Eighty-five per cent of Australian construction leaders are confident in the industry’s outlook, according to Procore’s latest research. But with a host of headaches on the horizon, construction companies are looking for new ways to boost productivity and profit.
Procore, with the help of independent research firm YouGov, recently took the pulse of 1,138 construction leaders in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. The result is How We Build Now 2022 – Tracking Technology in APAC Construction benchmark report.
On 31 May Procore convened a panel event featuring some of construction’s heavy hitters to explore the report’s findings. Here are four fresh insights for construction companies looking at How We Build Now and beyond…
1. Reimagine rework
The average Australian construction company spends 12% of its time on rework, according to How We Build Now.
Matt Press, Executive Director of Compliance and Dispute Resolution at SafeWork NSW, drew an astute connection between waste and rework. He said it was “amazing” to wander around sites and see overflowing bins. “People see rubbish as an environmental problem – but it’s a productivity problem. Everything that ends up in the bin can be a mistake.”
Press said that the “rise of the digital worker”, automation and prefabrication would coalesce to take over “probably a third” of construction tasks over the next two decades. Prefabrication, in particular, would deliver “far fewer touchpoints” and eliminate a lot of waste. David Cremona, Director of Construction with Meriton, agreed that “prefab is the future”. Meriton has one prefab project in Melbourne going up that is “all LEGO”, he said.
2. Use technology as a talent attraction and retention strategy
After two years of Covid-induced uncertainty, How We Build Now notes that construction companies are walking into new headwinds: labour shortages, raw materials costs, extreme weather events and geopolitical instability. How do businesses future proof?
For Dominique Gill, Managing Director of Urban Core, responsible financial management was just a starting point. “Money is an obvious safety net, but a focus on people and the quality of an organisation’s culture could turn the Great Resignation into the Great Retention. Urban Core’s culture is based on flexibility and an emphasis on lifelong learning, Gill noted. They are small things, but they matter.”
“Technology also builds a positive culture, Gill added. Software creates efficiencies but also attracts the people who want to work in forward-thinking firms”.
3. Look beyond the headline grabbing “Hollywood” technology
Shiny Hollywood technology catches headlines. But How We Build Now finds 27% of Australian construction companies use paper to capture, track and manage data.
How We Build Now notes that 3D printing, robotics and drones are less likely to drive industry change than “tried-and-true technologies”, like digital project management platforms and building information modelling.
But technology has no value if people don’t know how to use it. Matt Press compared technology without the training to “giving people a cricket bat without teaching them the rules of cricket”.
Technology integration must “trickle down from the top” David Cremona added. Prior to adopting Procore, Meriton had “ample paper and data that we couldn’t really use.” Now everyone in their team – including their subcontractors – has access to the same information.
4. Learn lessons from the leaders
Overall, 53% of businesses said the global pandemic had accelerated their investment in digital transformation. But that means nearly half (47%) haven’t seen Covid as a wake-up call.
If Covid’s global disruption and the pivot to digital working weren’t catalysts for digital transformation, what would be?
Dominique Gill offered a profound insight. Covid had been a “completely paralysing event” for many small and medium construction companies. These companies “don’t have innovation departments” and can’t “absorb risk like the big boys”. Instead, many smaller construction companies have taken a “wait and see” approach – and it’s paying off. “We know it [digital transformation] needs to happen. We’ve seen what we need to do – and now we are doing it.”
How We Build Now –– Tracking Technology in Construction 2022 is the third instalment in Procore’s series of independent reports designed to benchmark technology advancements across the industry. As Tom Karemacher, Procore’s Vice President of Asia Pacific, said “How We Build Now aims to spark new conversations and to challenge construction leaders to think differently about technology”.
Download your copy of How We Build Now 2022.