Trending Technology in the Construction Industry

Trending Technology in the Construction Industry

Over the last several decades the evolution of the construction industry has been fueled by advances in
technology, this year is no different. There are several “trending” topics in the industry right now, below
are a few we are seeing at the forefront of 2020.

We are increasingly seeing robotics fulfill fundamental roles in our healthcare systems, manufacturing
industries and in everyday life. As the industry grows the cost/ benefit analysis is becoming more
competitive. Companies are beginning to see advantages in sectors such as safety, schedule durations,
and budget. It is projected that over the next decade we will start to see robots replacing a substantial
portion of subtrades, such as brick layers, demolition crews, and concrete workers.

Global positioning systems or better known as GPS, has been used in the industry for a few years now,
but the range of benefits GPS offers us now is expanding exponentially. Companies are using GPS for
faster and more accurate site surveying, advances in safety reporting and statistics, accurate tracking of
site progression, as well as the tracking of equipment, fleet, and personnel.

Augmented reality is something I have not heard as much about on the Calgary job sites, typically its
been all about virtual reality. However now we are hearing about (AR), which is an interactive
experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by
computer-generated perceptual information; aka the ability to see the real world (with edits) through a
camera lens. This will transform the way engineers, investors, developer’s and construction companies
design, plan and manage their projects.

We are also starting to see an increase in prefabrication and modularization on job sites, companies are
seeing a huge advantage of assembling as much of their scope off site as possible before bringing larger
pieces to an active construction site to assemble. A lot of companies have reported an increase in
quality, shorter lead times, increased accuracy in scheduling, increased safety, and a significant
reduction in costs.

The above technological advances are providing a large fraction of the changes the industry will see over
the next several years, even amid a worldwide pandemic we are seeing significant developments to the
construction sector. Companies and their personnel are learning to become adaptable and competitive
at a growing rate every year, one can only help but wonder what 2021 will bring to the industry.

April Luscombe