MILWAUKEE — James Benham, CEO and founder of JBKnowledge, a technology solutions company serving the construction and insurance industries, will encourage attendees to focus on budgeting, staffing and starting to experiment at a session on Driving New Innovation at Complacent Companies during CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020 in Las Vegas.
Contractors who are curious and interested in technology, who are passionate or want to innovate are encouraged to attend on Thursday, March 12.
According to Benham, there are four things contractors need to understand about innovation:
Level the playing field: Benham has seen small contractors successfully compete with much larger companies, and enterprise level companies become more productive and efficient by embracing change. He is aware that eight out 10 contractors struggle with technology.
“They may have adopted a technology 15 years ago and are still hanging their hat on that. They may not realize there is a subset of companies that have upset the game.” Such tech-savvy companies are winning projects while others are being disqualified because they lack the technical capabilities to successfully bid on a job.
Common technical capabilities currently in use include BIM (Building Information Modeling) and productivity trackers.
Give the right people the right tools: Technology won’t put you in a winning position without people who can implement it in a smart way, indicates a release, adding if you want to innovate give the improvisers, the tinkerers, and those willing to experiment a forum to express their ideas. With the right tools, they can move the company forward.
Mitigate risk: Change involves risk and many construction companies are hesitant to adapt and innovate. It’s wise to start small, build up profit margin, and not get distracted by options.
“Technology enforces and institutes processes that benefit the bottom line,” Benham said. “If you don’t measure, you can’t see the impact. Documenting an existing state and a future state is critical. People are quick to forget things.”
With many people retiring from the construction industry, vast knowledge and experience could be lost, states the release, adding curious, innovative thinkers can find solutions that will retain and build upon that knowledge.
Look to the future: It is necessary to stay informed about current innovations in technology, how best practices change, and what lies ahead, states the release, adding there are a multitude of blogs, industry magazines, videos and podcasts to choose from. Know where you can find the top choices for construction software and mobile apps.
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