Outdated Procurement Processes Are Costing Australian Builders Time and Money
There’s a quiet cost bleeding through the margins of many building businesses in Australia. It doesn’t show up in the timber or steel, or on the invoice from your trade. It’s buried in the way you procure—and for many small to medium builders, those processes are outdated, inefficient, and stunting business growth.
In an industry that prides itself on craftsmanship, precision, and timeliness, procurement remains one of the least optimised areas of most residential building businesses. It’s often a tangle of spreadsheets, text messages, emails, late quotes, wrong deliveries, and last-minute changes that cause grey days on site and erode profit without anyone really tracking it.
But here’s the truth: the way you manage procurement could be the biggest untapped lever for improving your efficiency, profitability, and growth.
Why Procurement Matters More Than You Think
Procurement is not just about ordering materials or locking in trades. It’s the nervous system of your construction business. It connects scopes, quotes, purchase orders, schedules, suppliers, and site teams. When procurement works, the project flows. When it doesn’t, delays pile up, margins shrink, and everyone feels the pressure.
According to research from McKinsey, inefficiencies in construction procurement and supply chains can contribute to 25% higher costs and up to 30% project delays1. In Australia, the cost of inefficiency is estimated to be billions annually across residential construction alone.
Yet many builders still rely on systems that were built for a different time.
Manual quote requests clog inboxes.
Spreadsheets become versioning nightmares.
Purchase orders are emailed and lost in a sea of replies.
Scheduling isn’t connected to procurement.
Trades get the wrong scope—or get it too late.
Each of these problems on its own seems manageable. But together, they form a productivity drain that quietly limits the growth of your business.
The Hidden Admin Tax
As a builder, your most limited resource isn’t materials or trades—it’s time.
And when procurement is manual, time gets eaten fast. You chase quotes, resend specs, follow up suppliers, confirm deliveries, update trades, revise schedules, and reconcile mismatched invoices. Multiply that over 10 or 20 live jobs and it’s no surprise you’re spending more time managing paperwork than building homes.
In fact, research from Procore and ACA Research shows that small and medium-sized Australian builders spend 20%–25% of their time on administrative tasks—most of which can be automated or streamlined2.
This “admin tax” adds no value to your customer, doesn’t improve build quality, and certainly doesn’t boost your bottom line. What it does do is hold your business back from growing efficiently.
You Wouldn’t Use Outdated Tools On Site. So Why Use Them In The Office?
Imagine turning up to site with a circular saw from 1995, or managing your framing with a hand-drawn plan and no laser levels. You wouldn’t.
Builders are fast adopters of the best tools for the job—on site. But when it comes to business processes like procurement, many are still using outdated, patched-together systems that are unfit for today’s speed and complexity.
It’s time to think about your procurement tools the same way you think about your on-site equipment: do they make you faster, better, and more accurate? Or are they holding you back?
Connected Procurement: A Smarter Way Forward
Modern builders are starting to work on their business, not just in it. And one of the most impactful changes you can make is to move from manual procurement to connected procurement.
What is Connected Procurement?
Connected procurement is the process of automating and linking all the core components of procurement—scopes, quotes, purchase orders, trade scheduling, and supplier communication—through a single platform. It ensures that everything and everyone involved in delivering a home is working from the same source of truth.
No more chasing quotes. No more emailing orders. No more last-minute scheduling chaos. No more miscommunications.
Just a streamlined, centralised system that makes it faster and easier to:
Automate scope creation and updates
Send and compare quotes from your network of trades and suppliers
Generate and manage purchase orders
Align procurement with project schedules
Track progress, availability and status of trades in real time
It’s a smarter, faster, more profitable way to work.
How Connected Procurement Builds Better Businesses
Let’s break down the benefits for builders:
1. Save Time
Automated processes replace repetitive admin, freeing up you and your team to focus on higher-value work. Builders using connected procurement platforms like BuiltGrid are reducing procurement-related admin by up to 70%.
2. Build Profit
When scopes are clear and trades are aligned, there’s less rework, less wastage, and fewer costly mistakes. Every day saved on site or variation avoided adds to your bottom line.
3. Improve Cash Flow
Faster procurement cycles mean projects run on time and suppliers get paid promptly—reducing delays, disputes, and hold-ups that impact progress payments.
4. Win More Work
By streamlining procurement, you can scale operations without needing to scale your admin team. That means you can take on more projects—and deliver them with consistency.
5. Attract and Retain Quality Trades
Trades want clarity, consistency and forward visibility. Connected procurement makes it easier for them to quote accurately, plan their work, and get paid on time. That builds loyalty in your trade base.
BuiltGrid: Australia’s Leader in Connected Procurement
At BuiltGrid, we’ve built the platform that modern builders rely on to transform how they procure.
Whether you manage five projects or fifty, BuiltGrid gives you the visibility, speed and control to run smarter, more profitable jobs. With an integrated network of trades and suppliers already on the platform, you can connect and collaborate faster than ever before.
Builders using BuiltGrid have reported saving up to $78,500 per unit through reduced delays, streamlined procurement, and more efficient delivery3.
We’ve worked with small and medium builders across Australia to help them shift away from fragmented systems and onto a connected platform that supports their growth.
It’s Time to Rethink Procurement
The building industry is evolving fast. Material prices are volatile. Trade availability is tight. Clients expect more.
You can’t afford to be using outdated tools or broken processes—not if you want to grow. Reviewing and upgrading your procurement process isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s a business-critical move.
Just like you wouldn’t ignore a blunt saw or broken nail gun, don’t ignore inefficient systems that are costing you money and time.
The builders who thrive in the next decade will be those who treat their business systems with the same care and precision as their construction methods.
Ready to Build Smarter?
Connected procurement is not the future. It’s already here—and the builders using it are pulling ahead.
✅ Save time
✅ Increase profit
✅ Scale efficiently
✅ Deliver better projects
✅ Build a stronger business
Speak to the team at BuiltGrid today to see how connected procurement can work for you.
