In terms of digitalization, the construction industry was one of the slowest ones. However that’s starting to change thanks to many factors. Among the most significant reasons for digital transformation, there is the creation of information building models and digital twins, declining prices of computers and last but not least, shortage of workforce.

“We’re seeing contractors digitize more of their processes in an effort to gain an important advantage over their market peers,” said Eric LaBat, senior vice president of business marketing at Seacoast Bank. “Those who lag in adopting digital technology could soon find themselves losing to competitors who have found ways to work smarter and faster.”

Why has the construction industry rather avoided digitization?

According to April’s research done by the McKinsey company, several factors contribute to this fact. The highest number of respondents stated obstacles related to the whole physical nature of this field. Distance of the places where orders are being realized and the necessity to work with construction materials and heavy machinery followed. Employee unwillingness to accept new technologies was significant as well. If controlling the new device was not completely simple and intuitive, it had almost no chance to get a toehold in this area of industry. Even the attitude of construction workers has major impacts on implementation of digital technology – they see it as more costs rather than a tool for increasing efficiency.

Despite the original restraint, digitization can be the best opportunity to streamline working processes, increase the whole effectivity and reduce costs. If construction enterprises want to reap the benefits of digitization, they will have to start learning from pioneers in the field that have already taken action and invest in their digital transformation.

Rise of the Internet of Things

In the construction industry, technologies using the Internet of Things are most commonly utilized for automation of manual and paper processes. It’s therefore possible to achieve greater process transparency, overview and work security. Wearable devices are able to collect data much more quickly, precisely and cheaply than a human controller. It’s possible to analyze the course of processes, set their optimal parameters and manage the course of activities in real time, using the high quality data.

Another well applicable and commonly used application is software for task management. To the system, it’s possible to enter hundreds and even thousands of employees and possess data about their tasks and activities in one place. These applications improve cooperation and participation on tasks, accelerate communication among leaders, project managers, suppliers and employees in a workplace.

Time savings are crucial

“More important than price is how quickly the software or technology creates efficiencies and streamlines processes,” said LaBat. “If you save X number of hours a week in rework and reduce the number of laborers required, that results in a very tangible and specific savings to the bottom line. Most construction firm CFOs are going to get behind investing in that kind of technology.”

But it’s not about technological equipment that you just need to connect and immediately reap the benefits of it, in the construction field. It’s necessary to thoroughly plan their implementation and then sensitively integrate. Only by doing so, it is possible to achieve maximum efficiency and results that the enterprise is expecting from the specific technology. Close cooperation with business partners and clients is needed in the phase of development already. That includes testing on a well created model for elimination of potential risks and selection of an optimal implementation variant. This way, we are certain that the technology will be suitable for difficult environment conditions and that it will bring the results that are expected of it.