How will the power of AI also revolutionize the construction sector?

Data at the service of worksites

The construction industry constantly seeks to maximize its performance. However, before reducing inefficiencies, it is first essential to be able to identify where they come from.

Optimizing the productivity of resources, operating systems and work methods helps to maximize performance and ensure project delivery on time and within budget.

Several factors can affect the progress of a project, so it is necessary to carefully review all available information to determine areas that require special attention. By analyzing internal procedures and on-site performance, Buildots was able to determine in the study "The numbers behind inefficient construction practices » areas to increase yield.

An award-winning BIM player harnessing the power of AI to modernize the construction industry, Buildots conducted this 16-month study based on 64 international construction projects undertaken between 2018 and 2022 totaling over 1.314.008 m2 of built space (residential, office development, hospitals, schools, industrial projects).

Buildots used, as on all of its clients' projects, cameras mounted on hard hats to capture images of every detail of a project in progress. These images were translated into precise, objective and usable data.

4 major indicators and figures to remember

This analysis identified four indicators common to all the projects in the study that can serve as a starting point for companies seeking to improve the performance of their own projects and as benchmarks against which to compare their measures:

Use of space

Space utilization measures the percentage of available space in which work is performed over a given period of time.

• With an average utilization rate of 46%, lead times could potentially be reduced by up to 50% through proper planning and proper allocation of resources.
• With enough resources, a project can safely work on a greater number of worksite areas while maintaining a high level of productivity.

Production variability

Production variability measures the fluctuation in activity level of each trade from week to week.

• Activity levels for all trades fluctuate from week to week. Projects struggle to maintain consistent productivity.
• The delay of a project is strongly correlated to the variability of production.
• Stable activity levels are a key indicator of a project's ability to meet its planning and resource optimization objectives.

Catch-up visits

A catch-up visit occurs when a crew returns to a job site area to complete an unfinished task.

• More than 10% of the tasks started on a construction site are not completed during the initial sequence.
• Even projects with high yields can increase their performance by implementing methods to reduce make-up visits.
• Make-up visits are very common on all construction sites, regardless of the type of project or the size of it.

Sequence deviations

Sequence deviations measure situations where trades started their tasks out of sequence.

• It is important to find a balance between strictly following the schedule and allowing a certain degree of flexibility.
• Experienced project managers are key to finding this balance and maximizing return.
• Although sequence deviations are more common in commercial projects, they occur often enough in residential and commercial projects to warrant analysis to improve their performance.

New light on the problems encountered by the construction industry, whose losses are estimated at several billion euros.

For Roy Danon, CEO of Buildots: « Construction companies today lack complete visibility into the productivity of their projects and the effectiveness of their management methods. The information published in this study not only indicates the problems encountered in a wide range of international construction projects, but also presents suggestions on how to solve them. This holds enormous potential to move the industry forward into a new era of efficiency and data-driven progress. »