As we wrap up our short blog series on time management, time blocking, and time tracking, we must consider what the future of scheduling—and the accompanying technology—will look like for the construction industry in the months ahead.
But first let’s look back to look forward. Historically, there have been several different methods used for scheduling construction projects including line of balance, resource-oriented scheduling, the Gantt chart, and more. Perhaps one of the most common still to this day in construction and in other industries is CPM (critical path method).
CPM was developed in the late 1950s by James E. Kelley of Remington Rand and Morgan R. Walker of DuPont in an effort to find ways to reduce the costs associated with plant shutdowns and restarts. Simply, its aim was to reduce or eliminate inefficient scheduling.
CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) says the method calculates the minimum completion time for a project along with the possible start and finish times for the project activities. With this, computer programs and algorithms for critical path scheduling are widely available and can efficiently handle projects with thousands of activities.
Looking to the future, a number of sources predict scheduling—and construction management—software will rise, due to the need to help effectively manage construction projects resources, and customers. One such prediction comes from Coherent Market Insights, which suggests this market will account for $2.6 billion by the end of 2028.
Perhaps this goes without saying but the labor shortage is necessitating more efficient project delivery and this type of technology can streamline scheduling, punch listing, and project management, just to name a few. This comes alongside an uptick in projects across the globe.
Coherent Market Insights specifically says the technology can help with scheduling, time estimations, project management, job costing, cost control, and more and that the increase in the adoption of the software will be seen across the industry. Contractors will see the rise of cloud-based construction management software.
The future of construction is smart, and smart construction starts with the right data. Ultimately, this will help construction professional’s complete projects on time and on budget.
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