Don’t let Disruption Get The Best of Your Project
The construction industry is full of minor to major disruptions. While some can be controlled, others can’t and you need to remember to be ready for those moments. A topic that has been hot over the last couple of years is supply disruption issues. With more and more outsourcing of building supplies production out of the state or country, it’s important to integrate flexibility into your client's project timeline for completion. With this in mind, here are four of our recommendations to combat any supply disruptions you face.
Pre-Order Supplies
Pre-planning your project can sometimes require hot supplies to be pre-ordered to ensure their arrival time is going to hit the cutoff for when you need it. By keeping in constant contact with your suppliers, you are able to find out what kind of lead times to expect for on-time arrival of product. Once you have an idea of this, you can begin putting together purchase orders to match up with the deadlines you have set ahead of schedule.
Have Alternative Options
Sometimes it just won’t work to get the supplies you need for a project without getting extremely held up from completing on time. Having a list of alternative materials, products, or supplies to pull from when this happens is key to staying on task. Making sure you relay this information to your customer when applicable is also just as important.
Know The Scope of Your Projects
Know what you need when you need it:
In order for each step of the construction process to flow as smoothly as possible, you need to know the scope of the project you are dealing with at that time. If you are a large contractor, you most likely will have multiple projects going at once. Knowing the complexity of each project and how or where they might overlap in product needs will allow you to potentially double up on orders you are placing with the same suppliers.
Have Flexibility Built Into Project Timelines
There is nothing wrong with creating hard deadlines, but always plan on tentative dates to finish ahead of schedule. This way you have wiggle room if holdups in building production occur. As we stated above, you should keep your customer informed along the process that if delays happen they need to be patient or at least open to alternative options to have their project completed on time.
Being a solution finder in the construction industry when it comes to supply issues will give you the opportunity to be a step ahead of your competitors. Plan ahead, stay flexible, and communicate with your team and customers to produce the results you aspire to achieve.
