UP TO 80% OF ERRORS CAN BE REDUCED ON PLANS BY USING COLOR

Productivity In The Construction Business

Low productivity has been a constant drumbeat in the construction industry, raising costs and adding risk and waste across project lifecycles. Industry leaders are looking for ways to cut costs, increase productivity, and drive waste and risk out of their projects. Color printing has become an important component in projects because it can decrease human error rates. It has been proven that color documents are more easily understood and the information is retained at higher rates versus monochrome documents.

A 2015 survey* revealed that:

• 74% of construction professionals surveyed indicate that lagging productivity is a major challenge
• 48% believe that their firms have failed to come up with a coherent strategy to address this problem
• 32% cite poor communication and collaboration as one of the leading obstacles to partner-related productivity, underscoring the need for better partnership models between contractors, clients, and investors

Waste Is Costly
General industry estimates that between 10 and 30% of all building project costs can be attributed to wasted activities, such schedule overruns due to inaccurate coordination scheduling, wasted labor and management time, wasted materials, and unnecessary litigation. Studies suggest that between 70 and 90% of projects exceed the original planned cost, and the overrun commonly reaches between 50 and 100% of the budget. 21% of the time, poor exchange of information and communication causes errors at work.

Based on the U.S. Department of Commerce building estimates for 2009, a 10% waste factor is equal to approximately $94 billion.

The AEC Construction Workflow: Tasks and Priorities

Low-Productivity Consequences:

• Project Owner - A major concern is closing the project on time with no extra costs. Any delay in the project delivery is most likely to result in extra costs.
• Architect - Focused on transmitting attractive ideas and appealing designs when planning and designing. Providing misleading information can delay the entire project execution.
• General Contractor - A primary task is monitoring and controlling the implementation of the project. Any error when transmitting information can result in litigation, and additional costs and delays with the project owner.
• Subcontractor - Subcontractors are focused on delivering on requests as quickly and accurately as possible, minimizing errors, information errors can result in rework and time delays and penalties from the general contractor.

The Need To Differentiate
Public investment has declined since 2008 while competition has increased. With more competition in the market, it's more difficult to win bids. From the bidding process to delivering the final construction documents, improvement is needed in all areas to address the competitive environment.

Advantages Of Printing In Color
Color is effective. Color printing has become an important component in projects because it can decrease human error rates. It has been proven that color documents are more easily understood and the information is retained at higher rates versus monochrome documents. The use of color documents reduces errors and allows a team to easily understand the sections of a plan for which they are responsible.

During the bidding phase, color documents make a more professional impression than monochrome documents. Throughout the project, the use of color in documents can help keep the project on time and on budget.

• Better understanding when reading files with multiple lines for faster reading, more time efficiency
• Reduce human error when interpreting line drawings, save time and money
• Avoid manual stamp work for Certified/Stamped plots reducing delivery times
• Copy corrected mark-up files that could not be printed before for better communication

Questions? Learn how color printing can benefit your business! Contact Brent at [email protected], or at (704) 506-0447.

* Data references and the full article can be read in HP The Value Of Color PDH under Documentation.