Is Your Construction Technology Optimal For Your Future Growth?

When it comes to adopting the latest construction technologies and putting the systems in place needed to streamline and scale contractors’ business operations, most CEOs believe their companies are doing a good job. However, a significant number of the construction professionals that use these technologies the most have a different opinion, according to a new “Road to Recovery” whitepaper by Trimble Viewpoint in partnership with ANCR/Build Australia.

The industry report into the outlook for the construction industry post-COVID found that 84% of business owners and CEOs are at least moderately confident that their company’s tech stack will be sufficient for the next three years.

However, a third of finance workers reported that their tech stack definitely wouldn’t be sufficient for the next three years, with most also indicating that their systems were only somewhat adequate for their current job requirements. Approximately 56% of employees spent more than three hours gathering data for each reporting period, and 28% wasted more than eight hours.

Technology challenges weren’t limited to the finance department, though. One-third of project managers were also unsure if their tech stack would be adequate for the coming years. Many reported minimal integrations with other business systems, inconsistent access to real-time data and significant hours spent keeping their systems up-to-date each week.

Despite the concerns of frontline workers—or maybe they are unaware of these challenges—68% of business owners and CEOs said that they had no intention of investing in new business operations technology in the coming 12 months, with the majority indicating they were happy with their current systems.

A number of recent business factors, however, might begin to push the technology modernisation needle with construction execs. Among them:

• The rapid modernisation of other industries like banking, finance and engineering to cloud workflows and real-time data
• The shift to remote working environments spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring expanded data access and more digital processes and workflows
• The ongoing labor and supply chain shortages that are crippling traditional construction processes, reducing efficiencies and profits
• More complex projects and project demands by owners, government agencies and more that require real-time data reporting, compliance and safety measures and much more
• Increased data security threats targeting companies without the latest cloud-based protections, backups

Though contractors have long resisted technology change, the past few years have seen leading-edge contractors both embracing and driving new construction technologies, setting themselves up to reap long-term benefits. Those companies still resisting modernisation, however, could start to see their revenue and growth opportunities dry up if their systems cannot keep pace with modern demands.

The data in the Trimble Viewpoint whitepaper is based on a survey of Australian construction workers conducted in May 2021 to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, as well as the level of digital enablement in business operations, an area often under researched in construction compared to on-site digital transformation gains.

The survey results are supported by additional industry research on the impact of the pandemic on the construction industry in the last two years and forecasts for the future.

Discover more insights into digital enablement in Australian construction, as well as the future of the industry post-covid, by downloading the full Road to Recovery whitepaper here.