Overcoming 3 Major Construction Innovation Barriers

Barrier 1: An Aging Workforce

The construction industry is reaching a critical hurdle as 40% of construction workers are expected to retire within the next five years. This drastic workforce reduction could leave you facing a skilled labor shortage in the near future, but it also presents a new opportunity to leverage innovative technologies to improve your company’s operations and attract new workers.

Older (or should we say “more seasoned”) generations of construction workers tend to prefer the tried-and-true systems they've used for years (e.g., paper punch lists, spreadsheets or even sticky notes). As a result, they tend to be more resistant to newer technologies. Younger workers, on the other hand, are accustomed to the rapid pace of technological change. As digital natives, they're used to embracing new technology and quickly learning new skills.

Because of this, you'll find younger workers are excited and engaged when using tools and platforms that incorporate new technology. Innovative technologies such as digital procurement and payment platforms, AI-integrated project management tools and 3D modeling tools are designed to help you do more work with fewer workers and are built with the younger generation's way of working in mind.

In a report compiled by Columbia Business School’s Center on Global Brand Leadership, Chris Keating, Trimble's Senior Vice President, points out that modern 3D modeling tools like SketchUp are designed "to create a Minecraft-like experience so that we can excite the next generation into the potential of our industry.” Tools like this can help foster collaboration between younger and older generations and show digitally native workers that the construction industry is on the bleeding edge of technology.

As more senior workers look toward retirement, prioritizing innovation now can help you attract new talent and accomplish more with your existing labor force.

Barrier 2: Project Complexity

Commercial construction projects are complicated undertakings that often require multiple subcontractors working together toward a common goal. As your projects increase in size, the complexities and potential for problems also increase.

Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising that less than half of large construction projects finish on time and on budget, according to a database compiled by the University of Copenhagen. As a construction professional, you're probably accustomed to frustrating delays and cost overruns caused by miscommunications, outdated project data and inefficient processes.

Whether retrofitting an existing project or starting a new build, many project slowdowns are the result of the complications that arise when you get to the worksite. No matter how well you plan in advance, you're sure to run into issues such as environmental factors, transportation infrastructure or any number of other variables that require you to make adjustments on the fly.

If your teams don't edit and update plans to reflect modifications, onsite workers will have to do duplicate work to verify what changes have been made with what materials. This wastes time and effort and makes it impossible to learn from previous work and improve your efficiency on your next project.

Although the intricacies and uniqueness of large projects make them difficult to optimize, using project management software designed to handle the unique challenges of the construction industry can help you tackle this barrier.

Connectedconstruction project management solutions allow you to coordinate even the most complicated projects in one unified platform–integrating seamlessly with your other tools and allowing you to optimize your resources and keep track of project progress in real time.

Barrier 3: Siloed Data and Decision-Making

From your accountants in the back office to your onsite teams and project managers, ensuring a seamless flow of information between all stakeholders is one of the most critical yet hard-to-achieve elements of any successful construction project.

Unfortunately, if you’re using disconnected or outdated systems, you may be losing hours of labor due to manual, inefficient processes and rework.

In many cases, your office staff may be using an ERP system to track project costs, manage payroll and keep your company in the black. Meanwhile, your field workers are using a different system to map out where to install electrical fixtures, and your project managers are using yet another to keep your projects running on schedule.

This system works fine in some cases, but as construction projects become increasingly complex, manually inputting data into multiple systems is redundant, tedious and error-prone, and it can have disastrous (and expensive) downstream impacts.

For example, one missed update from a project manager could mean concrete trucks show up to pour two hours early because they were not informed of a project delay, or an electrician installs an incorrect fixture because they’re working from an outdated plan.

A connected approach to construction management can help you overcome data siloes that can cause these project mistakes. Using a modern connected construction management solution, all stakeholders can work from the same up-to-date, accurate project information.

That means financial decision-makers can see how changes made once a project is underway will affect the budget. In addition, onsite teams can track changes in real time and pick up immediately where previous teams left off, drastically reducing the likelihood of expensive rework. Finally, project managers can stay updated on a project's progress and coordinate with subcontractors to implement a work schedule that minimizes downtime and conserves resources.

Trimble Construction One's connected construction suite acts as a single source of truth for all project data–delivering critical project information to the people who need it when they need it so they can make more informed data-driven decisions. This eliminates data silos and enables seamless and secure communication with everyone involved.