The construction industry is notorious for jumping in slow to new technology.
Sure, sometimes that hesitation is a good thing. A lot of new technologies comes and go, and a chunk of what were built-up to be the next big thing turn out to be short fads that don’t really accomplish much.
But the old-school motto of “why change what isn’t broken” doesn’t cut it in 2018. With so many new construction technologies that are actually changing the way the industry operates, most construction companies are still not buying in. But the handful that are, well, they’re making (and saving) a ton of money—mostly because so few others are taking advantage of what’s out there. Here are some stats for you:
- Out of 19 industries, construction allocates the least amount of revenue for technology.
- In 2015, 35% of U.S. contractors allocated less than 1% of revenue to construction technology; more than 50% spent less than 2%.
- Leading reasons why: management hesitance (31%), lack of knowledge of what’s out there (28%), employee hesitance (25%).
Hesitation is hurting a lot of construction companies. And the longer you wait on today’s tried-and-proven construction technologies, the further ahead your competitors get.
Here are today’s construction technologies that bring a huge return in investment for the companies that buy-in.
Let’s get the big, ‘splashy’ one out of the way first—drones
Yup, drones are the real deal.
It’s easy to consider drone technology just a trend, but it has become one of the new technologies that construction companies actually use (especially as the price of drones keep going down).
According to DroneDeploy, construction makes up the fastest growing user of their drone technology—mining and agriculture not far behind.
A few reasons why drones have been so valuable to the construction industry is due to their capability to quickly and affordably survey land, infrastructure and safety risks. They’re cutting a lot of costs, time and effort for contractors, helping them win a lot more ambitious bids.
Business Information Modelling (BIM)
Keeping within budget is a high priority for construction projects of any size, and Building Information Modelling (BIM) – an intelligent 3D modeling process for architecture, engineering, and construction alike – is helping considerably. As per Jonathan Hunter, Chief Operating Officer of Elecosoft (source) “BIM is being adopted by construction contractors, medium-sized building companies and house builders, as it becomes affordable and its benefits are tangible.”
From design to delivery, today’s BIM technology helps a lot of construction businesses keep their projects not only on time and on budget, but also provides them a ton of control and insight into making sure each job is done perfectly.
The last one (you’ve guessed it) is jobsite management software
Here’s one technology every person can agree on: the smartphone.
Considering that it’s usually either in your hands or your pocket—and the pocket of every employee on a jobsite—there really is no new technology needed to adopt when it comes to today’s jobsite management platforms, just new software and a new app.
What that means is that jobsite management can all be done in one place, easily and efficiently—cutting costs, time and effort.
The SiteMax solution allows you to easily track tasks and labour activities, build out site and safety reports, organize all channels of communication, and give management leaders full-visibility to what’s going on at each jobsite.
Interested in seeing how it works? Speak to one of our product experts today and let us know where you could use some help with technology. Book a Demonstration
