An electrical contractor’s responsibilities include the design, installation and maintenance of their workplace or client’s electrical systems, but factors beyond this job description play into the efficiency of a business.
In November 2022, construction software company Kojo published its “Electrical Contractors: Materials Purchasing Benchmark Report,” which offers insight on the operational efficiency of the construction industry.
The report discussed the results of a survey that included 379 electrical contracting firms of various sizes across the United States, to understand how the industry manages materials and what effect this has on the companies themselves.
The study compared and contrasted numbers and results based on the size of the firm—defining small as 10–15 employees, medium as 51–250 employees and large to 251 or more. Some of the findings didn’t vary much between different size companies. For example, small firm field supervisors spent an average of 1 hour and 22 minutes managing materials per week, while field supervisors for large firms averaged 1 hour and 33 minutes. But others, such as the methods or systems used to place material orders, were measurably different.
According to the report, 40% of large firms use software, apps or websites to place material requests, while only 17% of small firms use this technology. Small firms seemingly favor ordering through email, with 50% of respondents saying they use this method. This number remained consistent for all company sizes and was the most used method for all groups, with 45% of medium firms and 47% of large firms emailing orders as well.
Overall, 2 weeks per year are spent communicating about material-related issues with offices or suppliers.
Looking at field teams, 90% reported that knowing their order status and what materials had been ordered was important, very important or imperative to know. Not knowing what to expect and when it will arrive can result in mismanaging payroll and scheduling. Kojo reports that the average schedule slippage due to delays and incorrect orders is now 10–15 days.
Office team efficiency was also explored in the survey. Respondents all said they spent about two hours per week communicating with the field crew about materials. They all spent the most time processing purchase orders each week, with small firms spending 6.5 hours, medium firms spending 11 and large firms spending 16 hours.
According to the report, “while the survey revealed that field teams could spend an excessive and unproductive amount of time on the materials management process, in-office purchasing professionals do as well, spending hundreds of hours every year communicating with field teams and suppliers about material related matters…”
Inefficiencies can mean the difference between a successful and struggling business, particularly for smaller firms. Kojo points to modernizing processes as a solution toward efficiently carrying out tasks and increasing profit margins.
