FINDING SOLUTIONS Page 78 • January 22, 2022 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Technology Section • Construction Equipment Guide
Contractors Turn to Innovative Tech to Complete Projects
By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT
Any 21st-century discussion of new technology in construction usually is couched in terms of software and hardware, with a tip of the hat to such things as advanced metallurgy and dynamic engineering. Yet at the end of the day, the industry’s progress in employing new tech is predicated on such old-time concepts as attitude, initiative and willingness to take risks. That becomes clear in talking with industry professionals like Jeff Sample, who describes himself as an “industry evangelist.” The so-called “Ironman of IT” — a label that alludes to his personal fitness routines as well as his enduring engagement as a proctor of best business practices — said technological progress in construction is grounded in a company’s self-awareness. “Everyone loves to buy software,” said Sample, who is head of communications of the Join collaboration software company, “but tech does not solve problems. You must first identify problems, understand the depth of them, before you can find solutions to the problems. You might even have to change a process to apply software solutions.” “First, know thyself” is how an evangelist might put it. “I encourage every construction company to identify its DNA. Everyone is different. There are the leading-edge companies that are always ready to try the latest thing. Then there are the early adaptors who quickly adapt and follow. And then there are companies that are laggards and quite comfortable where they are. “You need to understand where you are when you choose to try a new software solution,” said Sample. “If you are a laggard, I can already guarantee you it won’t work.” Brianne Stewart might not disagree with the gist of Sample’s assessment. Stewart is a construction technology manager of Milwaukee Tool. She has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa and acquainted herself with manufacturing processes at such companies as Proctor & Gamble and John Deere before joining Milwaukee Tool four years ago. In respect to the progressiveness of construction companies, Stewart understands the position in which construction executives and small contractors find themselves. “There has been so much coverage recently about the construction industry lagging in its
According to industry professional Jeff Sample, technological progress in construction is grounded in a company’s self-awareness.
embrace of technology,” she said. But, she added that some of this reluctance to run with the latest technology offering can be the fault of those who promote the tech. “Sometimes companies simply come to market with solutions they believe will work instead of first working with contractors and fully understanding what the challenges are on a job site. Even when tech companies come into the construction industry with solutions that are great, their solutions are hard to implement,” she said. Consequently, Stewart doesn’t view the industry as unprogressive so much as cautious. “This is a very high financial risk industry, because of profit margins and schedules,”she said. “So, contractors and companies take a very deliberate view of new technology. For them, there’s a higher burden of proof needed that a new solution actually will increase productivity, or the quality of work, or safety on a job site. A solution must be proven to be of real value on a job before a company feels comfortable adopting it.” Stewart said her interactive role with con-
struction companies in the course of developing or redeveloping tools has shown her “how involved contractors are getting. My sense is that they are very interested in working with solution providers to help shape technology.” Sample prefers to eschew the whole “Top Five List of New Technologies” approach to looking at the future of technology in construction. Rather, he rolls it all together in the rubric of “industrialization,” that is, the need to increasingly manufacture components offsite. “The industrialization of construction possibly is the most important piece of the industry’s future,” he said, “and we are not going to industrialize and become more manufacturing-based without great technology and great application of technology.” Talk of construction manufacturing brings to mind modular homes and, perhaps, precast bridges assembled on site, but Sample skews smaller. Think bathrooms. “The easiest one for me to describe is bathroom pods for hospitals. They are all the same. So, when you are building them onsite, you are
doing something repeatedly. An alternative is to build the bathrooms in a factory, hook them up and you’re done. “Or the headwalls next to a hospital bed. All the necessary infrastructure for patient outlets — gas lines, electrical, plumbing — are built into those walls. We can prefabricate them. So, when you are building a hospital, prefabricating those walls and bathroom pods are one way to speed up construction, increase availability, and reduce costs. “That’s industrialization of construction. You are never going to build everything in a factory and ship it to a site. What we are talking about is much smaller than what people commonly think about. You have to think smaller. Not every job is going to use off-site manufacturing, but it should be part of the mix.” Stewart’s team at Milwaukee Tool looks at equipment with an eye toward helping contractors adopt advanced technologies. “Power tools are part of the technology ecosystem, a very powerful part of the system,” she said. “We are the point where people and materials come together. And the
