Technology Trends in the Construction Industry
Regardless of geographical location and the peculiarities of specific markets, the construction industry has, for the most part, been a traditional and quite literally a ‘bricks and mortar’ sector, slow to adapt and incorporate the latest trends in digital transformation. As with every other industry, however, the cost and efficiency benefits are proving to be catalysts for a change in this attitude. Some of the primary challenges the construction businesses must address on a routine basis, center around project quality, deadlines, and budgets.
Despite hesitations regarding the past, the adoption of digital technologies is now proceeding rapidly, and new innovations are constantly being subjected to ‘proof of concept’ deployments by the industry. Thanks to digital technology, construction businesses are transforming their operations and unlocking unprecedented advantages.
From Business Partner, Construction Site, Resource, Document, Workflow and general Enterprise Management to Bidding and Tendering, Estimating and 3D and 5D BIM Modeling, the construction industry has several functions that can be optimized through the use of digital tools. A more enlightened approach towards the prioritization of sustainability and occupational health and safety concerns has also resulted in a greater influence of technology than what the industry was accustomed to of late.
In addition, client expectations have been raised by the rapid transformation in services that have produced highly personalized products. In this context, residential and commercial buildings, as well as infrastructure, is expected to reflect and deliver to these expectancies right from the design stage. The construction industry is required to deliver customized and technology-enabled structures that are compatible with an IoT-ready, performance monitored energy-optimized and modular world. Building owners, manager, and occupants are demanding a complex array of performance and experience-based metrics and outcomes, which are essentially impossible to deliver to any effective degree, without the intervention of digital technology.
Specifically geared towards addressing these emerging requirements within the construction industry, MTWO is a vertical cloud solution that has been developed as a result of a collaboration between RIB Software SE of Stuttgart and Microsoft. The solution addresses the evolving needs of the rapidly transforming contemporary construction sector and is a viable basis for enterprise-scale digital transformation. A combination of RIB’s flagship product, iTWO 4.0 and Microsoft Azure and Dynamics services, MTWO delivers state of the art cloud solution5D BIM capabilities that can transform the performance of any construction project or enterprise.
Compelling advantages to digital transformation in the construction industry
Process efficiencies, optimal designs, and project management are only three of the many advantages that digital technology can enable for a construction enterprise. The ability to effortlessly ensure that the project is in alignment with safety and sustainability concerns is an additional feature that adds to the benefits accrued. Some of the transformative upgrades, specific to the construction business, that digital solutions such as MTWO and Dynamics 365 enable include:
Data-driven operations. Data is now a valuable asset in any complex and interdependent operation and the construction industry is the perfect candidate for such optimization. Apart from technology processes leveraging data to maximize profit, the complexity of processes and stages –both sequential and concurrent – gains hugely from a real-time assessment that is both specific to the process in question and aligned with the overarching goal.
Repeatable consistency. Construction projects are a highly complex web of operations and the ability to interpret and monitor parameters, through visual representation and user-friendly data-rich dashboards, empowers both human decision making as well as automated processes. These features are a core requirement for repeatable and consistent operations.
Flexibility and improvisation. It is often the case that design specifications need to be altered or customized, in reaction to real-time data or a change in requirements. Digital tools are an invaluable asset in arriving at the most optimal design, as well as incorporating additional information as it becomes available, during the fabrication stage itself.
Establishing a stakeholder consensus. Not only do construction projects involve a multiplicity of parameters and modeling technology processes, but they are also led by a very diverse set of stakeholders. The modeling, communication and monitoring aspects of digital modeling technology, among others, are helpful in generating consensus among all invested parties.
Ease of innovation. Access to a comprehensive and real-time ‘snapshot’ of the project allows businesses the leeway to create specific solutions and to innovate to address both unforeseen issues or unexpected opportunities.
Conclusion
For a modern construction business to meet the outcomes required of it optimally, recruiting the power of digital technology effectively can be the crucial difference between success and failure. The demanding and dynamically evolving nature of construction projects requires that the concerns of stakeholders as diverse as developers, clients, investors, contractors, sub-contractors, and regulatory bodies are reconciled. The highly competitive nature of the industry leaves very little room for error as well. The right digital solution can help your enterprise consistently deliver outstanding results.