What does the future hold in the construction industry?
Technology has brought about many changes in different sectors, and there is hardly any sector left uninfluenced by the impacts of technology. Understanding and recognizing the benefits of adopting technology can bring about in the construction industry. This world of project rooms filled with numerous paintings and paperwork is going all digital.
Twenty years ago, when IT professionals were trying to aware of the construction industry about the revolution that technology can bring in the construction industry, things are quite different now. More and more people want to know what benefits data and technology can provide. While there is a paradigm shift in the construction industry’s attitude, let’s look at how technology impacts the construction industry.
Increase in profitability and productivity
With a decade’s worth of digitalization in the construction industry, it is expected that over 1 trillion dollars can be saved in the pre-construction and construction phase. In contrast, around half a trillion dollars can be saved in the operations phase alone by making the projects faster, cheaper, and more efficient. These are just some figures which demonstrate the extent of profitability which digitalization can bring on construction.
Faster and better construction
It is worth noting that the on-time project completion rate is less than one-third of the total projects. Implementation of data and data-oriented advanced techniques can help bring this rate much higher by supporting efficient estimates and facilitating information exchange between different parties involved at different phases of construction.
Better estimates
Construction projects need a lot of forecasts regarding various decisions. From raw material requirements, budget planning to project’s timeline, many things depend on how close these estimates are to the actual figures. With efficient usage of data and other digital techniques, these estimates can be made to the exact actual values
fascinating to think about.
Safer Projects
With the help of 3D modeling, CAD designs, and BIM techniques, many contingencies can be predicted, which helps reduce the risk of accidents, making the projects much safer than before.
There are many employment opportunities
With an increasing demand for professionals trained in digital modeling and other technological construction skills, technology is expected to increase the jobs for skilled professionals on quite a large scale.
Look at the result even before the project finishes
With the support of 4D modeling and CAD designs, consumers and construction professionals can see how a project will look even before the project is completed down to the minute details. This helps all the involved parties in many different ways.
Key challenges for the future
Data and data-based techniques are rapidly changing the way the construction industry is tackling its new projects. With the adoption of technologies like BIM Level 2 and 3, ETIOM standards, COBie, etc. the construction industry is slowly but gradually moving towards going digital, but there are two prominent challenges which the construction sector needs to overcome. Let’s have a look at those challenges.
Training the future construction industry professionals
Jason Ruddle, managing Director of Elecosoft, a UK based firm, says,’ Although Level 2 BIM is rightly today’s priority, the industry needs to get to grips with the training challenges presented by digital construction.’ While the construction industry is moving towards adopting technology in its core, training the future construction industry remains the biggest challenge. According to a BRE Academy survey, 67% of correspondents feel the need to train BIM related skills as the current knowledge about the latest technology in the industry professionals is inadequate. So, while we are headed in the right direction, it is needless to say that this remains the biggest challenge that well faces.
Reluctance to Change
The construction industry is set in its way. Though these ways need some serious up-gradation, many industry professionals and big companies resist the change that the data and other data-oriented techniques bring to the construction world. Moving towards these more advanced methods of project planning and implementation is time-consuming and needs a lot of labor and monetary expenditure in terms of investment. While many organizations have realized the benefits of upgrading, moving the entire industry to a new platform is a challenging task.
What to expect in the Construction world?
The opportunities that the interference of technology in the construction industry is going to create are seamless. Nobody can expect what will happen. The only thing that one can be assured today about the construction industry is that charts and figures on paper roll-outs and clumsy file records will soon be replaced by digital storage.