ConstructConnect Blog

According to a recent post, the construction industry as a whole has seen little to no improvement in productivity over the past eight decades. While productivity plateaus and construction projects become more complex and time-intensive, construction companies also face tedious day-to-day management and inaccuracies that can tank a project’s profitability.

If you’re a construction project manager, you’ve probably heard about the great benefits of virtual design and construction (VDC) and how fantastic it is to be able to construct a three-dimensional, visual model of your project before you ever break ground. The trouble with new technology isn’t always finding the benefits though – it’s making the business case for why your company should be going after those benefits and answering questions like “How does this help us make more profit?” and “How will this add more value?”

Construction projects create a lot of data. In the past, much of that data was unstructured and siloed. Data was collected, often on paper, and filed away once a project was completed. That’s been changing over the past several years as construction companies are realizing the benefits and insights that big data, predictive analytics and real-time data sharing can unlock.

3D printing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, has been making impressive advancements in a number of industries from manufacturing to medicine over the past few years. The construction industry hasn’t been immune to the potential benefits that 3D printing technology promises.

“The robots are coming to take our construction jobs!” There’s been a lot of media coverage over the past couple of years about how workers in many industries, construction included, will soon be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence (AI). A recent study by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) estimates that by 2057 robots could replace or displace 2.7 million jobs in construction.

What does a retail district in Nashville, an apartment complex for homeless veterans in Orange County, CA and a condominium building in Detroit all have in common? They were all built using repurposed shipping containers as the primary building material.

It’s no secret that construction can be very slow when it comes to change. Nevertheless, the advent of new technologies has dramatically contributed toward the modernization of the whole industry. A general need for change has emerged as a result of the serious productivity problems that are noticed in big markets like the United States and the United Kingdom.

Offsite construction has been around for years, but interest in this construction method has grown rapidly in the past decade. Benefits of offsite construction include decreased costs compared to conventional construction methods, shortened project schedules, reduced waste and safer working conditions.

As technology adoption continues to ramp up in the construction industry, one area getting a lot of attention is improving safety. A strong emphasis is on using wearables to monitor workers and their environment to make jobsite safer. Wearable tech in construction is being embedded into apparel and personal protective equipment (PPE) already common on construction sites like hard hats, gloves, safety vests and work boots.

Technology is constantly improving the way the construction industry operates. Smartphones and mobile apps have made communication and collaboration on projects easier. Building Information Modeling (BIM) improves project visualization, makes scheduling more efficient and reduces waste and rework.