New website aims to improve resource efficiency across the construction sector
(02/09/2008)

The Purchasing Managers’ Index for construction published by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and Markit, plumbed an all-time low between May and June 2008, indicating the sharpest decline in construction output since the survey started in April, 1997. Housebuilders are certainly feeling the pinch with the administrators in at Chase Norton, Barratts annoucing job cuts of over 1000, and Taylor Wimpey struggling to raise much needed capital of £500m.

Whilst commercial construction and infrastructure may be slower to feel the effects of the credit crunch than house-building that is inextricably linked to consumer borrowing power, belts will certainly have to be tightened right across the industry in the forthcoming months. Construction Resale thinks that their new online tool could be key.

Where the communication benefits of the internet have been embraced by the consumer and financial sectors, apart from advances in mobile technology, email and document management, construction is lucky enough to still have further opportunities in this area of which to take advantage.

An online service launched at the end of last year, Construction Resale has the potential to improve resource efficiency across the construction sector. By providing a neutral platform where construction companies can buy and sell resources directly to and from each other civil engineer founder Will Goode hopes to revolutionise an industry that currently has little cross-competitor communication at construction site level.

Construction Resale uses secure, familiar auction style software to enable sites working under competing companies to advertise materials and equipment that they no longer need to the rest of the industry. Not satisfied with just providing an online solution for the whole industry the team at Construction Resale believe that they can improve the resource (and therefore economic) efficiency of single companies.

“By having a private Construction Resale system major contractors can improve internal communication to the extent that each of their sites gets to know about available, or soon to be available materials and equipment on their sister sites. If these materials don’t sell internally they can also be advertised on the Construction Resale website.” says Goode.

First movers on the website have included industry heavyweights Skanska, Dean and Dyball and Wilson James. Clearly any venture like this will take time to reach the ‘critical mass’ needed for it to be truly effective, but by signing up industry leaders to the website and their intranet solutions Construction Resale are well on the way to making a real impact on this sector.