CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE - Transforming the AEC Industry

The post-pandemic world will see a fresh push for digital transformation, and will witness greater adoption of digitalized workflows across all stages of construction - from design, planning to onsite works. Agith G Antony tracks the latest developments in such solutions from major vendors in the market.

As the operation dynamics of construction and infrastructure sector in India are evolving and innovating at a pace much faster than envisioned, it is almost imperative that innovations be applied to the most basic as well as most important step in the value chain - construction techniques.

The $10 trillion global engineering and construction industry has consistently lagged behind other industries in using technology for improving productivity and the results are evident. An analysis of labour productivity trends in the US showed that while productivity has more than doubled in non-farm industries in the last 50 years, it actually declined for construction in that period.

As per a 2017 McKinsey report, the annual productivity growth in the E&C industry averaged just 1% over the past two decades, compared with a 3.6% and 2.8% growth rate for the manufacturing sector and the global economy respectively. Another research in the US revealed that for all construction projects, 10% of materials are wasted; 30% of all construction is rework and 40% of jobsite work is unproductive. As a result, 40% of projects are over budget and 90% of projects are late. The scenario is not too different in other countries, and construction firms all over the world continue to suffer from inefficiencies that impact their profits and reputation.

Says Harsh Pareek, Regional Sales Director, India and SAARC, Trimble Solutions “Technology and digitalization of construction processes can help address several of these pain points. Full-scale digitization in non-residential construction alone could lead to annual savings of between $700 billion and $1.2 trillion, or about a tenth of the aggregate annual construction spends. In real life cases, we have seen up to a 50% increase in field productivity, a 10% compression of schedules, and 80% reduction in rework, all thanks to digitization.”

The construction of a new building or structure can be viewed along a continuum with five key stages: planning, design, engineering, actual construction, and finally, its occupation and periodic maintenance. Once we visualise construction as a continuum, we can see the benefits of digitalization of the entire process. Pareek adds, “The construction industry will soon be characterized by connected systems of sensors, intelligent machines, robots, mobile devices, and new software applications—all integrated on a central platform of building information modelling (BIM). As their adoption increases, digital technologies are enabling construction companies to boost productivity, manage complexity, reduce project delays and cost overruns, and enhance safety and quality.”

Geo-spatial Technologies

As per the Indian Geospatial Economy (IGE) Report 2018, the Indian Geospatial Economy was valued at Rs 20,629 crore ($3.07 Billion) and the domestic Indian geospatial market was valued at Rs 7,679 crore and is growing at 13.8% CAGR. The GIS industry is poised for a significant growth in India. All the major mission programs - smart cities, AMRUT, city gas distribution, infrastructure, R-APDRP, national hydrology project and clean ganga mission mandate the use of GIS.

“In the AEC industry, we are seeing greater adoption of geospatial technologies across the entire project lifecycle resulting in better planning, designing, engineering, construction, operations, and maintenance. Remote sensing and image analytics is being used extensively for site suitability and pre-project planning. Drone-based surveys and GIS based apps are being used more commonly than ever before for faster data collection, ground truthing and other project workflows like construction planning and monitoring. Geo-design with 2D, 3D visualization and analysis is being used to model digital-twins that consider the natural and built environments from the very first stages of planning and designing. The integration of CAD and BIM workflows with geospatial visualisation and spatial analysis is enabling a holistic perspective of the surrounding environment for informed design decisions. The GIS integration and automation with IoT and big data analytics are delivering higher operational efficiencies” explains Agendra Kumar, President, Esri India.

Integrated ERP Solutions

ERP solutions are a must for modern businesses. An ERP solution provides a centralised system for planning and managing all elements of a business. It not only streamlines all essential functions to achieve process excellence but also leverages information to provide a competitive edge. Additionally, it optimises productivity and provides improved cost efficiency. In the extremely competitive business world of 2020, ERP is not an option, but a necessity.

Says Ashvin Gami, Managing Director at StrategicERP, “Simplicity is the key to success in the construction industry. Mobile apps and AI make things easier and simpler for users. Mobile apps not only give users the ability to access the system anytime and anywhere enabling them to stay connected on the go; but also saves time and removes duplication and other human errors. Mobile apps also provide customers the option of self-service, helping them become self-reliant. Cloud, mobile, analytics and AI will design the future landscape of ERP.”

Gami adds, “In this digital age of business, Cloud is the future as it provides unlimited computing resources needed for AI and analytics. Add to that the cost benefits, mobility, flexibility, disaster recovery, geographic advantage, and easier updates; and cloud service will be of enormous value. In time, businesses are sure to see the advantage of cloud computing and start switching to it.”

Immersive Technologies

Immersive Tech can aid and enhance the way we visualize all data - improving understanding, removing ambiguities and accelerating decision-making. Immersive Tech currently comprises AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) - of these, AR still has some way to go before mass adoption, while VR is closer to being used on a day-to-day basis in the AEC industry. The VR market is expected to double from its current valuation of $45 billion to $95 billion by the year 2025. A sizable chunk of this user base is currently from the construction and real estate industries at 13% and 7%, respectively.

Says Gautam Tewari, Co-creator, Trezi, “We can expect a steady increase in adoption rates as Immersive Tech gains momentum. Data visualization is set to gain predominance over interpretation as the integration of the technology increases across user bases. I hope to also see VR becoming a standard for all construction projects with an HMD (Head Mounted Device) available at every project site to plan, foresee and troubleshoot. Perhaps, in the long run, HMDs can replace computers entirely. 

We can imagine immersive technology to be a convenience, just as a plotter in architectural offices or X-ray machines in hospitals that were rare initially but soon became a necessity, driving the efficiency in workflow.”

Technology can definitely reduce the inefficiencies and risks that plague the building industry. At present, only about 30% of projects are completed on time or within the allotted budget. As such, about 10% of the project value is constantly at risk. This is primarily due to poorly organized workflows and a large amount of variance caused due to individual interpretation of data. For example, an architect draws up a building plan on 2D sheets, but most people don’t visualize space that way. Clients who sign off on designs presented in this format are relying on their interpretation of the drawings and the visuals to make a decision, and not basis a visualization tool that provides consistent visuals which can be comprehended uniformly by different stakeholders. Predictably, projects go through multiple iterations and adjustments, and despite best efforts, do not meet the initial vision.

Similarly, fragmentation occurs due to non-uniform interpretation of data: stakeholders, predictably, have different technical bandwidths and, as such, all will not analyse project data to come to the same conclusions. A shift in approach from data interpretation to data visualization will help eliminate this discrepancy. In some ways, VR is the next logical step for visualization in construction: from paper drawings to computer drafting to 3D modelling, the next avenue is that of total immersion - stepping inside the design and experiencing each element in the virtual world.

In future, artificial intelligence and predictive analysis hold the potential to devise efficient workflows on-site, processing large amounts of data to offer the best solutions in all spheres of construction. These can include analyses of site footage to flag potential hazards, organizing data to predict project timelines, simulating complex processes to arrive at feasible ways to carry out sophisticated construction processes, etc.

Strong Technology Future

With the emergence of concepts like Big Data, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), the industry is moving towards a strong technology future. “I believe today’s competitive AEC market must be decision-driven. Hence, the decision-makers need to have accurate project cost estimation in a very short time to effectively respond to an RFP or RFQ. Project cost control and project progress monitoring are essential for the sustainability and growth of today’s construction enterprises because of competitive bidding. Globally, the adoption of internet and cloud technology is helping the AEC industry to manage and monitor construction projects from remote locations. In India, the trend is catching up fast both in public and private enterprises,” says Vijay Gupta, Founder & CEO, SoftTech Engineers Limited.

He adds, “I foresee a lot of data-driven decision making and heavy reliance on the data collected remotely from sites. I believe that online software and systems to digitally manage construction projects now onwards will be considered imperative by business owners for monitoring and decision making for their projects. The building information modeling (BIM) to virtualize the construction project, and monitoring through Virtual and Augmented reality (AR/VR) technologies without moving on to the site will be a boon to address the industry challenges brought by Covid-19. I believe the industry should start learning and adopting this sooner than later for the survival and growth of the business in this industry.”

“With the rapidly changing times, there is an emerging need for construction sites to become a receptacle to significant automation processes, from planning and execution to building management. The demand for integration of technology into construction space will gain importance. When we talk about these tech solutions, the focus here is not on isolated solutions, but on a holistic network of integrated systems and applications that interact and effectively ‘communicate’ with each other (Internet of Things, or IoT). This streamlines important but time-consuming and sometimes error-prone processes. Simultaneously, it makes the process more precise and transparent, including tedious processes like documentation,” avers Keshab Chopra, Managing Director, Doka India. 

According to Chopra the solutions must not only be practical, but user-friendly and customer-oriented as well. There is no way they will become established and generate added value unless they are developed with everyday working routines in mind and without the need for lengthy technical training.

“Internet of Things can offer full lifecycle asset information. By collating data on how different components of a building perform during their lifecycle, end-users and operators can better understand their assets and hone their performance. The data is also extremely powerful for designers and project teams when it comes to replacing that building in the future or when constructing another asset in that operator’s portfolio. On a more holistic scale, aggregating real-time and historical performance data from several buildings - on a regional, national or even international level - can enable our industry to deliver higher quality assets that powerfully support the business outcomes of the people using them, adds Chopra.

Earned Value Management

“Construction is one of the least digitalized industries everywhere and I foresee huge opportunities the way construction projects are designed, managed, and executed. Thanks to the advancement in computer literacy in India with the younger generation getting introduced into construction, the future is bright as far as the Indian construction industry is concerned. One of the major challenges in the construction industry is cost and time overruns. I believe a good estimate is the foundation of a good control mechanism. To have accurate estimate the quantity to be accurate enough and so is the first principle estimate. EVM (Earned Value Management) plays an important role in construction. This is one solution all team members can see the performance of a project throughout the life cycle and take corrective actions sooner than later,” says Lalu Varghese, Director and CEO, LSS Pvt Ltd.

According to Varghese the proliferation of BIM processes made design aspects much simpler and more collaborative. Overall, the outlook is quite good with the latest introduction of artificial intelligence, cloud-native environments, etc. There are no boundaries with technology. While the construction industry has been notoriously slow to adopt technology, the pandemic has compelled it to embrace digitisation to facilitate remote operations. I believe those who adopted technology will have a better chance compared to non-adopters. The construction will surge back which is one of the major industries after this unprecedented times.

Design & Animation

The post-pandemic world will see a fresh push for digital transformation, and will witness greater adoption of digitalized workflows across all stages of construction - from design, planning to onsite works. The current crisis with an indefinite timeline will compel the construction industry to automate workflow and process using technology, and early adopters will benefit the most. This is where design and animation firms like Kaleidoscope, a graphic animation studio specializing in visualizations for the infrastructure and construction segment, chips in. “As a part of digital transformation in construction and infrastructure, our expertise lies in turning complicated technical content into simple, engaging visual stories that act as powerful digital tools for our clients for their processes, training, implementation and marketing requirements. These videos help make investors and stakeholders understand the project from all angles, which helps gain quick approvals thereby saving time, costs and effort,” says Sathya Kumaran, Co-founder, Kaleidoscope.

“Visualisations connect multiple stakeholders across locations and time zones in real-time, from the initial design through to the final construction. They can experience what the structure will actually look like way before the actual construction which provides enhanced data transparency, supports combined decision making and leads to more predictable and profitable outcomes. It ensures minimal information loss with effective execution of the project, increasing coordination and collaboration between the various disciplines involved in the construction process,” explains Mala Ramachandran, Co-founder, Kaleidoscope.

By using technologies such as GIS, BIM, AI, VR&AR, IoT, mobile applications, among others, smarter companies have started leveraging the advantages of such technologies to streamline their project management, thereby enhancing the quality and safety of projects. In short, with digitisation opening up multiple faucets in the construction industry, companies across the spectrum will have to make concerted efforts, especially post Covid-19 era.

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