Traveling is a transformative experience that broadens horizons, ignites wanderlust, and allows us to explore new cultures and destinations. However, amidst the excitement and adventure, there's an inevitable aspect of travel that we all encounter : waiting. Waiting for the plane to arrive, the train to depart, transit waiting, waiting for security checks, en route waiting in traffic jams, waiting for the food to be served or waiting until family is ready to hop to the beach. I am sure all of you have experienced this during your vacation. Situations like these tests our patience, adaptability, and hopefully you have found a way to make the most of every moment of your journey. I am trying to transform what might seem like downtime into valuable moments of discovery and self-reflection, enriching my travel experience, digitally detox, let my mind flow or just have another beer 😉 watching others, how they are managing the challenge.
The world of construction is, like the world of travelling, a dynamic landscape where collaboration and communication are paramount. Very often you need to expect the unexpected and there is obviously a need for information, that is lacking to handle it. Contractors do that with tons of so called RFIs. Requests for Information (RFIs) play a crucial role in clarifying design details, specifications, and other critical elements during a construction project. However, the waiting period for RFI responses can sometimes challenge project timelines and stakeholders' patience. There are statistics, that the average response is 9.7 days - if a response is even given. Usually, if a GC is unable to provide satisfactory or timely information, the subcontractor forwards the RFI to the architect or engineer responsible for the project design, which can then stall jobsite work even further until the information becomes available. Wasteful processes are a significant pain point in the construction industry, causing businesses to lose millions of dollars annually. On average, there are 9.9 RFIs for each $1M of construction project value from a sample of projects ranging from $5M to $5B, costing a typical large-scale construction project almost $900,000 in RFI processing costs.
Technology, including Workflow Automation, Document Management Systems, Data Analytics, Integration of Project Management Software, Mobile Frontends, etc undeniably helps streamline the workflow, but RFIs are still a wasteful process that we’re better off working to eliminate. In short, project team members on a jobsite should already have access to all the information they need immediately at their fingertips and have a collaborative digital process to eliminate those RFIs that need quick clarification or confirmation.
Think about these two components for a minute!
Connecting the job site and turn it into a smart site and a common data environment (CDE), which is critical to connecting data, workflows, and teams, starting in the earliest phases of planning and design all the way through handover and into operations.
I hope that sounds familiar to most your and can be adressed with two products in our store:
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By eliminating and not just automating wasteful processes – by getting rid of the very need for most RFIs – we pave the way for wider profit margins, resulting in more resilient companies and a more sustainable construction industry.
Please share your little secrets, how you are navigating the art of WAITING
Good things come to those who wait
