How Poor Delivery Management Can Impact Construction Site Productivity

Posted on 6th November 2023

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A lot of money is on the line in any large construction job. Whether through the delivery of expensive materials or equipment, or workers putting in their precious time and effort, every second needs to be utilised properly if costs are to be kept down and productivity kept high.

However, poor delivery management can cause many site issues, where productivity plummets, costing the company cash. Effective delivery management solutions can help avoid situations like these so that every minute can be accounted for and no time is wasted due to awkward, poorly timed deliveries.

Why deliveries need to be on-point for construction jobs to remain productive

Poorly timed deliveries cut into important tasks

When deliveries are timed properly, sites and site managers can allocate the appropriate staff to deal with the delivery and help with the unloading and storage of the relevant equipment and materials.

These experienced staff will routinely handle deliveries, ensure the correct stock has arrived and that there are no outstanding issues on either end.

When deliveries suddenly appear out of nowhere, with little to no prior planning, this can cause serious issues and drive busy staff away from their important tasks to deal with the delivery. As such, if experienced staff members aren’t available, the role can be left in the hands of someone unsuited to make such decisions, leading to even further problems.

But by onboarding delivery management software, construction companies can accurately time deliveries both on the side of the construction company and the side of those making the deliveries, so delivery drivers always have a clear view of when they’re expected and the appropriate staff will be able to meet them.

This greatly reduces the risk of unqualified or unprepared staff accepting deliveries, as well as the loss of important work time.

Unaccounted materials can create a logistical nightmare

With so many different materials and equipment needed to keep the site running as planned, it can be easy to lose track of what is expected to turn up in the next site delivery. Similarly, it’s also easy for the company providing said equipment and materials to forget to load certain items or mistakenly load extra items that were not part of the original order.

This can create tension if there is a dispute and isn’t resolvable if there is no clear list of items ordered on the part of the construction site. But with delivery management software, construction sites can keep a crystal clear record of all placed orders – including all expected items – and the times they’re due to arrive.

This can save an infinite amount of time from trying to track down missing materials when those materials may never have even been delivered in the first place. With delivery management tools, the delivery can be thoroughly inspected on arrival and any potential issues can be flagged early, before they become an issue later down the line.

Scheduling deliveries intelligently can help avoid unnecessary congestion around your site

When large-scale construction jobs take place in and around residential areas, or areas with a lot of pedestrians coming and going, they can create significant travel issues with large, slow-moving vehicles slowing everything down or even creating blockages in traffic.

Large deliveries are a particular issue, as they don’t always have direct access to the sites they’re delivering to, if preparations have not been made by the site ahead of time. This can lead them to park outside of the site, which may cause disruption to people or other vehicles moving past.

Alternatively, on very large jobs, the sheer number of delivery vehicles can cause strife. When these issues become a serious annoyance, individuals and local councils can try to put measures in place to prevent delivery vehicles from taking these routes, which could affect the speed at which a job is completed.

However, with delivery management software, construction sites can plan their deliveries in specific time slots and stagger them, ensuring all deliveries do not arrive spontaneously at once causing mass disruption.

Lost paperwork can cause chaos

While many companies have fully immersed themselves in the digital age, some people still work under a classic “paper and pen” policy, making note of deliveries on handwritten invoices.

This method may have worked well for a time, but such documents can easily be accidentally misplaced or damaged, which could cause chaos if companies can no longer keep track of important material deliveries.

This wouldn’t be the case with delivery management software, though. All deliveries could be accurately kept and updated in one easy-to-access and easy-to-use digital tool. And because these documents are stored digitally, there’s no risk of them mistakenly being binned or otherwise lost.

Delivery management tools can help construction companies stay productive and avoid unpleasant errors

By properly utilising modern delivery management software, construction companies can avoid the pitfalls of mistimed or mistake-ridden deliveries and make the most out of each working day as possible to keep projects moving on time and under budget.