Blog | Fohlio | Industry Tips for Architects and Interior Designers

How to Lower Costs and Build Better: Maximizing Construction Resources

Written by Madeleine Magsino | Feb 8, 2022 10:27:35 PM

Manage FF&E specification, procurement, and product data at scale. Take on bigger projects with confidence and grow your firm with  Fohlio. Schedule a demo or book a consultation with one of our account managers to explore these features today.

Top of mind for any construction business is always the goal of increasing revenue. We’re constantly looking for ways to increase value so we can charge more. But more often than not, we pay less attention to optimizing the resources we already have.

In other words: You may be underestimating the amount of money you’re leaving on the table by not being more efficient.

How to Lower Costs and Build Better: The Resources at Your Fingertips

During construction, you have four distinct resources at your disposal: human, technical, material, and monetary. Keeping in mind that our ultimate goal is to boost productivity and increase quality – more output with less input – let’s look at how we can manage these resources better.

Optimizing Labor/Human Capital

Having the right people on your team will definitely increase your chances of success. More so if you place them in an environment that encourages the integration of work and collaboration. The sure-fire way to encourage these values is through giving your team visibility into information. Having access to the correct information will give clarity to their work, help them make better decisions, and will let them move at a faster pace together. 

Read: 4 Ways to Make Your Process More Efficient (Upgrading Your Design and Construction Workflows, Part 3)

With Fohlio, you can have different members of the team collaborate under one software because of some collaborative features like this one.

 Under “people” you can choose who has access to the different types of information needed for the project. This way, every member of the team will have access to the same up-to-date information.

You can also customize the information you want your users to see. You can do this by simply clicking on the drop-down to customize the accessibility settings. 

Optimizing Technical Resources

These are the tools that you equip yourself with to be able to execute the design. Allocate your equipment in the right areas and according to the schedule. Managing these will assure you that no worker’s time is wasted and minimizes the time it takes to look for the equipment in large-scale projects.

 

Distribute and track your equipment usage and assignments with Fohlio. You can view what areas particular tools and equipment have been assigned to so it’s easier to locate and get work done on time. 

Optimizing Material Assets

Are you choosing the right materials? Do they meet the standards? Do they last? Do they enhance the functionality of the built environment that you want to produce? Are they within a reasonable budget? These are all the determinants for optimizing your material selection. Manage material data with your materials library. Organize all the information needed for the project and build a strong FF&E.

Read: How to Manage FF&E Specification and Procurement Costs: 11 Ways (Plus, an FFE Template That Will Save You Time)

Build your digital materials library. With Fohlio, you can create a strong FF&E for every project that has complete and precise details on each of the specifications you’ve chosen. Say goodbye to lack of information and human error. 

Optimizing Monetary Resources aka Better Construction Cost Estimating

Is the project still within the budget? Is the quality of your material specifications fair to the budget that has been set for the project? Which parts are going to waste and how much? These are all questions that we watch out for when taking care of the financials in a design project. 

Keep your financials on track with Fohlio’s budget tracker.

You can also click on “analysis>cost analysis” to get an even more in-depth view of how you’ve been managing your spendings.

Read: Automate Project Cost Estimation

Manage FF&E specification, procurement, and product data at scale. Take on bigger projects with confidence and grow your firm with  Fohlio. Schedule a demo or book a consultation with one of our account managers to explore these features today.