link between jobsites and the main office.
The important research reviewed below demonstrates a prolific application of mobile tools today, with 93% of a representative sample of general contractors and subcontractors using some sort of mobile device on their construction sites. The industry is already reporting productivity benefits from these tools, including enhanced communication and help with key job functions such as project management and document sharing. The findings show benefits as well as drivers and challenges to future mobile tool investment critical to tracking this important trend. It can help GCs and subcontractors understand each other's use of tools, find ways to increase productivity and help technology companies and tool providers understand industry needs.
Contractors Report Widespread Use of Mobile Devices
McGraw-Hill Construction's Industry Insights group conducted an exclusive study for ENR in August 2012, asking contractors how they use mobile devices on the job. The results validate the study's premise: that mobile devices are now widely utilized on construction sites. However, the rate is surprisingly high. Respondents, who are mostly in leadership or management positions, report that 97% of GCs employ some kind of mobile device on site compared to 87% of subcontractors. However, subs are still adopting: 91% expect to have mobile technologies on site by 2015, while the GC adoption rate is the same.
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| Bernstein |
Adoption of mobile devices is not only widespread but also intensive: nearly two thirds (65%) of firms report using them on more than 75% of their jobsites, with 75% of GCs at this level compared to 50% of subs.
Again, while the intensity of GC use grows slightly over the next three years, subcontractors expect to see significantly higher penetration. Those who expect to use mobile devices on only a quarter of their projects or less drops by two thirds, from 18% to 6%, while those who expect to use these devices on more than half of their projects or more grow from 60% to 75%.
The different level of adoption can affect the full value of these devices for improving productivity on site. Interactions between GCs and subcontractors on site cannot be facilitated if fewer subcontractors have access to mobile equipment. In fact, in response to an open question about key improvements needed to allow mobile devices to improve productivity on site, several contractors—instead of voicing a wish for specific technological or software advances—stated that more use by subcontractors is essential. This disparity becomes even more apparent when examining the specific technologies used by GCs and subcontractors.
A large percentage of firms—86%—allow employees to bring their own personal devices to the jobsite, with the same percentages reported by GCs and subcontractors. Reasons for this split into two categories:
• 60% report the devices are being used for work purposes. Benefits cited include increased productivity at no cost to the firm and greater familiarity by workers with their own devices.
• 40% say the devices are being used purely for personal communication purposes.
Firms that do not allow personal devices on site are concerned that employees would be distracted from their jobs. Other factors include concerns about data security, control of the devices, maintenance issues not compatible with company policy, and safety considerations.
Mobile Technologies Used on Construction Sites: Tablets vs. Other Handheld Devices
Tablets and Smart Phones
At this point, smart phones/iPhones are the most widely used technologies—50% of all contractors report using an iPhone and 59% report using other kinds of smart phones on projects. However, the future trend is toward tablet use, with the percentage of those using tablets expected to nearly double in three years. Right now, the iPad is expected to be a far more dominant technology among tablets than the iPhone is among phones. In fact, the percentage that expect to be using an iPad within three years is the same as those expecting to use an iPhone and only slightly less than those expecting to use other smart phones.
This trend is especially marked among larger GCs (those with 2011 project values exceeding $10 million)—62% expect to use iPads by 2015 and 32% expect to use other brands of tablets, significantly higher than the average. It is clear that the trend definitely favors tablet use, with iPad as the tablet of choice.
The trend toward favoring Apple products is particularly notable with subcontractors. For example, their use of iPhones is nearly identical to GCs'. And although their tablet use is generally lower than the GCs', 23% of them use iPads while only 6% use other tablets, a far greater differential than among the GCs.
The iPhone's share of smart-phone use on construction sites is much higher than its overall share of the U.S. smart phone market, which comScore, a Reston, Va.-headquartered digital marketing and sales firm, listed at 31% in the first quarter of 2012. However, this runs counter to subcontractors citing affordability as the largest challenge to adoption of mobile tools.
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| Russo |
The fact that subcontractors are willing to cover the premium cost of many Apple products may suggest that their functionality suits the industry, that more construction-related apps are available on these devices or that subs are trying to align devices with GCs.
Other Technologies
Nearly a quarter of all respondents report using GPS and handheld devices, and these are nearly evenly split between GCs and subcontractors. By 2015, however, subcontractors expect a significantly higher use of GPS. Concerns about affordability and the lower investments of subcontractors than GCs in other technologies that may include GPS functionality may account for this finding.
Use of handheld devices, on the other hand, will see small but consistent growth by GCs and subcontractors. One factor that may be encouraging steady growth in these markets despite the wider functionality and growing use of tablets could be the perception that they are more durable than tablets. Durability is another factor noted by many contractors as the most necessary improvement to boost productivity through the use of mobile devices. As one respondent says, "[We need] something that is more rugged and can handle work areas. We create a lot of dust."
How Mobile Devices Improve Jobsite Productivity
More than 70% of the contractors chose eight out of 11 tasks in which mobile tools allow them to increase productivity on site, demonstrating that these tools provide a wide range of benefits. When asked to select the one task for which the tools have the greatest impact on productivity, respondents chose a wide range of tasks—demonstrating the variety of ways mobile tools can help increase productivity.
The three top areas are communication and problem solving; collaboration and document sharing; and managing work force, scheduling and tracking work conducted on site.
Communication and Problem Solving
Given the current primacy of smart phones, it is not surprising that communication tasks are the most important ways in which these tools improve jobsite productivity. Subcontractors in particular find communication with the main office to be a primary benefit, with a fifth of them noting this as the most important impact on productivity compared to fewer GCs citing that as a benefit.
The importance of communication is reinforced by other findings in the survey: When asked an open question about why firms allow employees to use their own mobile devices on site, their usefulness for communication was the most common factor cited by all types of respondents.
The main tools that most firms identify as improving productivity are the cameras included in these devices, with 84% of GCs and 77% of subcontractors saying that cameras help improve their productivity.
In fact, 31% of the subcontractors and 29% of GCs consider cameras the most important tool for improving productivity; for subcontractors, cameras are by far the most important tool, with no other tool selected by more than 20%. The ability to deliver immediate photographs of site conditions to others in the organization clearly carries weight.
With growing emphasis on integrated project delivery and shorter design schedules to reduce cost, collaboration and document sharing are becoming increasingly important to GCs.
Sharing project documents and ongoing revisions is considered critical by roughly the same percentage of GCs and subcontractors—with more than a tenth of them selecting it as most important. However, the overall pool that selected using these tools for document sharing is much smaller—61% of GCs already use document-sharing software or apps compared to 40% of subcontractors.
The need to have better document-sharing tools is also noted by several respondents in an open question about the most important improvement needed to help mobile devices boost productivity. One firm seeks "real-time digital plans stored in the cloud and all updated simultaneously so that plans can be changed without everyone working off a different set."
Collaboration
Collaboration ranks as the second most important overall use of mobile tools for GCs, at 12%, twice as many as for subcontractors. However, it is notable that the percentage of GCs rating this as most important is skewed by the strong emphasis that GCs working in the West place on this task—21% of GCs there report collaboration as their biggest use of mobile tools compared to only 3% in the other regions.
Therefore, other than in the West, the results of GCs versus subcontractors on this point are comparable. The result is striking, given that use of mobile tools overall, including their specific use for collaboration, does not differ by region. This may suggest something unique in the West that lends itself to collaborative uses there, making it more important.
Given their importance to collaboration and document sharing, it is notable how few firms cite building information modeling or 3D CAD drawings as tools they use on their mobile devices to increase productivity—making it not even important enough to be included on the chart. This finding may suggest that today's mobile tools, with their relatively small screens and limited functionality, are not sufficient to take advantage of more complex design tools. It could also suggest that there currently are not apps capable of providing enough virtual design value.
Managing the Jobsite Work Force, Scheduling and Tracking Projects
The other major set of tasks for which mobile tools impact productivity revolves around managing work force, scheduling and tracking the progress of work in the field. Managing the work force is a particular priority among subcontractors, who reported this task as more than four times more important than GCs.
The use of project management software or apps is nearly equivalent between GCs and subcontractors, as is their impact on improving productivity for them. Among those using project management software on their mobile devices, about one quarter consider it the most important tool for impacting project productivity, a higher share than all other tools except cameras and project document-sharing software and apps. Clearly, more apps will improve efficiency on the jobsite, similar to how they do today in offices.
Obstacles That Limit Investment in Mobile Tools
The obstacles noted by GCs and subcontractors reflect their overall adoption status, with GCs challenged more by the implementation of useful software compared to subcontractors reporting more concerns directly related to the hardware.
General Contractors
GCs are stymied by software and usage barriers that prevent devices from contributing effectively to improved productivity. Their top concern is the lack of adoption of these technologies by other firms on the project team. Combined with the earlier findings on the greater prevalence of use by GCs of project document sharing than subcontractors, the survey results reveal that a significant pain point for GCs is the ability to interact with other companies. Their second most important factor is the lack of interoperability with existing hardware and software, which limits usefulness of the devices.
The only significant difference in usage concerns between larger and smaller GCs is related to privacy and security—33% of larger firms report this concern compared to only 21% of smaller ones. The greater risks to larger firms likely drives this result.
Subcontractors
The top obstacle limiting or preventing subcontractor investment in mobile devices is their cost. This finding appears to be at odds with their practice of using premium Apple products more frequently than the offerings of Apple's competitors, which often offer lower prices.
The second factor, wireless network access, is one related directly to the use of the device itself rather than the software it runs.
Finally, lack of interoperability is a major problem for subcontractors as well, as it is for the general contractors. All of the other software issues were selected by far fewer subcontractors as a significant obstacle to investment.
Intensive Users of Mobile Devices
There are some notable differences between firms using mobile devices on nearly all of their projects (75% or more) compared to less intensive users. Across the board, they cite more obstacles overall, suggesting that their sophistication may make them more demanding with regard to future investments.
Factors Impacting Contractors' Investment in Mobile Tools
The ability to share project documents is a major factor in GC and subcontractor investment in mobile tools, both in the investments they have already made and in investments they intend to make in the future. Other consistently important features vary between GCs and subcontractors.
GC Investment Priorities
Affordability of devices and ability to work collaboratively remain consistently important to GCs, both in technologies where they've already made investments and in the technology investments they will make over the next three years. Notably, over half of GCs report communication drove their choices to invest in the past, yet it drops to 33% this year (see chart), which suggests that current technologies may be meeting this need.
Four factors emerge that increase in importance in driving GCs to invest in mobile tools: good project management capabilities, an ability to tap into cloud-based software, interoperability with existing hardware and software, and more construction-related apps. Clearly, for GCs, the next major frontier is the availability of useful software.
As might be expected, smaller GCs mention affordability more often than larger GCs (50% versus 35% respectively) as a driver to mobile tool investments—mimicking the percentage of subcontractors reporting cost as a priority.
Subcontractor Investment Priorities
Affordability had the largest percentage increase of subcontractors who consider it a high priority for their future mobile device investments. Many in the industry believe that subcontractors have struggled significantly with the impact of the recession on the construction industry, and affordability may be critical for them to consider making investments in the next few years.
Good scheduling and project management software also is considered important by nearly a third of subcontractors for their future investments.
Looking Forward: More Benefits Ahead
This research confirms that mobile tools are becoming standard on construction sites. In fact, 97% expect to be using them on sites in just three years. No longer are mobile tools being used only by firms with significant resources. They are also adding significant productivity benefits, with over 70% of contractors finding that these tools help them to do better at tasks like addressing site problems, sharing project documents and increasing collaboration. However, there are a multitude of factors cited as benefits to their use, and many reasons behind future investment, suggesting the industry remains fragmented in how it uses these tools, and therefore not realizing the full benefit they may bring to the construction process. But the gains to the industry could be significant and lead to lower project costs, fewer revisions and faster project completion.
