A Digital Transformation Journey
Revolutionising Our Workflow
In an exciting leap towards innovation we decided as a business to digitally transform our way of working. In the interest of progression and providing a better level of service to our clients, we wanted to create an online, cloud-based workflow, one that was fully integrated, and allowed for seamless communication and collaboration across all teams and stakeholders on a project by project basis.
We worked with a number of software providers to develop a bespoke digital solution. Our aim was to develop a system where all programmes were to be able to communicate with each other, allowing for full transparency across each project, for data to be fully accessible to all and for our clients to be able to gain insight into the inner workings of their project.
The Vision
As a small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the construction industry, becoming a digital contractor was to play a key part in establishing ourselves as industry frontrunners. The industry is often slow to adopt digital systems, so to stand out from the crowd we decided to revamp our processes and invest in technology to offer clients and contractors an integrated, seamless service that sets us apart from our competitors.
The Necessity for Change
Before digitalisation, our teams struggled to collaborate due to a lack of transparent information and numerous manual processes. This highlighted the urgent need for accessible and communicative digital technologies. We realised we needed a custom, centralised, cloud-based hub to streamline our business activities.
Our Approach
We started by thoroughly reviewing various software solutions, focusing on their integration capabilities and use cases.
Working closely with developers, we created a custom workflow that combined data, ensured transparency, and generated insightful reports. Our collaboration with small, enthusiastic companies maximised the value of our software systems and benefited other companies that are looking to follow in our footsteps.
We also understood that effective change management was crucial to the success of this project. We conducted a roadshow of all active sites and spent six months rigorously testing and deploying new technologies on a project-by-project basis to secure staff engagement and cooperation.
Key team members became certified on relevant systems and received in-depth training, with ongoing support still being provided when needed.
The Results
The transformation resulted in an end-to-end system capable of collating tangible project data for individual projects, extending to cross-business reporting.
We are now able to provide valuable insights for both internal and external stakeholders, enabling trend analysis and informed decision-making. Having one source of information that informs all stakeholders ensures complete transparency, real-time data, and better collaboration among clients and subcontractors. This transparency also creates accountability, allowing staff and clients to access dashboards and see task assignments and completions clearly.
The cloud-based solution has strengthened relationships between our sites and office, fostering easier information integration and onboarding. “Having our health and safety paperwork and inductions online for example has streamlined our onboarding process with subcontractors, giving our teams more visibility of who is on their sites, which in turn informs our ESG reporting.” says Jaspreet, our Quality and Compliance Manager.
Our digitalisation efforts have completely eliminated manual processes, streamlining workflow, and significantly reducing our environmental impact through a paperless transition. This has led to increased productivity and the upskilling of employees who previously worked in more traditional ways. “There is no doubt that our digital transformation has been invaluable in bringing all our project sites together. Working with a single source of truth for all teams has helped to save time and eliminate errors across the board,” comments Information Manager Sarah.
And finally…
Having custom dashboards has significantly elevated our reporting, offering unique market insights and visibility across our supply chain and our ESG strategy has reached new heights thanks to these dashboards. We can now report in-depth, improve waste management, reduce our carbon footprint, and set consistent benchmarks across projects. External reporting on our activities began in 2024, marking a significant milestone in our sustainability journey.
It’s safe to say that our digital transformation has not only streamlined our operations but has positioned us as a leader in digital contracting, driving innovation and sustainability in the construction industry.
