Current Commercial Construction Technology Trends

In a competitive and fragmented industry, technology plays a vital role and giving a paradigm shift to the commercial construction industry. Trends keep changing every year, however, in commercial construction the same technology trends persist year after year with slightly different nuances. 

Since the industry is slow in adopting technology trends, the construction industry is still far when compared to other industries. But, if you want to stay ahead of your competitors, increase profit margins, and improve the ability to win projects, you need to harness these commercial construction technology trends of 2019. Read on to find more information about current trends. 

#1 Smartphones: With the help of smartphones, construction supervisors can easily share project data via email, Dropbox, and a variety of other methods. They can also save their project details on Google Drive for later access. 

#2 Cloud-Based Strategy: Most of the construction companies have started leveraging the power of cloud-based software to store data and manage IT firm. Cloud-based software offers construction companies everything from time and material tracking to insight into daily project completion to analytics and performance efficiencies. 

#3 3-D Printing: 3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing is used by a lot of companies to design the layout of single-family homes to the first 3-D printed excavator. It offers organizations alternatives to modular construction, on-site manufacturing of building materials, ability to create tools and parts. It even helps to complete machines on-demand. 

#4 Virtual Reality (VR): Virtual Reality helps construction companies to transform their plans and structural layouts from a 2-D page into an interactive world. This allows contractors to experience key elements of the building even before they’re built. 

#5 Drones: Drones can prove really beneficial to construction companies. They help in monitoring the progress of different projects in real-time. In fact drones for commercial construction surged 239% year over year. 

#6 Augmented Reality (AR): AR is one of the most talked-about technologies in the construction industry. VR replaces the real world with a simulated one whereas AR takes the real world and helps in adding more elements to your design. 

Advantages of Technology in the Construction Industry

Emerging technologies have a huge impact on the construction industry. Not only in terms of productivity and streamlining workflows but also in terms of health and safety. It also helps in cutting down overall project cost. Let’s dive deep into the advantages of technology in the construction industry. 

#1 Accident Prevention: Accident prevention is one of the most difficult tasks in the construction area. With the help of technologies such as GPS, Sensors, and Drones it is easy to track worker’s movement and create visual maps. Contractors can even provide 3D safety training with the help of augmented reality. Creating a more informed workforce will result in an increase in work efficiency and prevent accidents. 

#2 Greater Visibility: With the help of technology we can now understand who is doing what, when and how. BIM integrated GPS wearables can be used to track workers. Contractors can use a tablet to inform workers of locations they should stay away from as well as safety zones. The wearables that workers wear can also be used to trigger alarms in case of an emergency.

#3 Better Reporting and Accountability: Technology helps in capturing and analyzing data in a much better and accurate way. Starting from photo evidence to tracking worker’s movement data, the information can be used for various purposes. It can also be used to measure the total number of accidents and the reason for accidents as well. In fact, the companies have started installing cameras in cranes to resolve blind spot accidents caused by them. 

#4 Improved Workflows: Technology has made it easier to work from anywhere and submit the work done. Seamless distribution of documents and information. Owners can also store a copy of documents online in order to access it from anywhere around the world. 

Conclusion

In order to increase productivity and generate more revenue, companies need to follow current technology trends. Leveraging the power of smartphones to share the documents, drones to keep an eye on the project’s progress, AR and VR to visualize how the project will look when completed and to make changes can help companies deliver great results on time without any errors.