Research shows that data-driven organizations are able to make better decisions about how to increase productivity, save time and money, and more accurately perform predictive analysis. With today’s data collection tools, companies have unique opportunities to use data and analytics to “become less process-centric and more data-centric,” according to Forbes magazine. This shift in management operations results in more strategy and more successful decision making.
The thought of data analysis can sound a bit intimidating, and maybe vague, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’re new to data collection and analysis, start slowly by taking the data that you are already collecting and stop to analyze what multiple areas of your operations might benefit from the results of a data analysis.
From Data Collection to Data Analysis
The following are some ways that data can be collected and then turned into a powerful tool for transforming your business.
- Equipment Maintenance. Don’t just quickly review the data that you collect from daily machine inspections and toss away each day. You should use trends from that daily data collection to predict equipment maintenance needs and prevent equipment downtime.
- Customer Satisfaction. Sure, you may include a customer satisfaction questionnaire with each and every final invoice, but are you really looking at the results? You should be looking for common complaints among customers and communicating with your teams and following up for resolution to ensure that customer satisfaction is an understood priority.
- Inventory Management. The risk of over-purchasing is great in our industry, and when unneeded inventory piles up, your cash flow takes a hit. A simple exception report can compare monthly purchases with unchanged primary location to encourage use of the current inventory prior to re-order. This analysis gives management teams insight into ways to improve inventory ordering systems, increasing margins and cash flow at the same time.
- Safety Compliance. With all the data collected, some simple and quick analysis can make a huge impact on your company’s bottom line. The word risk management is taken literally when it comes to analyzing safety data, watching for trends and applying predictive analysis. Taking a closer look at data from accident reports alone allows management teams to make data-driven decisions with valuable insight that can save lives, and in some extreme cases, save the company, as well.
- Staffing. Analysis of data collected from timesheets, accident reports, employee satisfaction surveys, and more, can help companies determine when to add more jobs, what wages to pay, and how to select the right employee or contractor for the position.
Speaking of staffing, with a necessary emphasis on data-driven decisions to be made, there is a big shift in the industry. Companies are now hunting down people with big data skills to add to their teams, paying more for their experience analyzing data. Although having some experience on your team is beneficial in more ways than one, don’t lose scope that there are digital tools at your disposal customized for your industry, that are capable of providing the insight you need in a very user-friendly – and familiar – format. That means less retraining is required, and therefore less time and money is also required, to invest in changes that are already going to impact your company’s overall profitability.
If you are looking for a digital tool to help improve your data collection processes and provide valuable easy-to-read automatic reports, then look no further than eesyQ. The eesyQ app is a new software designed specifically for the construction industry to make standard operations easier and to increase profit. The cost to implement a tool like eesyQ are minor when looking at the big picture of the savings and efficiencies it brings to the table. Check out our website or contact me for a free demo to see exactly how it can be put to use in your business today.