Construction industry ready for digital transformation, global study finds

Autodesk releases results of a study: “Digital transformation: the future of connected construction”, produced by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Sponsored by Autodesk, the IDC study - conducted with 835 construction professionals from large companies in Europe, the United States and Asia Pacific - assesses the maturity and challenges of the digital transformation (DX) of the construction sector .

According to the study, 58% of businesses surveyed worldwide report that their businesses are in the early stages of their digital journey, while 28% are halfway there and 13% are in the more advanced stages (see below, extracts from the study, the various stages of digital transformation (DX) in the construction sector).

Japan, Germany and the United States represent the top 3 of the most advanced countries. Conversely, Brazil is the least advanced country. Indeed, the majority of business and digital / IT initiatives are often disconnected and not aligned with the company's strategy. Overall, Europe and the United States score higher than the Asia Pacific region.

Unlocking 5 “digital blocking” points can help gain competitive advantage

The study identified five points of “digital blockages” for companies around the world in order to help them reach the advanced stage of their digital transformation.

For many companies that are striving to advance in their digitalization (46%), the greatest difficulty is to create a single strategic roadmap for the entire company, in order to help prioritize cases of use and technological investments. Next comes the construction of a declinable technological model (42%), the implementation of digital success measurement indicators (or KPIs) (37%), the ability to draw on technological expertise (36%) and and finally, the integration of the best digital processes across the company (29%).

Unlock the 5 points of "Digital locks" can help organizations progress in their digital transformation by moving from primary and secondary stages to the most advanced stages; those where digitalization becomes central in the work process of companies and allows them to have a competitive advantage in their market.

The path to follow

"While many global companies have embarked on their digital transformation and are introducing innovations in their approach, the construction sector has not yet fully benefited from the benefits of digitalization due to the many challenges it faces", says Daniel-Zoe Jimenez, AVP and APAC Head Digital Transformation at IDC.

Daniel-Zoe Jimenez adds that, "However, the study shows that digital tools for the construction sector (such as BIM, supply management, project management and studies) can improve projects, and that companies are studying new innovative technologies in order to accelerate their digital transformation ".

The use of BIM is essential to the digital transformation of the construction industry. However, adoption of BIM is uneven around the world. The IDC study shows that there seems to be a correlation between the most mature companies (stage 3 and above) and their use of BIM.

"Across the world, the construction industry realizes it has to build more with less"says Dustin DeVan - Construction Strategist and Evangelist, representative of Autodesk Construction Solutions. “We need more infrastructure, but there is a labor shortage and declining margins. To increase productivity and gain a competitive advantage in this context, companies must initiate digitalization and connect their teams, their work processes and their data ”.

Zoom: The digital transformation of companies in the construction sector in France (*)

The 3 main challenges that French companies face are:

• Data security (18,6%)
• Risk management (11,1%)
• Manual processes and time-consuming duplicates (9,8%)

The first 3 current investments in software are:

• Project management (43,1%)
• BIM software (41,2%)
• Enterprise resource planning / Estimates / Customer relationship management (CRM) / Project management / Pre-construction (37,3%)

According to the French companies interviewed, the 3 phases of a construction project that deserve the most improvements are:

• The design phase (19,6%)
• The pre-construction stage (17,6%)
• Execution on site (15,7%)

The digital tools used in the context of construction projects help to improve as a priority:

• Project management and performance (16,7%)
• Speed ​​and precision of projects (15%)
• Team safety and health (12,4%)

According to 33.3% of French companies surveyed, only 5% to 10% of turnover is used for technological investments.

Finally, in France, for 41% of companies in the construction sector, BIM investments are common. But for 29%, they are still only planned.

(*) Source: "Digital transformation: the future of connected construction", IDC).

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