10 Ways to Turn Your Business Into a Lean, Mean Building Machine

There is no shortage of challenges facing the housing industry at the moment — from tariffs to immigration policy to regulatory changes and climate risk — all of which are adding time and cost to projects. Yet, technology makes it possible to have better visibility and management of those challenges to help optimize your business' performance and profits.

Here are 10 key ways you can start re-imagining your approach:

1. Rethink your ordering process and centralize it. Work with your subcontractors to coordinate material purchasing and to give the necessary lead time to suppliers. Your suppliers need to be able to forecast properly and to make sure the inventory is on hand. If they have to rush product, there is extra time and resources involved for everyone, which add costs that are passed on to you and then on to the home owner.
   
   
2. Create a demand forecast. If you are using a project management system, do a report of your product from the current year and create an estimate of that to share with your suppliers for the next year so they can prepare and they can avoid overproduction or shortages. If you are using the same plumbing fixtures in dozens of projects, share that with the manufacturer or the supplier so that they can be prepared and limit both of your risk moving forward.
   
   
3. Be aware of codes and evolving codes, and educate yourself and your team. New codes may change your process or the product you use, which also may require training. Make sure to build that into your timeline proactively so that you aren’t eating into a project timeline later and losing time and money.
   
   
4. Find ways to simplify what you are offering your clients. Trying to manage too many options will dilute purchasing power, generate waste, and undermine affordability. Have someone else audit your projects to identify complexity and to think about ways to remove it. Many times, that complexity adds cost without adding meaningful consumer value.
   
   
5. Simplify plans and consolidate SKUs. Doing so reduces waste, speeds up construction, can strengthen supplier relationships, and makes it simpler for your clients to make selections when they have controlled choices.
   
   
6. Be an advocate for something innovative. It typically takes more than 12 years for new materials or technologies to be widely adopted in construction, which slows progress on sustainability, affordability and performance. Pick something that you can adopt and help grow faster so that the industry at large can be more efficient, productive and sustainable.
   
   
7. Look at ways to vertically integrate your business. Can you bring any part of the process in house? There are builders now who are creating internal capacity to build their own windows, trusses and wall panels, allowing for better cost control, faster deployment and tailored solutions for high-performance homes. But, maybe, think about adding design or another operational aspect to your business.
   
   
8. Consider investing in offsite construction. Look for local companies building panels to reduce labor reliance and improve quality. As labor becomes more and more of a challenge, these solutions will be critical, even opening the door for less skilled labor.
   
   
9. Start early. When you win a project, start coordinating immediately with the trades and manufacturers and other stakeholders during design and pre-construction to help avoid downstream conflicts and rework, and to improve overall cost-effectiveness.
   
   
10. Adopt, embrace and learn from AI. Internally at Buildxact, we are encouraging staff to look at all operations with a new lens — how could they be better with automation? We also are providing cutting-edge AI solutions for our customers, like AI takeoff tools, AI estimate generators and AI estimate reviewers, that are saving tons of time and money.

There is a lot here, but you don’t have to start with everything at once. Start small, measure results, and then tackle the next opportunity.

This article was written by Dan Conlon, senior customer success manager at Buildxact. It was published as a benefit of membership in the NAHB Leading Suppliers Council.