InEight surveyed over 500 attendees visiting our booth at the 2019 World of Concrete in Las Vegas to ask about their levels of digital preparedness and how they see their digital futures.
For those of us in construction, we’re all too familiar with the stat that the industry is second to last in digital project management adoption in the U.S. and the promise that the sector’s value could improve by an estimated $1.6 trillion* through the effective use of technology. So, we were excited to hear how our survey participants are currently using technology, and to show them how to build a digitized environment to help them improve performance.
HIGH INTEREST, LOW DIGITAL ADOPTION
Attendees showed a very strong interest in looking at ways technology can help them bring projects in on time and on budget. Across the group, areas, where digital tools were found to be of highest interest, were divided almost evenly, at about 20 percent each. The areas that respondents expressed the most need for were: document management software solutions; scheduling, planning and estimating tools; and data benchmarking technology.
In contrast to the high interest, the adoption of these digital project management tools is remarkably low. Only 15 percent of our surveyed attendees told us their business was already fully digitized. Over half of those surveyed stated they were either just starting to dip into digital adoption or had not started at all. And, those who were just starting said they were still using basic software tools or hadn’t gone further than using one or two digital solutions.
FORECASTING TECHNOLOGY OFFERS A COMPETITIVE EDGE
Three-quarters of the people we surveyed told us they are not regularly using data benchmarking tools to budget their new projects. A remarkable 17 percent said they did not even realize there was technology that could do this. The field for improvement is wide open here. Digital benchmarking tools allow for more accurate, defensible bids that create a real clarity of project scope that can place digitized businesses out in front of competitors.
THE GREAT NEWS? OPPORTUNITY FROM DIGITAL ADOPTION IS INDUSTRY-WIDE
Across the board, from small start-ups to larger enterprises, survey answers showed a range of technology adoption from partial to fully digitized. This is good news. It shows that within our industry, businesses at all levels are seeing the advantages digitization can bring to building productivity and providing a competitive edge. Their successes will prove that digital transformation is the new standard for the entire industry.
IT’S TIME TO BE PREPARED
At InEight, we believe that digital project management tools will drive our industry’s future. Those who are prepared will be the leaders — improving productivity as they keep pace with today’s rapidly changing and increasingly complex industry environment.
Our leading-edge, integrated software solutions for planning and scheduling, estimating and document management help you build projects that come in on time and on budget.
Learn more about our integrated project controls platform.
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*McKinsey Global Institute Report, Reinventing construction through a productivity revolution. February 2017.
