When it comes to construction site productivity, the possibility that technology can offer is cosmic. The industry’s digital transformation is continuing to unfold, with different companies at separate levels of maturity depending on where they are in the industry, their resource and strategy. Even though companies are at different stages of digital adoption, we can all agree that the benefits on offer are numerous. But what do these impacts look like in real life, especially in regards to productivity? Roy Danon from Buildots explains
The construction industry is making its first steps in digitisation. Technology is becoming increasingly more important across construction projects, as businesses are realising that complex processes are made easier with the aid of technology. With digital solutions risks are being avoided and mitigated, and once arduous programmes of work are now far more efficient and seamless.
The technology that is making the most transformative difference is BIM, which is at the core of the industry’s digital offering. BIM is the first time that the industry has an agreed concept that it is aiming to create through its delivery process – it’s the first time the different pieces of the puzzle are properly coordinated. It is therefore creating (well, in most cases) an agreed goal for the first few years of construction’s process.
Buildots puts BIM at the centre of the site’s day-to-day operations. It compares data captured through off-the-shelf 360-degree cameras to BIM models. The outcome of this comparison is a digital twin providing a granular view between the design, the schedule and reality. On top of the digital twin, an advanced dashboard creates the construction control centre, showing progress reports, monthly valuations and flags any divergences from designs or programme.
Construction companies that invest in creating workflows around BIM are well-positioned to quickly leverage new products that can directly affect their bottom lines.
Tech in action
With the use of Buildots’ platform, on average project teams spot a missing element for every 50-100 sq m. This means that hundreds of issues are avoided, leading to a substantial efficiency improvement in the real world.
Buildots’ AI and computer vision algorithms enable the construction site team to drill down to details and take immediate actions according to the findings surfaced in Buildots’ application.Â
The technology is enabling project managers to transition from holding the fire hose to be in full control of trade’s work. This is one of the intrinsic benefits of using Buildots. It redirects the time spent performing manual tasks to more bigger priorities, allowing managers to better use their skills to influence the project’s outcome.
A great project outcome will continue to be desirable, considering the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will be up and running in about two years. Key to building safety, the BSR comes in the wake of Dame Judith Hackitt’s golden thread of information, which can be defined as an accurate, up-to-date record of all data required to maintain and operate a built asset. The golden thread has been a huge talking point across the industry since the Grenfell fire tragedy in 2017.
To align with this process, there will be a higher demand from companies to know and understand the role of data within an asset or project. Having a clear audit trail of what has been done, who did it and how it was installed will create this all-important golden thread of information. It will also highlight the value of data and information on a digital sphere; data that isn’t gathering dust in a filing cabinet or stowed away on a server, but essential to informing real world decision-making regarding the performance of a building.
The real world benefits of technology are clear to see. Digital solutions are optimising productivity where it is most needed and are giving site teams clearer visibility of their complex projects at hand. BIM is one of the central solutions driving the consistency and transparency that are needed to guarantee project success. With the technology only heading in the right direction – in the sense that it is getting more and more sophisticated as time passes – we are sure to see even more real-world benefits.
Roy Danon
Founder and CEO
Tel: +44 (0)20 3984 9580
Twitter: @Buildots
LinkedIn: Buildots
