Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Return on Investment (ROI) are crucial to any industry, the construction industry without being an exception. Both KPI and ROI are tools of measurement used by the businesses to find out how successful they have been in achieving particular goals and objectives and thus serve a substantial role in the planning and strategy of an organization. Construction has multi-tasked workflow, and hence managing KPIs and ROI becomes crucial for making construction projects successful.
How does viAct’s scenario-based AI help in managing construction KPIs?
Except for Experience Modification Rate (EMR) in construction – which is the only standard metric used across the construction industry – the industry has lacked overall objective benchmarks, thus making it almost impossible to define construction KPIs and improve the performance of the construction projects. Even today many companies focus on traditional and backward-looking KPI metrics such as revenue, profits, and cash. However, as the projects unfold, there are other metrics like project quality, rework cost and frequency of inspections that can prove to be more beneficial for the construction companies since they explore the health of the projects, deliver early warning signs and help the companies to develop futuristic insights and thus make proactive business decisions.
Considering the above gaps, Autodesk commissioned a study which was conducted by Dodge Data & Analytics. The study revealed 7 major forward-looking construction KPIs which directly impacts ROI of any construction project ranging from construction documentation to quality and close-out. Autodesk mentions that these KPIs can only be met using high-end technology like AI and its subsets.
In this notion, here’s how viAct’s scenario-based AI helps in managing these 7 forward-looking construction KPIs.
KPI 1: Construction Documents
Construction documentation is a herculean task, especially when the projects are of a complex nature. However, viAct’s 360° camera and construction robotics powered by viAct’s scenario-based AI can ease the task of construction documentation. Just a simple walk down the construction jobsite, either by the inspector with 360° camera or by the robot, is enough to record and document the minutest of detail of the jobsite. The smart insights captured by these AI powered devices are showcased through an intuitive UI via. viAct’s integrated dashboard enabling faster and efficient documentation practices for the jobsite
KPI 2: Request for Information (RFIs)
A request for information is a formal written process in which stakeholders clarify the information gaps in construction documents. But the manual RFI process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. However, viAct’ intuitive dashboard helps keep all the stakeholders in the loop from pre-construction phase to project closeout with real-time collaboration and automated updates, thus enabling better and more informed decisions, all while completing projects on-time and within budget.
KPI 3: Change Orders
Estimates show that on an average 35% of the projects experience at least one major change throughout their lifetime. No matter the reason behind the change order, if the construction company does not want the change order to lead to even more costly delays and project failures, it is important on their part to adopt a reliable process to anticipate the worse. This is where viAct’s Overview & Trend Card can play a crucial role as it enables user to review useful data anytime, anywhere in order to visualize past trends and plan future changes thereby reducing the time, money and manpower otherwise wasted on the change orders.
KPI 4: Schedule
Project scheduling is highly advantageous but manual scheduling is utterly time-consuming. However, with viAct’s algorithm driven data analytics platform, hundreds or even thousands of fully resource-loaded schedules can be developed daily, within hours, with minimal human interference, along with a clear cost and time impact of each iteration.
KPI 5: Safety & Inspections
In an industry like construction, the safety and inspections are inevitable and cannot be compromised since smallest of non-compliance can incur heavy losses. But manual safety inspection is not a smart and efficient way to do since it has several inherent disadvantages. But viAct’s smart AI enabled Safety Modules ensure round-the-clock safety (both physical & psychological) in the construction jobsites by detecting smallest of safety non-compliance and sending instant alerts to the stakeholders before it is too late. Moreover, the “All Alert page” in viAct’s dashboard provides graphical illustration of all the alerts that are sent to the user by viAct’s AI engines. The user can sort out alerts according to requirement, in both tabular as well as the grid view, with the help of the sorting function. This enables all round safety inspection of the construction site with a click!
KPI 6: Labour Productivity
The construction industry has registered 0% productivity increase in the past 25 years and 98% project delays, mainly owing to unplanned execution of workers’ daily tasks. viAct scenario-based Worker’s Productivity Tracking Module is the much needy solution to this productivity problem in the construction jobsite. This AI enabled computer vision module efficiently detects and counts the number of workers in the monitoring areas and their distribution per day. Further the trend-oriented reports in viAct’s dashboard help the contractors to plan the workforce for the future projects.
KPI 7: Quality & Close Out
Quality is a factor that can never be compromised at any costs. Construction project closeout is the final but vital phase of construction since many-a-time the closeout phase can either make or break an otherwise successful project. There are several discrete tasks involved in project closeout, starting from jobsite clean-up to organizing and turning over documentation. In order to ensure that a project is complete successfully, the closeout process needs to be coordinated and managed well. viAct’s scenario-based AI and computer vision provides solutions to the various problems encountered in the construction jobsite from the first brick to the last breath, while keeping the quality of work intact.
How does viAct’s scenario-based AI help in managing ROI in construction?
By managing and improving the construction KPIs, viAct’s scenario-based AI helps in enhancing the productivity of all the three elements of construction, that is, manpower, material and machine and this ultimately improves the ROI in construction. The 30+ AI modules created by viAct are nothing but AI solutions to tackle the varied problems that occur at different stages of construction that hampers the safety and productivity in the construction site, ultimately hampering the ROI. viAct’s AI modules such as Workers PPE detection, Danger zone detection, Productivity Tracking Modules for Construction Machineries and workers, Auto-Patrol Monitoring and the like – all focus ultimately towards enhancing the productivity of the man, material and machine and improving the various KPIs in construction, thus ultimately helping in managing ROI in construction.