Johan Engelbrecht - Digital Transformation in the NZ Construction Industry

The podcast discusses digital transformation in the New Zealand construction industry. It highlights the challenges faced by the industry and the potential benefits of digital transformation. The industry is adopting digital tools such as Building Information Modelling, drones, and automation to improve productivity, efficiency, and safety. The use of digital technologies can reduce errors, improve collaboration, and enable real-time monitoring of project progress. This leads to increased profitability, improved safety, and faster construction times. The industry has already seen some examples of digital transformation, such as the use of drones for site inspection and progress monitoring. Automation is also being explored for tasks like bricklaying and painting. By embracing digital transformation, the industry can create a more sustainable and profitable future. Hello and welcome to this podcast on digital transformation in the New Zealand construction industry. My name is Johan Engelbracht. I am a professional quantity surveyor with almost two decades of experience in the construction industry. In this podcast, we will be discussing the challenges currently faced by the New Zealand construction industry, the potential benefits of digital transformation, and some examples of how the industry is already adopting to this change. Mark Minovich notes in his article December 2022 in Forbes magazine that according to BCG's Mind the Gap survey, a majority of businesses across 13 countries plan to increase their spending on digital transformation in 2023 versus 2022. The top two areas for future investments are business model transformation and sustainability. We first need to start with what is digital transformation? Westermann et al. defines this in their book Digital Transformation, a Roadmap for Billion Dollar Organizations, as the use of technologies to radically improve the performance or reach of enterprises. The construction industry in New Zealand is an essential contributor to the country's economy, employing over 250,000 people and generating over $45 billion in revenue annually. However, like many industries, the construction sector is facing significant challenges that require a transformative change to improve productivity and efficiency. On a micro level, some of these challenges include how designs are shared between design consultants, how changes are being recorded on site, and how budgets are initially calculated. On a more macro level, the challenges include a shortage of skilled workers, increased costs, and a lack of innovation. These challenges have resulted in slow productivity growth and increased design and construction times, which ultimately drive up costs for developers and ultimately end users. The industry needs to adopt more wildly innovative solutions to these challenges, and digital transformation is one such solution. Digital transformation in the construction industry involves the use of digital technologies to improve productivity, efficiency, and collaboration across the entire value chain. By adopting digital tools such as Building Information Modelling, COSTEX, which is a digital quantitative measuring tool, drones, and IT, the construction industry can reduce errors, improve safety, and speed up design and construction times. In addition, digital technologies enable real-time monitoring and tracking of project progress, allowing for better decision making and risk management. One of the key benefits of digital transformation in the construction industry is increased productivity, which leads to increased profitability. This notion is supported by Thomson & Thomson in their book, Making the Team a Guide for Managers, that more productive teams are also more motivated. Digital tools can automate repetitive tasks and reduce errors, freeing up workers to focus on more value-adding activities. This can result in faster construction times, lower cost, and improved quality. Digital technologies can also improve collaboration across the different teams and stakeholders, enabling more efficient communication and coordination. Another benefit of digital transformation is improved safety. Drones can be used to inspect construction sites from above, identifying potential hazards and reducing the need for workers to work at height. Furthermore, drones can be used to calculate earthwork volumes without the need for lab surveyors to spend days calculating levels, etc. So, how is the New Zealand construction industry adapting to digital transformation? In the field of quantity surveying, what used to take weeks or even months to quantify the areas and material for projects can now be done in a fraction of the time and to a much more accurate manner. Measurements can at later design stages be taken straight from a building information model. This ensures the correct amount of material is ordered in the first instance, reducing waste. Another example is the use of drones. Drones can be used to survey construction sites, monitor progress, and inspect structures. This technology has been adopted by companies such as Fulton Hogan and Downer, who are using drones to improve safety and efficiency on their construction sites. Finally, automation is another area where the New Zealand construction industry is exploring digital transformation. Automation can be used to improve efficiency in tasks such as bricklaying, painting and plastering. This technology is still in its early stages in New Zealand, but there is potential for it to be adopted more widely in the future. In conclusion, digital transformation offers significant potentials for the New Zealand construction industry to overcome its current challenges and improve productivity, efficiency and safety. The industry is already adopting digital tools such as the building information model, drones and automation and we can expect to see further innovation in this area in the future. By embracing digital transformation, the New Zealand construction industry can create a more sustainable and profitable future for itself and the wider community. Thank you for listening.