The construction industry in Australia makes up just over eight per cent of our GDP and employs a whopping 1.1 million people. With this in mind, in the year ahead, the top priorities for construction businesses should be to continue to invest in technologies promoting standardised, organisation-wide process – with the ultimate goal of process automation; along with improving data collection and data use.
So, when we talk about the technologies that will have the biggest impact in the construction industry in 2019, it’s important to think about them in the context of how they can support these top business priorities. By taking a closer look at the ongoing challenges fuelling these drivers of success, we can better understand how current, rapidly advancing technologies can and will help turn business challenges into competitive advantages.
Strategy is key to project success
According to KPMG’s 2017 Global Construction Survey, 72 per cent of respondents say technology is prominent in their strategic plan or vision. However, less than half (48 per cent) of respondents say their company has developed a data/technology strategy or road map. Fortunately, while most companies’ strategies may not yet be fully established, we are certainly heading in the right direction in terms of technology adoption.
Still, more construction businesses need to fully embrace modern project delivery technology that enables project teams and other stakeholders to leverage common tools to drive automation and process improvements across their project activities – and their project portfolio. The use of machine learning algorithms to automate aspects of the scheduling process, for example, can both improve speed and accuracy of planning and resource management as well as making it easier for teams to adjust to changes to the schedule.
While we can acknowledge that the industry is behind others such as auto manufacturing in enabling standards for full process automation; all industries must continue to prioritise investments that lead to automation and look for areas ripe for transformation.
A second business imperative is the need for construction businesses to realise true, real-time collaboration – Although some construction companies are collecting vast amounts of data from ERP systems and other technologies, the information is often disconnected and lags project activities in ways that limit its utility. This reality undermines the value of the data and forces organisations to react after the fact. But cloud collaboration and maturing technologies such as sensors are enabling real-time collection of data that feeds into project controls systems. This allows organisations to run AI algorithms in real time to analyse and proactively manage projects.
Let technology enable your business to prosper
2018 is a year we can learn from to make progress from the outset of 2019. The following technology categories are either already paying important dividends for the early adopters or offer a promising path to innovation and business transformation.
- Mobility versus scalability
While we saw progress in 2018, achieving true, real-time collaboration across all stakeholders remains a major job-site challenge. By pursuing an integrated, cloud-based approach to data and processes, construction businesses can achieve a truly positive impact on project outcomes. The key word here is ‘collaborative’ or, better still ‘connected’. Many technology solutions onsite involve disparate systems and tools like email to communicate, which can hinder the efficiency of projects as insightful information and data is not necessarily shared with all user parties where appropriate and when required. The ideal scenario is for all project teams to work from the same system to ensure that all data is captured and there are no silos of information.
- A connected approach to data
The Internet of Things (IoT) will continue to change how we approach data and process throughout 2019, by enabling real-time data collection, action and proactive data management through the cloud, connected devices and mobile applications. Wireless carriers in both Australia and New Zealand are deploying 5G throughout 2019, bringing fibre optic-type high-bandwidth connectivity and low latency – and greatly speeding data transfer. Taken together, these developments and applications, as well as the data they yield or analyse, offer significant opportunities to transform project delivery by enabling a truly connected worksite.
- Visualise project success
As building information modelling (BIM) becomes increasingly prominent, many in the projecting space are looking to change how their organisations work. Already, there are innovative applications offering reality capture from an array of sources, including drone photos and other digital images, to create sophisticated models. Once integrated with scheduling and project delivery tools, one of BIM’s central promises can be realised by integrating it into collaborative processes, and in turn, breaking down the silos and inefficiencies created by disconnected systems that have traditionally held this benefit back.
Digital transformation is a journey not a destination
As the construction industry continues to experience digital transformation, project- and asset-intensive organisations must be prepared to navigate and benefit from the changing landscape. Already, productivity in the Australian construction industry is growing at 2.8 per cent annually, but still business decision makers should talk to early adopters and be ready to experiment with emerging technologies. By doing so, they can quickly move their businesses into a leadership position and be fully prepared to adopt new technologies for even greater integration and success.
By: Callan Mantell, area vice-president, Oracle Construction and Engineering
