One cannot think about the year 2020 without being reminded of the term “annus horribilis”. With all companies suffering from the shock of coronavirus and many cutting costs or going out of business. Those that are most innovative and forward-thinking will likely outperform.
The construction industry was already suffering from a skilled labour shortage. It isn’t surprising that many continue to embrace technology to battle through these trying times. Will those companies which embrace this change survive and their competition perish?
For many years companies in the construction industry have been looking to ride a wave of digitisation and innovation.
“Just in looking at the past five years, we’ve seen these technology investments double,” – Jose Luis Blanco, McKinsey & Company
This isn’t surprising, with the promise of real-time information, actionable data, multiple teams of small and large contractors using cloud-based software. Along with the removal of paper-based and manual processes with its inherent time saving and removal of mistakes and increase in profitability.
The process of construction building in itself is changing due to digital innovation. New technology such as construction robots [1], drones [2], continued innovation in prefabricated and modular construction [3]. Not to mention 3D printing, virtual reality, and everyone’s favourite buzzwords “big data” and “AI/ML”.
“You’ve got to go to the cloud — that’s where business is going. It’s better, it’s faster, it’s more secure and it gives you more flexibility,” said Guarantee Director of IT Dennis Heinle.
Migration to the cloud is something every business needs to face in recent times – some at a pace they were not necessarily prepared for or comfortable with, but they had no choice. This, coupled with mobile technologies allowing the modern tech-savvy company to monitor progress, personnel and all areas in real-time. With the support of specialist digital organisations like Sagittarius, it’s possible to gain insight and productivity which simply wasn’t possible, feasible or scalable in the past.
“Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is a disaster.” – Elon Musk
