Construction is the oldest profession and requires elaborate planning and error free execution. Despite being a worldwide business, the industry has marked 0% advancement in last 25 years with the 98% of projects getting delayed due to lack of planning and managerial negligence.
However, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of things (AIoT) is proving its worth in combating this issue by strengthening both construction planning and execution.
5 ways in which AIoT in bringing a balanced construction workflow is reported below:
1. Improved Transparency in Workflow
Construction involves distribution of task amongst various levels of stakeholders; workers being at one extreme followed by contractors at the middle strata and owner being at the other side. Most of the times the lack of transparent information flow from one stratum to other in this work oriented hierarchy leads mismanagement and irregularities. AIoT helps in keeping a real time watch on various activities in the job-site and also helps in auto-documentation of non-compliances which is free of human judgment bias.
2. Reduced Re-Planning Cost and Efforts
By ensuring transparent workflow and accurate progress details, AIoT acts as an effective mediator in the construction job-site workflow. This helps in preventing high re-planning and re-execution efforts and costs. Especially, information flow between all the strata plays a vital role in determining the timely completion of any construction project with higher efficacy and fewer conflicts.
3. Smart Workforce Allocation
For instance, using computer vision technology powered by cloud; worker’s activities and their productivity is tracked in real time using CCTV cameras which is instantly monitored by all on-site and remote stakeholders. Such smart sites make it easy for stakeholders to keep a record of worker’s efficacy, error rate, non-compliances and sincerity levels. These daily records are further implemented for various planning purposes by contractors like worker distribution per area, allocation of high skilled workers in high ROI task.
4. Balancing Conflicts Between Contractor & Owner
Apart from planning, the auto-documentation ability of AIoT powered smart sites makes it easy for the contractors to check progress of the job-site on every day basis so as to plan worker’s day to day activity. This also makes it easy for the owners as well to keep a regular watch on job-site progress and cross-validate the job-site reports as submitted by the contractor. This brings checks and balances to numerous disputes between contractor & owner regarding work progress, resource utilization, budget utilization etc.
5. Establishing Better Governance at The Construction Job-Sites
Construction being a complex workflow is tough to govern using human monitoring. Thus, AIoT powered smart sites are easy to be governed due to transparent workflow. For instance real time alerts on non-compliances and negligence by workers such as smoking, sleeping, fighting at job-site helps in keeping onsite manger informed about happening at each and every corner of the job-sites. Apart from this, contractors can monitor the working of their on-site stakeholder without even physically visiting the construction site. Furthermore, the owners can thereby monitor the productivity and govern contractors and keep a strict watch on work progress.