When you think of construction, do you think of technology? Not so much. We are forever being told that construction is the second lowest tech-penetrated industry (lowest being agriculture).
What’s more, when hearing the stats on labour-productivity growth (average of 1% compared to 2.8% for world economy and 3.6% for manufacturing), the industry sounds even further from what it actually is, one of the largest sectors in the world economy.
So why the slow growth and limited tech? Why is the construction industry continuously forgotten by the 21st century tech that we all surround ourselves within daily life?
What people outside the industry fail to consider is that each construction project is unique and not comparable to a factory producing 10,000 widgets a day. It is not because there is a lack of bright, driven people in the industry, after nearly twenty years in construction, I’d put up a good argument to the contrary. Even though the construction sector is one of the largest in the world with about $10 trillion spent each year, we are underserved by software companies. It was seen as a niche industry not worth the focus and attention it needs.
The construction industry has been let down too many times by software companies promising the world, only to receive an empty box with which they need to spend months and significant development costs. Many will find themselves still no closer to the promised working product despite the cost and hours invested in the development process.
At the start of every project, construction site teams begin with aspirations of singing from the same hymn sheet, one source of the truth (or at least, an accurate project status) and for once to be able to actually find something in Sharepoint (don’t bother!) with a slick and painless commission and handover process at the end, as we finish on time and under budget. The dream.
Instead of using any of the big established names, construction site teams and project managers tend to fall back on the basic systems the industry has been built on – email, Excel, PowerPoint and for mission critical communications across the supply chain on complex sites… WhatsApp. People change, phones are lost or upgraded and valuable project data that contributes to its Golden Thread, is lost.
In almost all other industries and professions from HR, banking to graphic design, there are amazing glossy products out there meeting the needs of the industry and providing world class tools to help productivity, either for free or for a low one-off/ monthly pricing. In stark contrast, the standard software within the construction world (e.g. snagging, site diaries & reporting tools) typically cost ~ $20+/month per user before you factor in customisation.
Why can't the construction industry have a software solution that just gets the basics right and enables us to build from a solid foundation? Why pay a fortune for it or need to spend months customising it? And why can I just find what I need, when I need it?
The times, they are a changing … stay tuned.
