Although the year started with cautious optimism that costs would continue to go down, the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show an increase in construction input prices. Specifically, "construction materials prices increased 0.4% in...
Host Rob McKinney sits down with Or Lakritz from StructShare for a conversation on the PowerToTheTrades Podcast.
eSUB Podcast Episode #21 Recap
Episode #21 features Or who is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for StructShare, which is the construction industry’s #1 cloud-based digital purchasing and material management platform designed for trade contractors and self-performing general contractors. Or also highlights his studies in computer science, experience working in the financial technology sector and what brought him to disrupt the construction technology space to help contractors automate and improve materials management and purchasing between the office, field and suppliers. Purchasing and material tracking will never be the same.
PowerToTheTrades and what does this mean
Or shares his thoughts about the many meanings of the word power regarding the construction industry and specifically to Craft Workers and Trade Contractors.
What does “Power to the Trades” mean to the co-founder of StructShare? “For me the word “power” relates to empowerment, meaning that, for years the trades have been viewed as the industry underdog. They work the hardest, hold much of the risk in projects and not always receiving the respect they deserve. I personally feel that now it’s time to give them the technology tools, respect, and confidence to be strong and profitable. It’s time to elevate contractors reputations' as experts in constructability and have a voice across the construction industry.”
Technology is powering construction trade contractor operations.
We discussed improving communications and the impact of technology is having on Trade Contractors. By using new applications on mobile devices from the field, construction crews can update the management team in the office about the status of schedule and operations.
Or said, “The most common problem Trade Contractors have as with other stakeholders in the industry are senseless manual workflows that actually make simple processes unnecessarily complex and what we are doing is simply taking these processes, specifically in the purchasing workflow - sourcing and material management and eliminating the crazy ugly core business dysfunctionality. Materials account between 30% to 50% of the cost, and 50% of the operation is related to the purchasing cycle.” Bringing sanity to material ordering and management and eliminating costly errors is what StructShare offers trade contractors.
Wrap up
eSUB’s podcast always offers excellent discussions about the use case of technologies in the construction industry. Featuring StructShare is another example of how we can bring #PowertotheTrades forward this year! You can install StructShare the same day and see immediate improvements.
To all the trade contractors out there reading or listening, keep up your incredible work, and thank you for building and servicing the world we live in!
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