5 Ways Document Management Software Can Help Improve Efficiencies for Home Builders
The residential construction business requires thousands of documents from a wide range of sources, and this can be a headache to manage. As a Builder, you’re constantly collecting and organizing documents from your staff, customers and a range of Suppliers, Trades and Contractors. You need to be able to find the information in any of these documents quickly and easily. You also need to be sure you’re looking at the most updated version, with any and all changes included. With all its potential for headache and error, the process of managing your documents is well worth streamlining.
What Is Document Management?
Document management is a system that can receive, track, manage and store all kinds of digital documents.
In residential construction, it is an effective way to organize all the documents that are needed to complete each community and individual home project, including site plans, blueprints, drawings, permits, contracts, specs, purchase orders, invoices, change orders, etc. Digital document management can save your office paper, time, frustration and expense.
How Document Management Solutions Improve Efficiencies
Document management systems provide a variety of features, including centralized storage, search and retrieval, enhanced security and access control. Together, these solutions can improve your efficiency in multiple ways.
1. Streamline information searches
Having all of your documents in a single digital location is a serious time-saver, compared to searching through file cabinets around the office. Is the document you’re looking for with the design team, the project management team or the accounting team? Is it on someone’s desk because they were reviewing it? Did it accidentally get thrown away? A construction-focused document management system should accept all major formats, including Word Docs, PDFs, RTFs, GIFs, JPGs, DWFs, TIFFs, hyperlinks and more.
2. Improve sharing
One reason it can be hard to locate documents is that so many different people need to use them. Document management makes it easier to share information. You can upload, share and retrieve electronic documents via the cloud. Everyone on the project team, from your accountant to your electrical contractor can access the information they need. Meanwhile, you’ll be saving money and paper waste by not printing hard copies.
3. Maintain security
Role-based security gives you control over who can access which documents. This is critical because it also means only authorized individuals — determined by you — can update, edit or delete documents and folders.
4. Improve information accuracy
Nothing is more damaging to a tight schedule or budget than changes that are missed by the team members who need to make them happen. With a document management system, changes to documents are instantly available to anyone with access. You don’t have to worry about printing and distributing new plans, specs or purchase orders to everyone who needs them. Everyone works from the same updated source at all times.
5. Boost transparency and accountability
Document management systems are particularly useful in change-order-dependent residential construction because they track changes and the versions created and modified by different users. Not only can you be sure you have an updated version, but you can also tell who made which changes and when.
Improve Document Management Efficiencies with Hyphen Solutions’ BuildPro
BuildPro connects Home Builders with Suppliers, Contractors and Trades on a single platform. It takes residential construction scheduling and supply chain management online, providing real-time information with accuracy and efficiency. BuildPro lets you execute home-build projects in less time with less effort than ever before.
Document Manager within BuildPro empowers Home Builders to digitally centralize and organize all construction-related documents on the same platform they use for scheduling and access the efficiencies of document management specifically designed for their industry.
Learn more about Hyphen Solutions’ BuildPro and schedule a demo with our experts today.
