Concrete producers are embracing technology partners with solutions that offer automation, real-time communication, foster teamwork, efficiency, and safety to optimize their workflows. There are many benefits to digital transformation, and these digital tools are just one.
5 Benefits Ready Mix Producers experience from digital transformation:
1) Employee Productivity
Human error is a common occurrence when using traditional, analog methods. They slow down processes, provide no decent way of collecting and/or analyzing data, and are costly to maintain. In addition, these systems put unnecessary administrative burdens on employees both on the field and in the office and tend to overwork management.
In the end, many producers end up being unable to truly scale their operations because they are bogged down in paperwork and/or are managing disorganized, ineffective processes that no longer work for their businesses. By adopting cloud-native digital tools, producers can yield gains by decreasing human error and streamlining their business processes. Choosing the right tech solutions can boost productivity by eliminating unnecessary work and enhancing communication and reporting.
2) Increased Agility
While the world came to a screeching halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ready-mixed concrete industry focused on protecting workers and keeping projects moving forward. This was made easier with digital transformation. With digital tools in the hands of batch men, dispatchers, drivers, and administrative staff producers could take certain operations online and collect data in real time from the field. Via mobile devices, employees could clock in, report any issues as well as track their tasks, enabling social distancing to be possible.
The ability to extract and produce real-time field data will remain an essential decision-making tool. Digital tools make it possible to access this information on the go, so companies can make critical decisions on the go. To keep all projects on schedule, if data indicates one project is falling behind, drivers can be moved from one project to another.
3) Long-Term Cost Reductions
While some producers remain skeptical about the costs associated with digital transformation, not implementing digital solutions remains far more costly. For example, after tripling the number of employees, one Texas-based concrete producer found paper time cards and data collection to be entirely unmanageable. They found out the hard way they needed to implement a digital transformation strategy.
The same concrete producer integrated a management solution into its digital transformation strategy to eliminate paper forms for purchase orders. By using digital forms, the company’s office staff received purchase orders faster and negotiated better pricing with more accurate information, saving the company $154,000 on materials. The company also benefited from the management solution’s advanced real-time digital truck tracking data with GPS and saved $729,000 in the first 12 months of utilizing these additional tools. These savings would not have been achieved if the company had not adopted technology and digital transformation. As companies expand their digital transformation, they will continue to experience cost reductions.
4) Consolidated Data
By embracing digital transformation and effectively utilizing the digital tools available to them, concrete producers can connect their employees and consolidate batch, dispatch, orders, progress, and delivery management in one place. This means actionable data can be placed in the hands of those who affect change. With data consolidated and synced across batch and dispatch, companies can align their operations and make better decisions.
5) Marketplace Competitiveness
Developers, owners, and contractors also benefit from a concrete producer’s tech stack. Clients want to work with producers that they can be sure will deliver on time. They are increasingly selecting producers who leverage technology and can ensure that happens.
Digital transformation is a continual process that allows companies to streamline operations, cut costs and achieve goals. Digital transformation is achieved by taking steps – They don’t have to be big. Any steps toward making business operations more digital is a step toward digital transformation and capitalizing on savings in time, and costs, for years to come.
