Construction site tracking application: Save 13 hours a month with Dropia automation

Where do these 13 gained hours come from?

Automation #1: Time tracking (4-5h/month)

Traditional process:

• Collecting paper timesheets: 30 min/week = 2h/month

• Deciphering and verification: 45 min/week = 3h/month

• Data entry in Excel or payroll software: 1h/week = 4h/month

• Error correction: 30 min/week = 2h/month

• Total: 11h/month

With automated time tracking Dropia:

• Employees clock in directly on mobile: 0h (done by them)

• Validation of time entries at a glance: 30 min/week = 2h/month

• No re-entry necessary: 0h

• Exceptional corrections in one click: 15 min/week = 1h/month

• Total: 3h/month

Gain: 8h/month just on time tracking

For a team of 10 people, this represents almost a full working day recovered each month.

Automation #2: Reports and documents (3-4h/month)

Traditional process:

• Manual consolidation of data from multiple sources: 1h/week

• Formatting of Excel/Word reports: 45 min/week

• Generating PDFs for clients: 30 min/week

• Sending and archiving: 15 min/week

• Total: 11h/month

With automated reports from Dropia:

• One-click automatic generation: 2 min/report

• All formats available (PDF, Excel, accounting): included

• Template customization: initial setup 1h, then 0h

• Total: 30 min/month

Gain: 10.5h/month on report production

Automation #3: Document management (2-3h/month)

Traditional process:

• Searching for documents in emails or folders: 15 min/day = 5h/month

• Sending documents to field teams: 20 min/day = 7h/month

• Version management (check we have the right one): 10 min/day = 3.5h/month

• Archiving and organization: 1h/week = 4h/month

• Total: 19.5h/month

With the centralized document space Dropia:

• Instant search: 2 min/day = 1h/month

• Direct mobile access for all: 0h (autonomy)

• Automatic version management: 0h

• Intelligent organization: 30 min/month

• Total: 1.5h/month

Gain: 18h/month on document management

Automation #4: Profitability analysis (3-4h/month)

Traditional process:

• Collecting hours by project: 2h/month

• Valuing hours at cost: 1h/month

• Integrating supplies and materials: 2h/month

• Comparing budget vs actual: 1.5h/month

• Producing dashboards: 1.5h/month

• Total: 8h/month

With automated analysis Dropia:

• All calculations in real-time: 0h

• Automatic dashboards: 0h

• On-demand consultation: 15 min/month

• Total: 15 min/month

Gain: 7.75h/month on profitability analysis

Total potential gains: 44.25h/month

You read that right: the potential time savings far exceed the announced 13h. Why this difference?

Explanation of the 13h figure

• Some companies automate only part of the processes

• The learning phase (first months) is less optimal

• Some tasks remain (validation, quality control)

• The 13h figure is a conservative average across all profiles

The most mature companies using Dropia achieve well over 20h of monthly gains.

Detailed testimony: SME in masonry, 12 employees

Situation before Dropia

Nathalie, manager, describes her daily life:

"Every Friday, I would collect the timesheets from my 12 guys. However, there was always one or two missing, with some guys forgetting their sheet on a job site. I spent Friday afternoons and sometimes Saturday mornings calling them, deciphering the writings, keying into Excel, checking that the totals matched with the days worked.

Then I had to cross-reference with my job notes to know who worked where, how many hours on which project. Another 2-3h on Monday morning.

For client reports, I consolidated everything in Word, manually calculated the hours by project, added the supplies noted in another file. Easily 3-4h per client, and I had 5-6 active projects.

In the end, between 15 and 20h per month just for tracking hours and producing reports."

Situation after Dropia

"Now, my guys clock in on their phones when arriving and leaving the job site. It takes them 10 seconds. Every morning, I check on Dropia who clocked in where. If someone forgets, I see it immediately and send them a message. It takes me 5 minutes.

At the end of the week, I validate the clock-ins at a glance: 15 minutes max. Dropia has already calculated the hours by project, per person, everything is ready.

For client reports, I click on 'generate PDF report', choose the period, and it's done. The document automatically includes the hours per task, the supplies we pointed out, the financial summary. 2 minutes per report.

I went from 15-20h to 3-4h per month. I save at least 12h, sometimes 15h.

And above all, I no longer spend my weekends catching up on administrative delays. That’s priceless."

The Dropia automations in detail

Intelligent automation of time tracking

The Dropia time tracking system does not just record hours. It:

• Detects inconsistencies (forgotten clock-ins, unusual hours)

• Automatically suggests the project based on location

• Instantly calculates the hourly cost per project

• Generates payroll data in a compatible format

• Assigns hours to the correct analytical codes

Automation of multi-format reports

Dropia automatically generates:

• Weekly report: hours by employee and by project

• Monthly report: complete consolidation + analysis

• Client report: professional presentation of progress

• Accounting export: file compatible with your software

• Payroll export: data ready for processing

All these documents are customizable (logo, colors, mentions) during the initial setup, then generated automatically afterwards.

Automation of profitability analysis

The Dropia dashboards display in real-time:

• Actual cost vs projected budget by project

• Percentage of progress and budget consumed

• Margin projection at completion

• Automatic alerts for threshold exceedances

• Profitability by task type and by worker

These analyses, which used to take hours to produce manually, are now available at the click of a button.

Automation of document management

The Dropia document space automates:

• Versioning (each upload creates a new version)

• Synchronization (all devices have the latest version)

• Notifications (alerts when a document changes)

• Archiving (automatic organization by project)

• Access rights (fine management according to roles)

How to maximize automation gains

Week 1: Optimal setup

Invest 2-3h to set up well:

• Import all active projects with their budgets

• Customize report templates to your image

• Define the alert thresholds that matter to you

• Organize the document structure

These initial 3h pay off from the first month.

Week 2: Training and adoption

Quickly train the teams:

• 15 min per worker for mobile time tracking

• 30 min for foremen on advanced functions

• 1h for managers on reports and analyses

Emphasize the concrete benefits for each.

Months 2-3: Process optimization

Once the tool is in place, reorganize your processes:

• Eliminate residual double entries

• Automate the sending of recurring reports

• Define routines (validating clock-ins in the morning, generating reports on Fridays)

Months 4+: Advanced exploitation

Use historical data to:

• Improve your estimates (actual vs projected ratios)

• Identify the most productive workers

• Detect the most profitable project types

• Negotiate with clients based on factual data

Calculating the ROI of automation

For an SME with 15 employees

Cost Dropia Enterprise plan: 59.90€/month = 598.80€/year (with annual discount -20%)

Time savings: 13h/month × 12 months = 156h/year

Valuation of time:

• If valued at minimum wage (15€/h): 156h × 15€ = 2,340€/year

• If valued at manager/foreman rate (35€/h): 156h × 35€ = 5,460€/year

Minimum ROI: 2,340€ - 598.80€ = 1,741€ net profit/year (ROI 291%) Realistic ROI: 5,460€ - 598.80€ = 4,861€ net profit/year (ROI 812%)

Not to mention indirect gains:

• Reduced billing errors

• Early detection of project deviations

• Improved customer satisfaction (responsiveness)

The companies that gain the most time

Profile 1: 8-20 employees, multiple simultaneous projects Typical gains: 12-18h/month The sweet spot of Dropia: enough teams for complexity, but structured enough to adopt quickly.

Profile 2: Companies with overwhelmed foremen Typical gains: 15-25h/month Foremen go from 12h to an average of 9h of daily work, recovering 60h/month.

Profile 3: Companies analyzing their profitability finely Typical gains: 10-15h/month + overall better profitability Automation of analysis allows detecting deviations 2-3 weeks earlier.

Conclusion: 13h is just the beginning

The gain of 13 hours per month is a conservative average. Many companies achieve much better results. But even if you only save "just" 10h, the ROI remains exceptional.

More importantly: these hours are not just saved, they are reallocated. Instead of data entry, searching, and consolidating, you can focus on business development, quality improvement, team training, or simply regain work-life balance.

Automation with Dropia is not a technological gadget. It’s a measurable performance lever, available from 29.90€/month, and operational in just a few hours.

→ Calculate your potential gains with a free demo