More than any other characteristic, twenty-first century markets are iconized by technological and industrial revolution. According to industry experts, however, the construction industry – specifically, the commercial sector – has yet to commence its third industrial revolution, leaving it far behind other major market sectors [1] (think: transportation, consumer staples, hotels, restaurants, and leisure, etc.). So much so, that the World Economic Forum delivered a report on the state of the construction industry, indicating that traditional business model and project delivery had undergone no fundamental changes in the past 50 years. [2]

So how do general contractors spur innovation in our industry?

In this week’s blog, we have examined a few of the smaller scale steps local and regional contractors can take to encourage development and progress in their spheres of commercial construction. We also brought in some substantiating excerpts from the World Economic Forum to show how effectively these approaches can further our industry’s development.

1. Integrate Innovation Culture

Integrate innovation culture into your work environment. It takes strategy and deliberation to create a diverse, multidisciplinary team. While it is traditional to on-board individuals with specific construction experience, bringing in team members from varied backgrounds streamlines knowledge transfer and induces innovation. It produces and overall agile organization that is flexible, nimble, and responsive to consumer demands.

When envisioning the Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building and Dubai’s iconic landmark, Sheikh Mohammed and Emaar Properties chairman Mohamed Alabbar put great effort into assembling a project team from across the world. [3]

Why? To build a team that would push innovation and dedicate themselves to a vision that rejected the status quo.

The result? A building that has broken several world records and defied conventional limits.

2. Sustain Innovative Relationships

Sustain innovative relationships with suppliers and subcontractors. Subcontractors and suppliers develop a highly specialized expertise in their products. Who better to craft creative, effective solutions for a general contractor than the product experts?

Traditional approaches to construction segregate the design-bid-build process, which does not always promote open discussion among the project’s participants. Instead, it prompts each portion of the process to remain siloed from the other, limiting transfer of information.

When OVG Real Estate, Deloitte, and PLP Architecture embarked on a mission to create the world’s most sustainable office building, aptly dubbed The Edge, they reached out to the experts first: their subcontractors. By working closely with these suppliers and startups, OVG Real Estate introduced 21 innovations that had never been applied b

Why is innovation imperative for general contractors?

Satisfying Expectations

Efficiency developments in other markets generate expectation for customers and consumers across all sectors – especially when it comes to speed. Technological developments have produced a metamorphic shift in consumer mentality. The modern individual expects immediate results and perpetual updates (think: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and every other notification that pops on a daily – let’s be real, hourly – basis). General contractors must learn to work with new, emerging consumer expectations: faster, better results. It is a mentality that has taken the service market by storm and sets the bar high even for companies delivering complex products.

Establishing Relevance

This is perhaps the most pressing challenge for participants of the commercial construction industry. General contractors in particular already face logistical challenges, modifying traditional operations to incorporate new apps, software, tools, and gear. More importantly, however, general contractors face the added challenge of personalizing the entire construction process – i.e. incorporating the client.

General contractors can assess user needs, wishes, and ideas as the framework for design and engineering. From their project’s “Lessons Learned,” OVG attributed part of their success to the help of user studies and interviews. The design and construction team were able to gain “an early and accurate understanding of the client’s needs and preferences, combining open spaces with focus rooms and quiet zones to allow for different usages during a typical working day – phone conferences, informal meetings and tasks requiring high-focus.” [6]

This approach is becoming especially pertinent as the twenty-first century ushers in highly-specialized service methods for consumers. Companies succeed when they promise, market, and deliver personalized services with positive experiences.

DBG has had the pleasure of achieving such an outcome with multiple projects – the pinnacle of which was a design-build project for Dunlap Codding Law Firm.

“Trust and trustworthiness are concepts that are highly sought by professional service firms. Appropriately, however, it is very rarely earned. DBG has earned the trust and admiration of the partners of Dunlap Codding as well as the employees of our firm. Our trust is not simply because of the outcome achieved – which is exceptional – but also for the manner in which DBG handled themselves during all aspects of the project. DBG’s personnel are exacting professionals who we believe always had out best interests in mind – DBG acted as a partner in the project rather than a typical vendor of goods or services.” – Douglas J. Sorocco, Director and Shareholder, Dunlap Codding

Technological advances have permeated the construction industry at a much slower rate compared to other industries.

However, growing developments in 2016 and 2017 have improved aspects such as safety, accountability, and financial efficiency on the job site.

While adoption of emerging technology has been a gradual process, there are some distinct introductions that have already demonstrated tangible results.

Here are some of the innovations that could make waves across the industry:

The Use of Virtual Data

Although the construction sector has been a brick-and-mortar operation both literally and figuratively, there is a growing usage of virtual tools to improve efficiency. This development has had the greatest impact in tracking and streamlining asset management on the job site.

Specifically, general contractors are beginning to use data-gathering tools like commercial drones to optimize their operations and complete projects faster.

How do they improve efficiency?

Commercial drones fly over job sites collecting real-time footage and storing extremely large data sets that may be analyzed to reveal patterns and trends. That footage can then be converted into a three-dimensional picture of the developing site and compared to computerized architectural plans. This allows contractors to examine the project in-progress and address any concerning disparities – i.e. lack of material or labor.

Ultimately, the idea is that this virtual representation utilizes large data sets to automatically anticipate project steps that may be falling behind schedule.

This type of supervision has also helped contractors recover stolen equipment.

Just last month, commercial drones were used to recover a trove of stolen construction machinery in Delaware. The most expensive item was a John Deere 50G excavator, valued at $60,000 and lead to the discovery of three additional missing machines at a separate location. In all, approximately $394,000 worth of equipment was recovered and returned to their property owners.[1]

The Federal Aviation Administration published its annual Aerospace Forecast report on March 21, 2017. With the uptick in commercial use, the report predicts that the number of drones and virtual data gathering tools could rise to 1.6 million by 2021.[2]

The Popularity of Mobile Applications

Mobile applications have taken the construction field by storm.

This development is by far the most popular technology within the construction industry to improve collaboration between field staff and the office team.

There are intuitive mobile applications that enable project managers and on-site workers to access documents, edit and share relevant job site information.

While the digital transfer of information has increased speed and accuracy, it has most notable become a catalyst for improved safety standards.

How do they improve safety?

There are several applications – such as the Safety Meeting App or iSafe – that gives superintendents and field staff a new reservoir of up-to-date safety information. These applications provide safety meeting management, topics for safety discussions, and cover over 30 trades in the commercial construction industry.

More importantly, they fulfill the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s required meeting laws, create and store digital safety logs, and keep field staff updated on new developments and the latest safety standards.

Safety applications are also beginning to develop digital and real-time management for onsite safety inspections.

Users can now automate any type of inspection, including safety audits, work orders, property assessments, asset management, service management and custom forms.

Safety planning applications also make it easy for project managers and superintendents to collaborate in the field, allowing them to share and log critical information such as updated plans, photos, and punch lists.[3]

Overall, these technological introductions in commercial construction have brought a whirlwind of new data. This influx of digital information has empowered general contractors to approach projects with higher rates of efficiency and accuracy.

But knowledge is power, and with power comes responsibility. The progress of technology will continue to raise the bar for project timelines, material and labor efficiency, and job site safety.

[1] http://www.enr.com/articles/41708-drone-spies-stolen-construction-equipment-trove

[2] https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation/aerospace_forecasts/media/FY2017-37_FAA_Aerospace_Forecast.pdf

[3] http://dailyreporter.com/2015/01/09/15-construction-apps-for-2015/