It’s Time to Simplify Your Submittal Workflow - e-PlanSoft

The construction industry affects us all in more ways than one since our quality of life is heavily influenced by the built environment surrounding us. Without infrastructure, it is difficult to have safe roads to drive on, sterile hospitals to help patients in, and reliable buildings to store our food in. Additionally, virtually all other industries would not be able to operate without construction today which in turn affects how everyone lives, works, and plays. Yet despite the dawn of the digital age, the construction industry compared to other industries has been the slowest to adopt technological advances that would streamline projects, cut down plan review turnaround time, and increase the ROI for all industries involved. A positive step forward that construction companies can take to improve this effort is by implementing software such as e-PlanREVIEW® to simplify the submittal workflow process.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, in 2017 the construction industry employed 7 percent of the world’s working population and approximately $10 trillion is spent on construction-related goods and services every year. Yet the industry’s slow space at adapting technology, with a report of being among the second to last digitized sector in the U.S., is causing poor productivity and increased project costs from extended completion times. The McKinsey report concluded that there is approximately $1.6 trillion in revenue left on the table each year from inefficient and halted construction projects, with 1/3 of this opportunity being lost in the U.S. Still the need for affordable housing options is on the rise as well as a need for improved infrastructure, as has been demonstrated this year with an overpriced housing market and the damages from recent natural disasters.

One area of construction that can be aided with e-PlanREVIEW® technology is the submittal workflow process. In relation to construction, a submittal consists of written or physical information about specific items planned for the installation of a project that is created by a project manager and then shared with a contractor. Once all the information has been submitted by the subcontractor, the project and design teams review the submissions to make sure it complies with project specifications. After approval, the submittal is returned to the subcontractor to signify that work is approved for construction.

Managing the submittal workflow manually drains resources as well as valuable time and it opens up projects to an increased risk of error. With e-PlanREVIEW® or EPR, these submittals can be turned in and reviewed by designated users on the team through a workflow process. Run entirely in the browser, EPR provides a cloud-based solution to this problem without a need to install an application through a desktop or on the server-side. With pdf documents available for review, any file format can be attached to the submittal as supporting material as well. Additionally, multiple people can work on a project at the same time with security built in to protect individual user comments. When a project submittal has been completed, the status can be changed, and a notification will be sent out to users throughout the system. With e-PlanREVIEW®, the submittal process is automated and streamlined, bringing increased efficiency and accuracy to the start of your project.

If you’re interested in learning more about how your company can utilize EPR for the submittals on your projects, contact us today to request a demo and get started.