The initial cost to adopt the technologies is a major deterrent

We are looking into adoption of AI, capturing 3D scans of construction sites and drone imaging to track the project.

- Krishna Veeraraghavan, Director and COO - Bengaluru, Shriram Properties Ltd

What is your assessment and foresight on the scope and opportunities of transforming the construction industry more automated and digitalized?

The technological transformation of the construction industry is much needed and inevitable. This process will help the sector to do more data-driven decision making with the use of new-age technologies such as big data, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). In modern construction, IoT is soon gaining prominence and is transforming how the segment functions, thus enabling efficient construction, making the performance of the asset more effective at reduced costs, and provides for better life of the facility, in effect decreasing negative environmental impact. Digital tools using AI and big data further contribute to the ease of information gathering, planning and construction processes. As automation and digital processes progress to have more and more uses within the building industry, they have a great prospective to make the sector more efficient, cost-effective, and innovation driven.         

What do you think the major pain points for this transition and your suggestions to address those?

There are various barriers that are slowing down the pace of this transformation, one of which is the lack of tech education among various stakeholders. The initial cost to be spent to adopt the technologies is the main deterrent and the service-oriented knowledge and rectification of any glitches in the process is another major pain point. The evolution of technology is extremely fast, but the people involved in the workflows are not able to cope up with that pace.

Therefore, education around new technologies and its usage among developers and construction workers have become imperative.  The solution to this limitation is to have standardized processes that are robust and flexible enough to allow for digital workflows. Another barrier to a digital transition of this sector is the weakened economy. This pulls back the transformation since the developers are not able to contribute effectively towards industrial automation given the economic setbacks they are facing due to unpredicted challenges in the real estate sector. Relief and help from the government can help overcome this challenge of economic uncertainty and bring about the transformation of the construction industry.

What contributory role your company has been / will be playing for this transition?

The primary objective of adoption of technology in construction industry is that the industry needs an interface between, human being, machine and the data. We have already started our initial steps in technology adoption in construction by the way of information gathering from various levels in the process of construction activities through automated systems (Mobile applications) from start to end of construction, which helps us in effectively tracking the project, so as to eliminate even small delays.          

In addition to above we are looking into adoption of AI, capturing 3D scans of construction sites and drone imaging to track the project, which helps improve construction execution planning, the updating of construction sequences and task management, while keeping all stakeholders always informed. And we are also in discussion of using drone cameras for surveying of land parcels which in turn helps us in increasing the efficiency of building design with the adoption of AI to analyse those information. With these we are very much confident to make a better tomorrow with technologies in the construction industry.

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