12 Emerging Technologies disrupting the construction processes
Technologies are emerging and evolving faster than ever before . A wide range of emerging technologies has changed the way work was previously conducted . A glance at the performance of other industries , such as manufacturing , finance and healthcare shows the extent to which technologies have entirely replaced their business operation ( Osunsanmi et al . 2020 ). By comparison , the construction industry is still lagging in technology adoption and adaption compared with others . According to Agarwal , Chandrasekaran , and Sridhar ( 2016 ), construction is portrayed as slow in adopting innovative technology . Only a few construction companies have fully utilised digital planning tools ( Dallasega , Rauch , and Linder 2018 ). This matter also has been highlighted in World Economic Forum ( 2016 ) as the reluctance of the construction industry towards technology adoption , although most other sectors are experiencing tremendous changes these past few decades .
To better drive the transcending technological waves of today , it is very important to select the appropriate technologies that can bring great improvement to the industry . Thus , understanding , identifying , examining , sorting out , and selecting suitable emerging technologies are among the crucial matters that companies and Governments must undertake . A total of 12 technologies were identified in the Construction 4.0 Strategic Plan ( 2021-2025 ) that could potentially shape the Malaysian construction companies to become more technology competent . Technologies that are listed as important to grasp Construction 4.0 at present are Building Information Modelling ( BIM ); Prefabrication and Modular Construction ; Autonomous Construction ; Augmented Reality and Virtualisation ( AR & VR ); Cloud and Realtime Collaboration ; 3D Scanning and Photogrammetry ; Big Data and Predictive Analysis ; the Internet of Things ( IoT ); 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing ; Advanced building materials ; Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence ( AI ).
BIM . The construction industry is a complex sector that entails many different parties such as clients , developers , contractors , architects , and others . Implementing BIM throughout all stages of the value chain can increase the communication and collaboration process among all parties involved . BIM has been mentioned in several strategic documents such as – UK Construction 2025 ( HM Government 2013 ), UK Built Environment 2050 ( Philp and Thompson 2014 ), Singapore Construction ITM ( Building and Construction Authority 2017 ) as one of the key technologies for digital transformation . It can be concluded that there is mutual agreement , particularly on the opportunities offered by BIM . Governments all over the world have recognised the positive contribution of implementing BIM in the construction industry . For sure , BIM will soon be the backbone of the construction process . Therefore , pushing BIM to be used by all parties throughout the whole construction value chain is a holistic approach to achieve an integrated environment .
IBS . Likewise , Prefabrication and Modular Construction create many potential improvements in construction . In Malaysia , prefabrication and modular construction are widely known as Industrial Building Systems ( IBS ). The use of IBS is said to bring advantages such as : improving the quality of construction ( Arashpour et al . 2018 ; Hao et al . 2020 ; Zhou et al . 2019 ); reduction of construction waste ( Hao et al . 2020 ; Lu et al . 2021 ; Zhou et al . 2019 ); onsite and off-site parallel co-ordination ( Hao et al . 2020 ; Lu et al . 2021 ); reduction of constructioninduced carbon emissions ( Hao et al . 2020 ; Lu et al . 2021 ; Zhou et al . 2019 ); and reducing cost ( Arashpour et al . 2018 ). CIDB revealed that the adoption rate of IBS in the public sector currently stands at 81 % as of June 2019 , seeing a threefold improvement from 24 % in 2014 ( Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia 2019 ). Despite this positive achievement , the uptake in the private sector is slower than expected . The private sector adoption rate of IBS sees an estimated 35 % in 2019 , out of its 2020 target of 50 % ( Jaafar 2019 ). If the private sector was more aware of its capabilities and benefits , the implementation of IBS would steadily increase . Thus , comprehensive approaches and strategies are necessary to untangle what is holding back the majority of construction companies in Malaysia from trying the IBS method .
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