The entire industry is talking about digitalization and terms such as “IoT” or “artificial intelligence” are being used more frequently than ever before. And indeed, digitalization has contributed to a real growth spurt in the construction industry, benefiting companies, trades and clients alike.
Nevertheless, it is not easy for medium-sized or larger companies in particular to simply digitize their operations. Numerous processes have to be restructured without creating chaos. Employees need to be made aware of and trained in new tools and working methods. Both the appropriate infrastructure and the necessary financial resources must be raised and used wisely in order to successfully implement a digitalization strategy. The following questions and answers can help you to assess your personal situation and weigh up whether you are prepared for digitalization – or where there is still some catching up to do. These questions and answers are not intended to force you to make a decision, nor should they be seen as the measure of all things.
Is my company ready for a digitalization strategy?
- Are there already digitized processes in your company? If so, are these processes sufficiently digitized?
Nobody denies that computers and smartphones are now the helping hand in the office. However, many companies rely on semi-digitalized processes. When it comes to defect management or task recording, for example, limited solutions such as Excel or Outlook are often still used. Although they can cover many areas, they do not offer the necessary, industry-specific range of functions.
- Which processes must function for the core business when switching to digital solutions?
Processes and areas that need to run without downtime during the changeover to digital systems in order not to jeopardize sales need to be defined. You also need a strategic plan to ensure ongoing operations despite major conversions.
- What are the most important key figures?
Changes or new acquisitions must be supported by meaningful figures. If you have an overview of your current KPIs, you can better decide whether, where and how digital solutions can really be used in a targeted manner.
- What goals are to be achieved through digitization measures?
The goals of digitalization are defined differently in every company. Possible goals could be either increasing efficiency, saving costs, fulfilling and optimizing documentation obligations, more precise compliance with legal requirements or better customer and/or employee loyalty. Define your business objective and build on it.
- Who will be affected by the planned digitization measures?
Involving employees in the planning and implementation of the digitalization strategy will make the difference between success and failure. After all, your employees are the ones who have to work with the new systems on a daily basis. But trades or subcontractors are also affected by your decisions. Of course, you can’t please everyone, but you can find solutions that everyone can get along with. This not only strengthens the internal team spirit, but also the external image.
- Where and how is customer and employee data stored in accordance with the GDPR?
The GDPR stipulates strict rules for data protection. Therefore, a sophisticated data protection concept is also required here, which also influences the choice of software.
- How can the success of a company’s digitalization strategy be measured?
Establishing digitalization strategies costs a lot of time and money. To avoid simply deciding afterwards whether the strategy was successful or not based on gut feeling, you need core areas and data that provide a clear picture of whether the strategy was implemented well or poorly after implementation.
- What costs and expenses are involved in the acquisition, operation and maintenance of digital resources?
Software licenses, servers, hardware for use outside the office, workshops and ongoing support for the systems take up time and financial resources. Based on these individual areas, the costs can be estimated more precisely in advance – all the more important the more limited the financial resources are.
- How is the return on investment (ROI) defined and how quickly can it be predicted?
There is no doubt that you can save a lot of time on construction projects with digital tools. But when and how does it become profitable for you? Discuss these topics with experts and consultants so that you invest in the right areas and the right systems to increase profits later on through optimization.
- Do you as a company stand behind changes and communicate them?
The introduction of digital tools and the implementation of digitalization strategies must not only be preached to the outside world in order to look good in the industry. Change and modernization must also be lived by the entire company – with all the hurdles and successes.
It’s worth the effort – digitize today, profit tomorrow
All beginnings are difficult and with the increasing complexity of technologies and the legal situation, it takes a lot of time and patience to implement changes in the company in the direction of digitalization. Question all your existing processes openly and honestly and keep an eye out for optimization potential. Once you have found the potential and developed your own strategy, all that remains is to get started.
KENEXOS® offers a central, individually scalable application platform in the cloud for construction, real estate and asset management that can be used to digitize and automate numerous core processes. The KENEXOS® construction software enables easy connection to machines and systems, digitizes technical documentation, forms a central communication interface between employees, team leaders, subcontractors and trades and ensures that evaluations and daily reports are passed on to clients or supervisors in compliance with legal and data protection regulations.
About KENEXOS®
With Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH (KBS for short), Kreutzpointner is setting a significant milestone in the technical development of the entire group of companies. Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH focuses on the special requirements and digital needs of industrial customers with an independent business model. The operational launch took place in October 2020.
With KENEXOS®, KBS offers corporate customers an individually expandable application platform with its own software products and focuses on the implementation of industrial applications. KENEXOS® offers modern web technology for access via a wide range of end devices and enables integration with existing systems via an API interface. The standard modules include, for example, construction site documentation, task and ticket recording, plant management and maintenance and many more. The application platform is available for in-house installation (on-premise) or as a cloud solution (SaaS).
The ideas and the technical basis for Kreutzpointner Business Software GmbH have been successfully developed in recent years as part of the company-wide “Research & Development” process. In addition to the IT systems division, the new digital unit ideally rounds off Kreutzpointner’s large portfolio.
