Construction and Technology: An Unlikely Duo

Are you involved in a new high-rise? Maybe you want to build a new house for your family, the idea of construction is confusing and for most daunting. Every day millions of workers are involved in construction projects around the globe. Construction is one of the largest industries by GDP and arguably the largest contributor to GDP globally if real estate and development are taken into account. Yet, unlike many of the GDP giants construction is one of the most antiquated industries barely leveraging technology while heavily relying old methods and techniques to build our future. There has been a shift in the past decade to make innovation and technology more of an accepted solution to the challenges construction projects face, yet the acceptance and resources dedicated to progress have been slow even in the face of an aging workforce with growing external factors. From the outside one may ask "What Gives?" or question why the industry is so antiquated? This answer is complex and not easy to formulate but should be understood that something needs to happen.

For seemingly thousands of years construction has functioned in much the same way. It starts with an idea or want by the owner of what will be the project. They will then employ the services of a designer, sometime known as an architect, who will put their dreams onto paper. Next a contractor take the design as described by the architect and make it a reality. Between each of these parties is a plethora of consultants, officials, and banks putting their hands in the mix, it is not uncommon for large commercial projects to have 20 or more consultants, designers, developers, and owners all trying to make their impact on the project. In early times, as with today, expectations and communication for these projects relies heavily on interpersonal communications. The antiquated communication methods and reluctance to embrace innovations / technology are reasons why construction is the second least digitized industry, only beaten by hunting / agriculture, in the United States according to a study by McKinsey & Company. This heavy reliance on in-person communication has placed high-level technology integration on the back burner and has left the industry with hundreds of unchecked ways of sharing information. When is the last time you heard a construction project going smoothly.... never is most likely the answer. 

Other than the ever present communication spider web of confusion, construction faces endless environmental, legal, and labor force limitations. Unlike other service based industries that are large GDP contributors, take banking for example, construction is unable to function in a vacuum so it is not nearly as easy for a company, or industry for that matter, to role out a whole new method and standard practice when each construction site is facing their own crisis. 

Staying with banking, the advent of the ATM (automated teller machine) revolutionized the way money was processed and accessed by millions of users around the globe. This consumer facing technology was only able to so revolutionary with the adoption of electronic ledgers and a uniform record-keeping method that all have banks adopted, the language of money was made systematic and uniform. It's easy at this point in humanity to take paying for your coffee or sharing money with your friends via an app as commonplace but this level of communication doesn't exist in construction, it is lightyears away. 

Currently, a major push is underway to bring construction into the 21st century. The need for streamlined communication and online collaboration is becoming more in demand, not only to create consistency between project parties but also collaboration is what the younger generations come to expect. Construction is dominated by older, very knowledgable, individuals over 55 that are nearing retirement leaving the industry everyday, brain drain is a real crisis. Unless the industry can find a way to attract an app-friendly and online focus generation the possibility of even more headaches is a real problem. Many large industry players have started to create their own Project Management software or do company wide adoptions of third-party platforms in effort to make collaboration and communication more uniform. Procore and Autodesk have made the most valiant efforts and have been the most widely accepted into the construction / design industry as a whole, and the companies who have adopted these platforms have had much greater success in project management and project completion. 

In a recent study by McKinsey & Company, "Reinventing Construction Through a Productivity Revolution" just a 1.8% increase in technology adoption by the construction industry could add $1.6 trillion in yearly value. This 1.8% increase in production is the difference to bring construction in line with the average growth in productivity across all industries worldwide. When such an incremental change can have such a drastic effect on an industry's value, its obvious the change is needed.  

In conclusion, the need for technology in your next project should be at the forefront of every projects requirements. From a changing climate, regulations, and labor force, the need to digitalize information and create a common way for construction team members to collaborate is vital. As the current workforce continues to age it is critical the incoming generations retain the knowledge and expertise of those leaving. If not the productivity crisis and nightmare projects will continue to be commonplace. 

What are your thoughts? How have you implemented technology in your firm? 

Leave your comments below!

Sean McFadden 
Principal
BlandHaus
sean@blandhaus.com


Sources:
McKinsey & Company - Construction Productivity Study
McKinsey & Company - Global Industry Digitalization Study