Construction Project Dashboards | Acxtron

Construction projects are always a complicated process, and it can be difficult to manage the costs and budgets. Dashboards offer a simple way for project managers to keep track of all the information in one place.

With Microsoft Power BI, we can help bring together different sources of information so that project managers can get a clearer overview. We will go over why dashboards are important for managing any construction project, as well as how they can help you forecast potential expenditures and show progress over time.

Construction Projects are Complex

There are many variables with construction projects.  These can include the cost of materials, labor costs, availability of equipment and access. With different subcontractors involved in a massive construction project, from pre-cast structures, post-tensioning, concrete pouring, to electrical, plumbing and landscaping, it becomes difficult to keep track of everything. Coupled with the possibility of disruption by weather, unexpected delays etc, construction projects are highly complex and require a lot of effort to get things done.

The good news is that construction projects have many indicators for things like progress, costs and budgets so you can stay on top of the changes quickly with construction project dashboards.

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What is the purpose of a project dashboard?

The purpose of a construction project dashboard is to give the user an overview of all relevant information in one place, allowing for easy understanding and decision-making.

They allow you to easily see how much money we have spent on a particular project or how different indicators are trending over time. With a project dashboard, you'll be able to make more informed decisions in a timely manner when it comes to your construction processes. You'll also be able to spot any potential problems before they happen!

It allows you to keep track of budgets, as well as manpower and equipment utilization trends. By comparing current data to what it was at a previous time period; for example, costs and budgets may have increased or decreased over that time span.

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What are some of the benefits of project dashboards?

Construction project dashboards can be a good way to keep track of costs, budget trends and forecast potential expenditures so that you know what's happening with your construction projects in real-time.

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It also means that if any problems occur (i.e., further delays or unexpected expenses), they will show up on your dashboard without wasting time looking through gazillions of spreadsheets for relevant data points!  

They give transparency into all of your costs, which will help future budgeting efforts - as well as provide an accurate forecast for how much a particular project is going to cost in the end! Plus, with everything at your fingertips, it becomes significantly easier to make decisions about construction processes on-the-fly.

What's more is that with Microsoft Power BI, you can access the dashboards on your mobile as well. You get alerts when there are changes to any of the key indicators that you set alerts for.

This makes it easy to stay on top of things, as well as having access to it anytime anywhere without having to wait for the updates coming at the end of the month.

Basically, you can save time and money when you have the right information at your fingertips.

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Is construction analytics important?

The answer is yes. Construction analytics can provide you with an in-depth look at the time it takes to complete a project, how much things cost and what trends are happening over time. It's important for construction companies because they need this information to stay on budget while delivering a quality project, and also watching their profit margins so that investments can be made to improve productivity and other areas.

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What are common KPIs tracked in a construction project?

A common KPI is the time it takes for a project to be completed. You can use this information in conjunction with forecasts on construction costs and budgets to see how well your company is doing and adjust accordingly.

• Total Project Costs
• Profit margin on the project
• Cost Variance (Planned Budget vs Actual Budget)
• Progress Forecast
• Labor Productivity
• Cashflow

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How often should project managers use their dashboard?

Project managers should use their dashboards on a regular basis, at least a few times a week. This will help you keep up with the current state of your project and identify any issues that may have arisen in the meantime so they can be addressed quickly.

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It also helps to establish patterns over time by showing how things are progressing while providing actionable recommendations for improving them as needed.

In addition to monitoring progress overall, another key feature of dashboards is trend analysis; looking at various trends over specific periods.

By using a dashboard with all this information in one place, construction team leaders are able to keep their finger on the pulse at every step of progress.

This means they're more likely to identify potential issues before they get out of hand and prevent costly delays from happening while maintaining quality standards. Dashboards also provide an easy way for teams who work on different parts of the project. For example, in different zones or with different stakeholders.

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Forecasting Construction Projects

Almost every construction projects comes with some sort of construction planning. Simply planning the various stages of the project might help in operations and help to keep the project within the stipulated timeline.

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Equally important is the need to keep the project within budget and thus forecasting the budgets and expenses is crucial.

With a good project forecast, it can help to show progress over following months. However, if you can use that project forecast to provide you financials forecast, it is going to be a game changer.

The construction budget forecast is a way of predicting what future expenditures will be and how they are going to affect you. This would mean that if your budgets forecasts were right, then you should have enough funds available in your account for any upcoming expenses. If not, then it may require some adjustments to your expenses.

This information can come from the existing project planning information.

By incorporating important cost information in the various items which you plan for across time, you can get a good idea of your expenses and cash flow in the coming months.

If you do not have currently a good way to do so, we can advise you on some possible approaches.

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Invest Today and Multiply Your Effectiveness

If you’re in the construction industry, it’s important to invest time and money into dashboards that will help you stay on top of your costs. Dashboards allow you consolidate your various sources of data, from your ERP systems to your Excel spreadsheets. It brings together all your important indicators like what has been spent so far this year as well as projections about how much work is left before the end of the fiscal year. This information can be crucial to keep track of the multiple projects your firm may be undertaking. Invest in building your construction projects dashboard today and make your effectiveness a competitive edge in your industry.

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