Visual Planning® supports construction companies with centralised site planning and coordinates staff, machinery, equipment, deadlines and other resources in a clear, digital planning board. Construction progress, availability and deviations from the plan are displayed transparently, enabling dispatchers and project managers to flexibly adjust assignments even in the event of last-minute changes.
Jointly plan construction sites and installation projects
When a team is responsible for several construction sites or installation contracts, the available staff, required qualifications, vehicles, equipment and deployment periods must all be coordinated. Visual Planning® can allocate these resources collectively to the respective assignments.
When appointments are rescheduled, dispatchers check existing bookings and available time slots and adjust the allocation centrally. Mobile information and feedback are provided depending on the module, authorisation and configuration. The focus is on resource planning; technical construction or assembly calculations are therefore not covered.
Further selection criteria can be found at Resource planning for construction companies. A documented practical example is provided by the WALO Case Study. Try out construction site and assembly planning in a demo.
Jointly schedule staff, work teams and equipment
Whether it’s building construction, civil engineering or road construction: with Visual Planning® you can coordinate staff, machinery, vehicles, equipment, construction sites and deadlines on a central digital planning board. Planning managers can identify availability, overlaps and potential bottlenecks more quickly.
Mobile solutions such as VPPortal and VPGo can help site management, planning and on-site staff to access approved planning information and provide feedback centrally.
This improves coordination between head office, site management and the construction site. Last-minute changes can be tracked transparently and, depending on the respective configuration, incorporated into the planning more quickly.
Centrally coordinate construction sites, staff and machinery
With Visual Planning®’s digital site planning, assignments and resources can be clearly co-ordinated using drag-and-drop. Appointments, sites, staff, vehicles, machinery and equipment can all be displayed in a single, integrated schedule.
Planning rules, warnings and colour-coded indicators help to highlight potential double bookings, missing resources or scheduling clashes at an early stage. Which checks are carried out automatically depends on the specific configuration of the planning process.
Changes are made available centrally to authorised users. This enables production planning, site management and other stakeholders to work on the basis of a shared planning status, rather than having to maintain several different spreadsheets or file versions.
About VPPortal Approved plans can be made available via a browser-based interface . With VPGo Selected mobile information and feedback can be accessed on suitable devices.
Construction site planning instead of scattered Excel spreadsheets
When several construction sites are running in parallel, manually maintaining individual Excel files can quickly become confusing. Changes have to be applied multiple times, and different file versions make coordination difficult.
Visual Planning® brings together all relevant planning information in a centralised environment. Managers can see which staff and resources are available or have already been allocated to other construction sites.
The software can be used, amongst other things, for the following tasks and construction phases:
- Land development
- Excavation and earthworks
- Traffic management and diversions
- Deliveries of materials and concrete
- Structural analysis and technical inspections
- Deployment of bricklayers and other skilled workers
- Cable and wiring installation
- Interior fit-out
- Preparatory and follow-up work
- Use of specialised machinery and equipment
- Planning of qualified staff
- Consideration of specific security measures
If you would like to find out which form of resource planning is best suited to your construction company, read our Decision-making tool for resource planning for construction companies .
Benefits of digital site planning
Central planning overview
Construction sites, staff, machinery, vehicles and deadlines are displayed in a single planning view.
Identify conflicts earlier
Double bookings, capacity shortages and time overlaps can be highlighted depending on the defined rules.
Flexible rescheduling
Appointments and resource allocations can be easily adjusted using drag-and-drop when changes are made.
Mobile information
Depending on the system environment, module and authorisation, approved information can also be made available on mobile devices or in a browser.
Consistent planning status
Authorised users access centralised data and do not have to work with different versions of spreadsheets .
Analyses and monitoring
Progress, times, utilisation rates and target/actual values can be documented and analysed depending on the configuration.
Does the software also support construction project management?
Yes. In addition to the actual deployment and resource planning, depending on the configuration, progress, working hours, capacity utilisation and target-actual comparisons can also be documented and analysed .
This provides site managers and project managers with a better basis for assessing deadlines, available capacity and the current status of the project. The data to be recorded and analysed is determined as part of the specific planning process.
Frequently asked questions about digital construction site planning
What is meant by construction site planning?
Construction site planning involves the organisation and coordination of staff, machinery, vehicles, equipment, materials and deadlines. Digital construction site planning brings this information together in a central planning environment.
What tasks does construction site planning involve?
This includes, amongst other things, staff deployment planning, machine and equipment planning, scheduling, resource coordination, capacity planning and the coordination of parallel construction sites and construction phases.
Why is Excel often no longer sufficient for construction site planning?
With multiple construction sites, numerous resources and last-minute changes, different file versions can quickly arise. Conflicts and dependencies must be checked manually. Centralised planning software provides up-to-date data in a way that is accessible and traceable.
What are the disadvantages of using Excel for construction site planning?
Changes often need to be updated across several tables. This can lead to version conflicts, data transfer errors and a lack of overviews of staff, machinery and ongoing construction sites .
What are the benefits of digital site planning?
Digital construction site planning improves transparency regarding deadlines, availability and resource allocations. Changes can be managed centrally, and potential bottlenecks or overlaps become apparent more quickly.
How does digital site planning work?
Construction sites, staff, vehicles and machinery are displayed on a digital planning board. Authorised users can edit assignments using drag-and-drop and, depending on the configuration, view warnings, status updates and other planning information.
How do you plan several construction sites at the same time?
Multiple construction sites can be displayed in a single shared or interconnected planning view. This allows resources to be reviewed across projects and allocated as required.
How can you prevent double bookings on construction sites?
Visual Planning® can display existing allocations and availability . Defined planning rules and alerts enable time overlaps and multiple bookings to be identified more quickly .
How can you identify resource bottlenecks at an early stage?
Utilisation rates and available capacities can be compared in central views. This means that any shortages of staff, machines or equipment become apparent as early as the planning stage.
How can staff be coordinated across multiple construction sites?
Staff and teams can be assigned to construction sites, tasks and time periods . Qualifications, working hours, absences and availability can be incorporated into the planning, depending on the configuration.
How does machine and equipment planning work?
Machinery and equipment are managed as schedulable resources and assigned to individual construction sites or tasks. Availability, operational period, location and other characteristics can be displayed in the schedule.
Can the construction site planning tool be used on mobile devices?
Yes. Depending on the licence, configuration and system environment, shared planning information can be made available via VPPortal in a browser or via VPGo on suitable mobile devices .
What are the benefits of hosted construction site planning?
A hosted solution enables authorised users to access a centrally provided system environment. The specific scope of functions, availability and responsibilities for operation and data backup depend on the chosen hosting model.
How does the software support last-minute rescheduling?
Resource allocations and appointments can be adjusted centrally . This allows for absences, rescheduled appointments, weather events or new requirements to be taken into account more quickly in the planning process.
How does construction site planning software improve productivity?
Centralised planning can reduce the effort involved in coordination, make available capacities more transparent and make it easier to identify idle periods or overlaps. The actual improvements achieved depend on operational processes, data quality and configuration.
Which companies would benefit from digital construction site planning?
It is particularly suitable for construction companies, craft businesses, technical service providers and companies with several concurrent projects, mobile teams or shared machinery and vehicles.
How can subcontractors be taken into account?
External companies, subcontractors and their assignments can be included in the planning as resources, contacts or project participants. The scope depends on the information and authorisations required.
What role do up-to-date planning data play in the construction industry?
Up-to-date planning data makes it possible to identify changes promptly and coordinate them with the relevant departments. Whether information is updated immediately depends on the component used, the connection and the respective configuration.
What is the difference between construction schedule planning and site planning?
Construction schedule planning focuses primarily on deadlines, construction phases and time dependencies. Construction site planning also encompasses the operational allocation of staff, machinery, vehicles, equipment and other resources.
How does digital construction site planning reduce planning errors?
Centralised data management, traceable changes and transparent resource overviews can help to reduce data entry errors, double bookings and communication problems. Planning rules and warnings also assist users in maintaining control.
Try out construction site planning for free
Try out a demo to see how your construction sites, work crews, equipment and installation jobs can be planned on a single planning board.
Resource planning for staff, teams and equipment
Operational resource planning in the construction industry allocates available staff, work crews, vehicles and equipment to specific building sites and time periods. In doing so, qualifications, travel times, construction phases, absences and shared machinery must be taken into account. Visual Planning® can consolidate this information into a centralised site scheduling system.
The general allocation of teams is carried out in the Staff deployment planning in more detail. The following illustrates how staff and stock were planned across several profit centres: WALO Case Study. The page also offers additional guidance to help you make a decision Resource planning for construction companies.