COVID-19 hit the global economy like a typhoon, wrecking everything in its wake, and it did not leave the construction industry unscathed. As the industry tries to pick up growth post-COVID, technological advancements are providing some respite.

We could all agree that technology is an ever-present force that drives change. Before modernization, construction was mainly a human labor-based process. The 20th century brought with it machines and materials that allowed the creation of immense skyscrapers and infrastructure on a scale never seen before.

Today, the construction industry is growing at a pace of 3.5% yearly according to a report on The Future of Construction published by Marsh & Oxford Economics. While this growth rate is reasonable, recent advances in emerging technologies can speed up the process by improving productivity. Technology such as cloud computing, BIM, and 3D printing are transforming the construction industry in ways not seen since the last productivity boom tapered off in the 1990s. These new technologies offer a new dimension of offerings and unlock new capabilities for stakeholders across the entire spectrum.

Simple work that would take workers dozens of hours can now be done in mere minutes as a result of emerging construction technologies. Only one thing remains constant and that is change.

Whether it’s basic technology like nail guns, massive machinery like cranes, or intricate emerging technology like augmented reality, tech has always transformed how construction works. Technology drives innovation in the construction industry and allows us to build things that weren’t possible before, in ways that we couldn’t imagine before, and in much faster time frames.

However, the global economy is still losing out on $1.6 trillion every year due to lagging productivity growth in construction, according to a report from McKinsey. The advances in technology have not been drastic enough, or maybe the construction industry isn’t adapting to cutting edge technologies fast enough to unleash growth.

All industries evolve over time, and for decades, the catalyst has often been technology. In 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of industry evolution. We can, for example, examine the entertainment, retail, and education industries.

• Entertainment: With consumers avoiding movie theaters, Netflix subscriptions boomed.
• Retail: Many once found shopping to be a pleasant distraction, but COVID-19 makes for a potentially dangerous trip to the mall or big-box retailer. A visit to online retailers, on the other hand, is contact-free, fast, and easy.
• Education: For brick-and-mortar colleges, educating students and helping flatten the curve might seem like contradictory priorities. But those that quickly implemented online classes, continued generating revenue.

These industry shifts are not temporary, they are the new normal.

Construction skill scarcity has become a major issue across the entire industry. Finding workers in trades and in management, many of whom began their careers working in the trades, can take an exceptionally long time, with no guarantee of finding capable candidates.

In The Next Normal in Construction, McKinsey noted that construction is the biggest industry in the world, and yet it is not performing as well as other industries. Their survey of construction executives revealed issues like low customer satisfaction, lack of digitization, and skill scarcity. While awareness of these issues is not new, the increase in concern among those surveyed is a real eye opener. Perhaps the industry is finally acknowledging that these issues are real, and, to survive and thrive, these issues must be addressed quickly.

The McKinsey survey found that 87 percent of respondents believe that a lack of skilled-labor scarcity is a dire issue for the industry, and almost 50 percent of respondents expect that it will become an exponentially larger issue over the next two decades.

An old-west adage said there were two types of gunslingers: the quick and the dead. The same principle applies to construction firms: some firms are quick to adopt technologies to help them adapt to the changing landscape, and some are stagnant, dying, or dead. Fortunately, technology is helping the construction industry overcome skill scarcity.

The sustainable construction solution landscape is rapidly expanding, bringing with it several benefits for the industry (and the world). Sustainable construction solutions develop new buildings that integrate ecological responsibility, and a nice side effect of sustainable solutions is that they also tend to be more financially sound than non-green solutions.

Businesses that deploy green technology are demonstrating increased financial performance when compared with businesses that do not adopt green measures. Market survival requires productivity and innovation, and green remodeling and construction are subsequently becoming contemporary business practices for maximum performance. The benefits of deploying green technology include reduced pollution, tax breaks, the creation of new jobs, and increased corporate responsibility.

Project monitoring is an important part of securing a mortgage for a construction venture. Fortunately, modern solutions for the project-driven enterprise can help secure mortgage lending by effectively monitoring progress and preparing analysis reports.

Infrastructure project profitability and construction are at a crossroads, faced with a variety of current and emerging challenges. Compared to other industries that have effectively used technical innovations and digitization to develop and reinvent their goods and services, infrastructure projects have not yet embraced the full potential of new techniques and resources. Infrastructure generally remains low-tech with low automation levels when compared to other industries.

Digitization provides an opportunity to increase infrastructure project profitability by helping it overcome some of the industry challenges including a shortage of skilled talent, client expectations for partner autonomy, lack of collaboration caused by manual processes, health and safety quality challenges, and low productivity.

Why review construction PMIS cloud solution benefits? According to KPMG International’s 2019 Global Construction Survey, only about 20 percent of construction firms surveyed are leaders in the adoption of new technology. The remaining 80 percent of construction firms merely follow, trying to catch up.

Survey responses illustrate the construction industry’s vast legacy of technical conservatism. Some firms lack a coherent technology plan and implement new technology on a piecemeal basis. Other firms do not implement any new technology at all.

The construction industry, once known as brick-and-mortar, is finally moving into the digital era. While some industry players may be reluctant to address construction digital transformation, it is time for project management to build a real strategy. Many companies have created innovation labs and begun proof-of-concept (POC) expeditions. Visualization through dashboards to test alternatives and stay open to possibilities without heavy spending is also becoming a standard practice.

Construction digital transformation can be a challenge if not handled adequately. In terms of cost efficiency, enhancing top-line customer service, and offering differentiation, digital transformation is a sea of opportunity. If today’s construction project managers do not quickly adapt, market leader positions may be profoundly affected.

One way to encourage owners to undertake this transition is to make them aware of four key construction digital transformation benefits: increase project cost report accuracy; increase accounting efficiency; improve communication, and; focus on project execution.