De-risking the Labor Shortage–It’s All about Flow

Persistent labor shortages, combined with ongoing supply chain uncertainty, can greatly increase the risks of construction project delays, accidents and litigation. In years past, materials and equipment were more readily available, as were the sufficient trade skills needed for their installation. Now, those supply chain inputs have long lead times and volatile delivery schedules, and it has never been harder to flow the right skills to the right place at the right time to install them efficiently and safely.

The labor flow problem is a data problem. When the information in the contract schedule and production plan are disharmonious, the quality and timeliness of critical decisions suffer, in both the office and the field. In addition, this is inevitable with the manual, ad hoc production planning methods traditionally used in the field. Superintendents and trade supervisors often struggle with the efficient task assignment, sequencing and execution that is needed to match the unpredictable arrival of materials and equipment, and master planners and schedulers lack the timely, accurate visibility of labor availability and utilization needed to maintain the contract schedule.