Organized chaos. That’s how most general contractors (GCs) would describe the coordination of material deliveries on a busy jobsite.
Any project team that has used whiteboards, Outlook calendars, or spreadsheets knows from experience that these approaches often hit a roadblock, eventually due to insufficient adoption.
The lack of delivery visibility across drivers, trades and site staff can result in not knowing what deliveries will show up on site every day. Meanwhile, Superintendents spend several hours a week managing delivery conflicts, taking away from their ability to focus on other project activities.
Evaluating jobsite technologies through a data-centric lens
The above scenario is so common that some construction professionals believe that the complexity of coordinating deliveries is “impossible to fix” with “so many people trying to do so many things at once.
However, GCs like Axiom Builders, a residential and commercial construction company with over 12 million square feet under construction in Canada and the U.S., have approached the problem from a technology and data-centric perspective.
They conducted a pilot project to quantitatively evaluate the delivery management system (DMS) of StruxHub. This system offers GCs a platform for their trade partners to self-book deliveries and resources while avoiding logistical conflicts.
To objectively measure the impact of the DMS, Axiom Builders set up an experiment in which they tested StruxHub’s DMS on two high-rise towers and compared its performance to that of a similarly sized, three-tower control site. In both projects, Axiom Builders assigned a Delivery Coordinator to track the number of deliveries and coordination time. In parallel, they set up feedback sessions with the project teams and qualitative interviews with trade users.
An 83% reduction in coordination time
The study’s main conclusion is that a DMS significantly reduces the resources required to manage deliveries for the entire site team.
Results showed that the pilot and control project coordination times per delivery were 3.3 and 19.3 minutes, respectively. The StruxHub DMS effectively reduced the coordination time by an impressive 83%.
Moreover, with StruxHub’s DMS, Site Superintendents on the pilot project reported that they were essentially spending zero time on deliveries, compared to the 2–3 hours per week they generally spent on scheduling and mitigating conflicts.
One Superintendent noted, “It is so much simpler to manage when everyone is on the same page. The great thing is that the DMS allows Supers to stay in the building and focus on construction.”
Enhanced accountability and profitability of trade partners
Feedback from the trades was equally positive.
A foreman of a mechanical trade noted, “Now, as long as I have my delivery booked in the system, I know I’m not going to be bumped by other trades. This adds predictability to my business and saves me real dollars.
The GC project team also noted the quick adoption and impact of the DMS. In only several weeks after implementation, site teams were transformed into regular StruxHub users who pre-booked all deliveries in the system. This has resulted in greater accountability between trade partners and fewer conflicts and delays.
Immediate 400% ROI + strategic long-term value
Regarding financial savings, Axiom Builders estimates up to a 400% return on investment (ROI) from direct time savings related to the reduced coordination time alone.
Axiom Builders also sees long-term strategic benefits.
For example, they believe that implementing field technologies like StruxHub’s DMS, which improves the efficacy of trades on-site, will help attract the most reliable trade partners for future projects.
Doing more with less
The pilot study’s initial success with a single Delivery Coordinator managing two high-rise towers has encouraged Axiom Builders to extend its pilot study by adding a third tower to the coordinator’s scope of work.
As StruxHub’s DMS system enables remote site management, Axiom Builders believes it can leverage technology for greater site efficiency with the same level of project resources.
How can you get started with a DMS and other jobsite technologies?
As we’ve seen with Axiom Builders’ approach, an effective way to evaluate new jobsite technologies is to set up a controlled experiment on a project and then measure the results.
Companies like StruxHub can accompany you on that journey. Learn more about StruxHub’s DMS and its broader construction management platform.
