When it comes to construction, mankind has always advanced and found ways to improve the process of building. Technological advances have always happened and will continue to happen for generations to come.
In today's construction industry, it's as competitive as ever. Companies need to keep their fingers on the pulse in order to stay ahead of the game, or risk falling behind. But striking the right balance between staying competitive, growing your business, and investing in the right hardware and software can be tough. Which is why clearly understanding and knowing what you need to do to stay ahead is key.
Which is why we're going to talk about smart construction technology and why it's worth investing in for your business.
Traditional Construction Sites
Also known as the “brick and mortar”construction method, traditional construction typically refers to a more “hands on” approach, and in the past has achieved higher quality and more unique results than its modern counterpart. Smart or Connected Construction has flipped this ideology on it head and is now the standard for all successful projects.
The main issue with traditional construction is that the process takes much longer and is far more expensive. This is because designers and builders with specifically higher skill sets are usually employed on the job, and these collective fees add up very quickly. As well as significantly higher construction, material and labour costs, this is usually way out of budget for many clients and as such becomes quickly unaffordable.
Even though traditional projects are changing all the time with different firms being hired to handle separate pieces of a project; this is all allowing for clients to cherry-pick the very best work from those with the best cost positions like never before. In essence, there is still room for some methods of more traditional construction, but as the technological pace continues to speed up, the only way to really get ahead and to stay innovative is to automate your processes.
Smart Construction Site
Also called connected construction, or intelligent construction. This involves building design, construction and operation through collaborative partnerships. This makes full use of digital technologies and industrialised manufacturing techniques to improve productivity, minimise whole life cost, improve sustainability, and maximise user benefits.
It saves a lot of time in comparison to its traditional counterpart, and allows for businesses to construct more buildings faster with less waste. The productivity of workers is dramatically increased and less time is spent building everything from scratch.
It’s why going digital and having the right automotive technology to take your construction, horizontal and vertical builds to the next level of efficiency and speed are essential.
Connected construction means that you don’t have to do guesswork and subsequently fix inevitable mistakes due to human error after. Especially with earthwork processes, it is critical to be able to have the right information provided to you so you can streamline your tasks, keep your schedule on track and make your designs as accurate as possible. This is what fast and accurate machine control technology can do to revolutionise your own civil earthworks and infrastructure project work.
Five Ways Smart Construction Is Reshaping Construction
Smart technology is truly changing the way we build and here's five of the most important.
- Machine Control
Give yourself a competitive advantage with machine control. Through this technology, your fleet will be more efficient and productive, giving your staff the tools they need to succeed and get the job done right, each and every time.
- Automation
Being effective in managing your tools and equipment saves your firm a huge amount of time in procurement, repairing, and replacement of stock which becomes even more proactive, strategic and data-driven.
- Building Information Management Automation
Manage your projects through the cloud, meaning all members of your team, on the site and in the office, can stay connected and handle all problems on the fly.
- Digital Twins
Also known as a digital replica of a physical entity, a digital twin is the perfect addition to any construction project and helps to accelerate and automate the traditional design, production and operational processes of construction. This helps construction companies significantly mitigate risks and be able to deliver more of a project with fewer resources required.
- 3D Imaging
Prevent confusion and errors and delays typically caused through the process of translating 2D plans to 3D plans (and vice versa) on a construction project. Modern BIM software and powerful tablets or laptops can be combined to allow the use of high quality 3D designs throughout every stage of the project lifecycle.
Not only is smart technology a no-brainer for your business, it's also the way forward for the construction industry. By investing in this technology, not only are you taking the first steps to getting yourself ahead of the competition by getting technology that works, you'll also reap the rewards of having a strong ROI.
If this sounds like something you're interested in and want to learn more, we've created an entire guide on this topic. Grab it below.
