The continuous evolution of technology has led to many innovations and revolutions in the construction prefabrication industry, including the most talked-about one, i.e., Industry 4.0. In addition, the digitization era has brought many exciting changes for construction companies with cutting-edge connected shop management solutions. But many construction workflow issues still need to be resolved with technology intervention. The most common problems that construction fabricators and manufacturing industries are facing today include the following:
1. Lack of a Qualified Workforce
You need a qualified workforce for your organization to run at top efficiency. However, even if you have the most qualified people in your organization, there is always value in additional training and education to amplify productivity. This requires adequate training programs to be implemented so your employees can work more efficiently.
First, you need to identify the need for training programs for different departments to introduce the right training programs. Then, it will help if you have automated training to manage all your training-related tasks, including registration, enrollments, program creation, examination, performance evaluation, issuing certificates, etc.
Construction companies running fabrication shops should emphasize improving workforce competency to unleash the maximum potential from the available resources.
2. Lack of Safety Measures
Construction can be a hazardous industry at times. Therefore, contractors and manufacturers must comply with health and safety standards to avoid non-fatal injuries and illnesses. A significant part of these injuries is connected to contact with objects or equipment that can be preventable with greater training and procedures. Additionally, an off-site fabrication facility frees up space on the job site, resulting in a safer area.
Construction fabricators should have audit management software in place to know where they lack in terms of employees’ and customers’ safety and take the proper corrective measures to deal with the compliance and quality issues of the existing processes.
3. Lack of Awareness of Digital Transformation
Even though there has been a regular discussion about digital transformations in the construction and manufacturing industries, many trade contractors and manufacturers still need to utilize the latest technologies, such as IoT, AI, Cloud, etc., to maintain their competitive edge. Contractors need to pay close attention to the potential of such technologies for improved compliance, safety, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in production.
Fabricating construction firms should create a strategy wherein they have to define the systems and processes to collect, analyze, and manage the business-critical data in such a way that it improves their decision-making process.
Focusing on new and improved technologies will help fabricators stay innovative and proactive in addressing future business challenges.
4. Lack of Inventory and Supplier Quality Management
Though managing supplier quality and inventory is a common challenge for all fabricators, they cannot rely on traditional methods to track and manage supplier quality. Contractors must realize the importance of supplier quality management software for improved performance of their suppliers.
Timely supply of goods and components is crucial for fabricators, as this can hamper both the production cycles and brand reputation. However, once there is efficient management and tracking of supplier quality, manufacturers can streamline the other processes like inventory for the raw products, finished products, and the products that are still in production.
Make sure you manage your supplier quality right to keep your production quality high, which will help you maintain the quality and quantity of the deliverables.
5. Lack of Effective Tools for Risk Management
Managing risk is yet another essential aspect for the sustainability of any business, including fabrication. Effective risk management requires you to consider and evaluate different factors, which is time-consuming if executed manually. Next-generation shop management software is a smart move to identify potential risks and manage them.
Shop Management Software brings dual benefits for fabricators. First, they can identify the potential risks and manage the quality issues that have already occurred to prevent their recurrences. Second, it provides complete transparency through the entire fabrication shop workflow. It is indeed one of the most effective risk management tools for manufacturers.
A robust risk management strategy can drive continuous product and process quality improvement.
6. Lack of Appropriate Documentation
Documentation is one of the commonly ignored yet significant processes. Many construction firms and manufacturers still prefer paper-based documentation systems that hold them back in the digital transformation era. Even the ISO recommends the use of digitized documents and electronic signatures.
Construction fabricators must adopt an electronic document management software system to securely store, manage, and share digital documents. It’s time for construction firms with fabrication shops to eliminate the paper as much as possible.
Fabrication shop software can generate multiple documents such as Welder continuity log, Weld Tracking, BOL and Labels, and more.
7. Lack of Balance in Continual Improvement Efforts
Maintaining balance in continual improvement activities often requires fabricators and manufacturers to perform regular audits that help them to identify new improvement opportunities. An audit management system will help manufacturers establish a consistency of process and product improvements.
Audit software enables organizations to schedule audits and follow-ups in advance to avoid missing deadlines. So, fabricators can rely on audit management software for managing end-to-end audit processes without any hassles and strike a balance in continual improvement activities.
Continual Improvement and Regular Audits
What if all these challenges can be managed easily with a single solution? Yes, just one answer, and you are sorted. Invest in powerful fabrication shop productivity software to help you standardize, streamline, and support all your quality management processes.
Conclusion
Construction fabrication shops’ challenges bring to light the need for contractors to adopt new technology and solutions to remain competitive and profitable.
