INDUSTRY WATCH
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CWM systems have been used in the US for
several years to eliminate process friction
and unify various groups, from owners to
architects to subcontractors, throughout the
construction project lifecycle. They allow
data around scheduling, bill of material,
plans, regulatory requirements and more
to be tracked, managed and shared within
the same system. Access to this data can
be assigned to any person or company
involved in a workflow on a granular, task-
specific basis.
Sarfraz Ali, Senior Director of Market
Development at Smartsheet
One area of technology innovation is
Building Information Modelling (BIM),
an intelligent 3D model-based process
that gives architecture, engineering and
construction (AEC) professionals a set
of tools to more efficiently plan, design,
construct and manage buildings and
infrastructure. The UK government has
heavily promoted the use of BIM through its
Construction 2025 strategy.
data environment (CDE), making data
available to all project participants in
a single system and enabling a more
efficient, integrated workflow.
CWM systems have proven popular,
especially with larger organisations. One
multi-billion-dollar construction firm has
been able to halve the time it takes to
conduct weekly project calls, reduce material
and damage delays by nearly as much and
improve turnaround times on RFIs and PCOs
as a result of newly streamlined workflows. For CIOs within the construction sector, the
use of new technology must be tempered
by a few limiting factors. Perhaps the most
challenging issue is the deployment and
management of IT infrastructure at remote
sites along with the required connectivity
that can prove a logistical and support
nightmare. One approach that overcomes
many of these issues is the use of cloud-
based solutions that move applications
into a centrally-managed and provisioned
core. This has the dual advantages of
allowing more BYOD usage and allowing
organisations to better secure data that is
often needed to meet regulatory constraints
such as planning and building control.
A recent report from McKinsey and
Company offers several ways developers
can benefit from new technology
and reinforces the urgency of taking
proactive steps forward. One specific
recommendation is to make digital
participation a part of the bidding process
for all project participants. Another is
to enforce a strong and shareable data
foundation, which they call a common Housing supply and construction speed
are complicated issues but finding better
ways of working, with the help of emerging
technologies like BIM and CWM systems,
can help developers and others streamline
many of the factors that are within their
control. For the pioneer, the rewards – from
competitive differentiation to increased
speed to future-proofing of operations – are
potentially enormous. n
BIM has been adopted for large-scale public
projects, but the technology is less prevalent
with smaller developers. In a 2016 survey
conducted by the NBS, 92% of respondents
agreed that ‘adopting BIM requires changes
in our workflow, practices and procedures’,
which is often more difficult for smaller
organisations with limited training and
staffing budgets.
Another set of technologies, grouped
under Collaborative Work Management
(CWM), is increasingly showing up as a
complement or alternative to BIM. While
these systems have roots in the traditional
spreadsheets and digital forms that have
long been common in the industry, they
add a layer of construction sector-specific
knowledge into the process of collecting
and acting on data based on configurable
rules that automate repetitive actions.
The technology is already used by Fortune
500 companies to manage everything
from building airliners to organising the
production of Hollywood films.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
www.intelligentcio.com