Construction is a relationship-based business.

It takes solid connections and networks to move the construction industry forward and generate success in times of great change. No one knows this better than Troy Mayner, Vice President of Scott-Long Construction. We recently spoke with Troy about the relationships he’s built through his career in construction and how they’ve helped him drive progress. 

Tell us a little bit about Scott-Long Construction and what you specialize in.

Scott-Long Construction is located in Chantilly, Virginia. We provide general contracting services in, roughly, a 90-mile radius of the Chantilly area. We like to say we are a relationship company, meaning the majority of the work we want to do is with companies we have relationships with. That may be with an owner, a design team, subcontractors, etc. Whoever it is, we pride ourselves on having good relationships. We do a lot of hospital and church work, but really our driver is that we want to work with people that want to work with us.

Walk us through your career and what led you to becoming Vice President?

I graduated from Virginia Tech as a mechanical engineer. When I graduated, I started working for a small general contractor. It was essentially two other guys and me who did just about everything. Later, I moved to Whiting-Turner for about two years. Then I got a call from John Scott and interviewed with him. I’ve been at Scott-Long for a little over 15 years. I started as a project engineer and moved up to Project Manager, then Senior Project Manager, later the Director of Operations, and now the Vice President.

As construction evolves, how do you see your role changing?

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a lot of progress, especially from the standard of communication. The way we communicate information amongst our team and the subcontractors and the owners has evolved. 

That’s one of the reasons we wanted to get into using a platform that we’re able to communicate across all parties with. It’s what really drew me and Scott-Long to the Autodesk Build platform.

What project are you most proud of working on in your career?

The biggest and first major project I had with Scott-Long was Patrick Henry College. We did a student life center for them in 2008 and 2009, and I was the Project Engineer on that project. I had a great team and owner and an excellent superintendent to work with. It was a long, difficult project, but it was one that I’ll always remember. I probably gained the most construction knowledge over a short period of time by working on it. And by the end of the project, I moved up from Project Engineer to Project Manager. 

We also do a lot of work with Valley Health in Winchester, Virginia. They have facilities all over Virginia and West Virginia. One of our early projects with them was the South Tower renovation which included a renovation over the top and adjacent to occupied spaces. This project required a lot of coordination between the subcontractors and the owners, shutdowns, and relocation of patients. 

That was one of the main projects that we did with Valley Health that set us apart from other contractors. We’ve been out at Valley Health for the past 15+ years now.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your role?

Communication is the biggest challenge. We’re in the infancy of using the Build product. We really know the PlanGrid product, but we are at the beginning stages of using it. I would say that with the challenges with communication, there is an opportunity for us to clearly communicate and share documents amongst subcontractors or owners. That way everything is transparent across the entire team and there are no surprises for anybody. 

If all that information is there, you don’t get the call from the sub saying, “Hey, I don’t have this document.” They can go on and grab it. The owner says, “Where’s this?” and they can go on and get it. It really saves you a lot of time because all the information is housed in a central location, and you don’t have to have a person there to redistribute the information that already exists.

When you think about the future, what are your plans to advance innovation and productivity at Scott-Long Construction? 

It’s morphing the roles of the employees and how they operate. We’ve been discussing the right way to structure any given team internally. It really depends on the project and a lot of different things. 

But with the capabilities of the platform, the automated component has already happened, removing all those task-oriented things that people do. Now your employees can focus on figuring out the construction piece of it versus spending time on the paperwork.

What advice would you give to the next generation of men and women entering and preparing for the future of the industry?

Construction has been slow to evolve. When I look at all the technology companies and what they’re doing around us, my takeaway is: don’t always go with the status quo. There’s always a better way to do things. Don’t just let someone shove the idea of “This is the way it’s always been done. This is the way you need to do it.”  Don’t let that happen.

Take your freshness and look at everything with a different set of eyes. Speak up and say, “Hey, this is a better way to do it. I don’t know exactly how we get there, but this is a better way. How do we make that happen?”

Want more stories like this?

I regularly interview construction leaders to promote knowledge sharing. We cover what works, what doesn’t, and what the future holds. Check out our entire series of Behind the Build interviews, featuring some of the best in construction.

The post Behind the Build: Interview with Troy Mayner, Vice President, Scott-Long Construction appeared first on Digital Builder.

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Due to its complexity, much of the subject matter concerning the economy requires detailed editorial commentary, often supported by relevant tables and graphs.

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Ardmore has started a landmark mixed-use luxury redevelopment of a former NCP car park in Mayfair, west London. 

The builder has mobilised on the Carrington Street site to build 30 super-prime homes, gym and restaurant, a 2,400 sq m art gallery and 5,000 sq m of office and commercial space.

Ardmore has started main works following the completion of a demolition and enabling works package by specialist McGee.

The redevelopment designed by AHMM includes two blocks of up to eight storeys, formed in both concrete and steel frames, linked by a three-storey basement, that required 30,000 cubic metres of bulk excavation.

The blocks will be clad in a variety of traditional materials including masonry, pre-cast stone and metal.

Patrick Byrne, Ardmore Managing Director, said: “We are excited to finally start works at the Carrington Street project that will set a new quality benchmark for Mayfair. 

“Planning our delivery approach on such a challenging site has required us to bring all of our experience delivering major projects on logistically constrained sites in Westminster to develop an efficient approach to delivery that minimises disruption to local residents.”

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King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP) has appointed McLaren Construction as main contractor on its latest commercial and residential development at the 67-acre central London site.

Confirmation of the appointment comes just months after McLaren handed over the Luma residential building at Kings Cross.

The new R8 building will comprise two 13-storey blocks linked by a two-storey podium garden with landscaped roof gardens for users of both buildings.

To the east is a residential building of 72 apartments and the western block contains 170,000 sq ft of office space with retail on the ground floor.

KCCLP has entered into a management agreement with The Office Group, the premium flexible workspace provider, which will see them partner to create the largest – and the first purpose-built – design-led, flexible workspace in King’s Cross within these new buildings.

John Butten, Regional Managing Director for the Major Projects division at McLaren Construction, said: “McLaren’s projects at King’s Cross give a snapshot of the depth of capability in one of London’s largest regeneration projects since the 19th century.

“Following on from the high specification apartments in Luma we are now applying the same build quality to more homes, offices and retail.

“This must be one of the most visible regeneration projects in the UK. That makes our repeat work at King’s Cross an important showcase for our can-do culture and aim of always exceeding clients’ expectations.”

The new buildings’ design, by Piercy & Co, draws inspiration from industrial warehouses, with exposedinishes and spacious high ceilings.

It will be delivered by McLaren using fast modern construction methods, such as a unitised façade system on the commercial block. Lighting by 18 Degrees will also be
carefully integrated to avoid exterior lighting poles.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2024.

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Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has replaced BDP as architect of its £600m children and adults hospitals at the Leeds General infirmary site.

BDP was confirmed as preferred bidder for the scheme last month when initial designs were unveiled – but has now been replaced by a rival team.

The trust said: “Following a period of preferred bidder engagement the Trust has not been able to progress these discussions and in line with procurement best practice, started preferred bidder conversations with the Perkins & Will team, led by Penoyre & Prasad with Schmidt Hammer Lassen, who have now been appointed as the preferred bidder and will design the new hospitals in a once in a generation development opportunity for Leeds and the wider region.”

Simon Worthington, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Director of Finance and Senior Responsible Officer for the Hospitals of the Future Project, said: “We were unable to proceed with one of our tenderers but, in accordance with good procurement practice the right thing to do was to follow due process and this has resulted in the Perkins and Will team being appointed as the Trust’s Preferred Bidder to take forward this design opportunity.

“The competition process to appoint an architect was very strong with a number of international practices taking part which meant we received some exceptional concept designs.  The Perkins and Will concept design is very exciting and will create a fantastic landmark for the hospital and the city of Leeds and we are delighted to be working with them to create the new hospitals.”

Perkins & Will Managing Principal, Mark Rowe, said: “It’s obviously a huge privilege to be entrusted with the design of such a prominent site in one of the country’s most important cities.

“Working closely with the Trust, we believe we can deliver an outstanding building that not only supports exemplary clinical care and treatment but that over time can become as cherished a part of the Leeds cityscape as George Gilbert Scott’s exemplary original hospital.”

The Trust is planning to start construction in 2023, enabling it to align with the Government’s New Hospital Programme and benefit from the collaborative approach of working at scale, allowing it to share its experience with other less developed schemes, in areas such as digital technology, sustainability and modern methods of construction.

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Join McKinstry live on October 7, 2021 at 2:00 PM PT for the much-anticipated Autodesk University session, Successful Digital Transformation Through a Product Management Organization. The industry talk will be led by Dace Campbell, Director of Product Management for McKinstry and full of actionable insights.

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Firms are adopting new technology at a rapid rate today — but they aren’t necessarily implementing solutions to their full potential. There are plenty of reasons behind this, though the most common ones are largely related to budget and staff. 

In a 2020 study by JBKnowledge, respondents were asked what they considered is the top limiting factor in trying and/or adopting new technology at their firms. Nineteen percent of respondents cited budgetary reasons and another 19% pointed to the lack of staff to support new tech. Meanwhile, 17% cited employee hesitance as their top limiting factor in technology adoption. 

The construction industry clearly has challenges when it comes to tech adoption and implementation, and this was even more apparent during the pandemic, when companies struggled to stay connected. If there’s one thing that the year 2020 taught us, it’s the importance of being technologically fluent at every step of the construction process. 

Fortunately, there are companies such as McKinstry, which are setting the bar high when it comes to establishing processes and strategies for better technology adoption. 

As a large specialty contractor, McKinstry has a unique perspective on construction teams and technology. 

The company understands that the structure of many AEC firms aren’t conducive to technology adoption. IT departments are often disconnected from high-level business objectives, which makes execution difficult. What’s more, calculating the ROI of technology — plus measuring the opportunity costs of not adopting tech — isn’t a clear-cut task.

McKinstry has a way to address this with their Product Management Organization (PdMO). We’ll get into the details below, but this organization of strategic thinkers guides implementation of critical, ROI-boosting technology for their clients at every step of the construction process. 

Simply put, McKinstry’s PdMO is able to efficiently connect the threads of common need across all lines of a business.

Let’s take a closer look at the issues that many builders face and how McKinstry is helping. 

What stops builders from making informed business decisions?

Industry-wide pain points — which often come in the form of inefficiencies, confusion, and mistakes — lead to a whole lot of wasted time and money on projects. As Brian Antonsen, VP of Mechanical Construction at McKinstry put it, “At McKinstry, we believe that half the energy in buildings is wasted, and half of construction costs are waste.”

While pain points may vary from one builder to the next, they often share the following themes.

Disconnected stakeholders

Project teams are composed of several people in a variety of roles. Difficulties arise when these stakeholders struggle to articulate needs or plans, especially when it comes to important details such as dates and scopes. Problems can also come up when extended stakeholders can’t access the info they need because of multiple points of data entry. These issues can leave people in the dark and wreak havoc on a project’s timeline. 

Inability to forecast effectively

Not having access to reliable data is a major pain point for builders because it prevents them from planning effectively. Without accurate forecasting, teams can easily mismanage their time and budget.

Manual and cumbersome processes

The lack of automation in projects means teams have to manually carry out tasks like entering and reviewing data. On top of that, manual processes are often fraught with human error and duplication of tasks, which of course is time and labor-intensive.

Poor coordination across different locations

Construction work doesn’t just happen on the jobsite. With people working remotely as well as being in the office, teams are often scattered across different locations. When builders don’t have tight systems that connect various team members, projects suffer.

Inefficient task and progress management

Tracking progress is critical in any project. Unfortunately, many builders have difficulties doing so because of uncoordinated task management. What’s more, many teams rely on guesswork based on outdated data. 

Uncertain estimates

The lack of data and inefficient procedures also lead to inaccurate and uncertain estimates, which means builders can’t get a solid handle on the scope and cost of the project. This results in a poor bidding process and overall experience.

“At McKinstry, we believe that half the energy in buildings is wasted, and half of construction costs are waste.”

The above-mentioned pain points greatly hinder builders from making informed decisions. 

Fortunately, the folks at McKinstry have come up with a way to attach real dollar figures and other metrics to just about every pain point a builder could face. This is extremely valuable, because it enables their team to quantify not just their ROI, but the opportunity cost of not using technology to address their pains. 

How a PdMO can help firms pivot to digital workflows

How exactly does McKinstry’s PdMO help transform their digital workflows? Let’s explore how a PdMO can truly be revolutionary for firms struggling with technology adoption and decision-making.

What is PdMO? 

Before we go any further though, it’s worth defining what “product” means in the context of PdMO. The “product” is essentially a technology solution being developed and deployed. That could be in the form of software, a website, an app, etc.

Product Management Organization (PdMO) then refers to the team responsible for implementation of those technology solutions, or “products”. Essentially, it acts as a strategic organization chartered with implementing, managing, and measuring the impact of technology to ensure alignment between the organization’s technical roadmap and business needs.

Some specific responsibilities of a PdMO are to identify market opportunities and commercial viability for new products, guide development, launch and management of technology — all the way to the eventual retirement of that technology. More often than not, the technology the PdMO helps implement is an internal enterprise system, set of tools, or solution that addresses a firm’s specific business need.

The Product Management Organization streamlines a firm’s digital transformation processes, ensuring that the technology being adopted truly addresses the business’ needs. They develop success metrics that align with a desired outcome. Then measure business improvement or progress towards that outcome. 

How McKinstry’s PdMO works

McKinstry’s PdMo gives them a framework for innovation with enough structure and predefined processes to be effective in executing projects. They’re able to develop products, or technology solutions, on the fly with minimal business disruption. This allows them to implement the right technology at the most optimal time for the firms they’re supporting. This is typically done on a five-year Construction Technology (ConTech) Roadmap.

By fully digitizing all lines of business and projects, they’re able to serve as designers, contractors, and manufacturers – operating in and across multiple industries in the same enterprise. Ultimately, McKinstry’s PdMO enables them to iron out a firm’s technological needs, so they can reap the benefits and see an ROI much faster. 

As one example, according to Dace Campbell, Director of Product Management in Construction at McKinstry, their PdMO is an essential resource to the success of the company’s data standardization efforts. 

“Best practices championed by our PdMO include a ‘“diagnose before you prescribe’” approach, with a thorough discovery process to identify pain points, root causes, and impacts of not having data standards,” he says. 

“By qualifying and quantifying this pain in terms of business value, we can articulate and prioritize the need to standardize our data among other important process and technology improvements across our enterprise.” 

McKinstry’s PdMO also allows their teams to be more agile and adapt to the changes to their market, so they can stay competitive. 

Why is measuring implementation of technology important?

The common line, “you can’t improve what you don’t measure,” rings very true in construction technology. 

Successful digital transformation isn’t just about adopting the newest tools. You also need a way to track and measure the performance of your initiatives. Metrics such as your ROI, profit, productivity, and opportunity costs should be quantifiable and accessible — meaning team members shouldn’t have difficulty finding, sharing, or applying data to make better business decisions

Since McKinstry is able to prescribe real dollar values to its technology solutions through its PdMO, business leaders have a clear understanding of what they’re getting out of technology and what they could be missing out on. 

Ultimately, this helps McKinstry’s clients make informed decisions around technology and beyond. 

Other notable innovation initiatives at McKinstry

Aside from their Product Management Organization, McKinstry is also leading a number of projects that empower their teams to innovate and accelerate digital construction workflows faster.

Such projects include McKinstry’s 2020 Construction Hackathon, a two-day event involving 50 employees across multiple backgrounds and departments. The Hackaton encouraged participants to come up with innovative solutions to minimize waste in design and construction.

There’s also MSUITE, a cloud-based shop management platform designed to connect BIM, Fab, and field construction teams. MSUITE has a Shop Manager capability that enables you to improve production efficiency in manufacturing as well as gain visibility into shop performance data. And thanks to the PdMO, McKinstry is well along its way to implementing MSUITE across their network of shops, with just a few more trades to go in a few more locations. 

Bringing it all together

As the construction industry continues to advance, the need to efficiently implement technology grows. A Product Management Organization is one strategy that builders can emulate to do just that. A “PdMO-like” approach enables firms to assess their needs and ensure that they always have an effective technology roadmap.

Thanks to McKinstry’s ability to attach quantifiable and qualifiable business value to technology, the firm is setting an example in how to properly measure implementation of new technology. And they’re able to make smarter, more informed business decisions because of it.

To close on some learned wisdom, when implementing any construction technology solution — whether operating with a formal Product Management Organization or not — McKinstry recommends you “define a clear change management process, identify the business problem, quantify business value, and align outcomes and success metrics to ensure you meet the needs of your business.”

Sage advice.

Learn more about McKinstry by checking out their website.

The post McKinstry Paves the Way for Smoother Tech Adoption in Construction appeared first on Digital Builder.

Carroll Estimating was established in 2019 to help and support main building contractors and developers better understand their tender and construction costs. Focusing on estimating services, the firm helps secure tenders and projects in a simple and effective way.

However, Carroll Estimating provides more than just an estimating service. The team combines over 40 years of experience and works in a collaborative partnership with clients and construction professionals alike to develop transparent and trusting relationships. With every tender, they provide affordable, professional, cost-effective, confidential and punctual estimating services from the smallest construction projects to large civil engineering projects across Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Delivering a competitive advantage to their clients is vital and additional estimated coded breakdowns are provided to ensure tenders are factually priced to the last nail. The team recognises the important role technology solutions play in providing accurate and speedy estimates, and the business has invested in sourcing the best estimating and procurement software to deliver results for their clients.

Technology playing a key role in company growth

Patrick Carroll, Director at Carroll Estimating, knows that the shortage of surveyors and estimators across Ireland means many major infrastructure and construction project professionals are time pressured when it comes to tendering and bidding.

“We work with main contractors in Ireland and we’re now expanding into the UK, but we really serve as an extension into their project team,” remarks Patrick. “We take the utmost pride in what we do because when our main contractors are successful, so are we.”

Ensuring that technology plays a vital role in their day-to-day operations is crucial for Patrick and the team, helping to deliver timely but accurate contributions on projects.

“We know that continually evolving and investing in the best technology solutions out there ensures we can provide the most accurate numbers in a timely manner to nurture our relationships. We thrive on repeat business and that comes with the quality of work we provide” reflects Patrick. The quality of work provided by Carroll Estimating is exemplified through their business growth.

Since starting out in 2018, Patrick has been able to grow the size and scale of projects the team work on through fostering their client and customer relationships as well as focusing on innovation. Patrick completed a Masters degree in construction informatics – a Building Information Modelling (BIM) course that provided him with solid knowledge around BIM theory and application as well as principles and practices of advanced construction technologies.

For Carroll Estimating, using BIM on projects and technology like a common data environment is essential for access to the most up-to-date project data and information. As an extension to the project team of the main contractors they serve, Carroll Estimating has experience using a variety of BIM platforms. In fact, Patrick insists this technology is used by all supply chain partners during construction tenders and bids to streamline communication between all stakeholders during the process.

Establishing better BIM practices and creating time savings

Leveraging BIM models for estimating is something Carroll Estimating prioritises on every project. They began a trial of Autodesk Takeoff, an Autodesk Construction Cloud solution, in early 2020 to explore options that would combine 2D and 3D quantification capabilities in one solution.

“We’ve been able to collaborate much more efficiently with our supply chain and main contractor partners as we’re all working from one single source of truth on our takeoffs, bids and tenders,” says Patrick. “We serve as an extension to the main contractor’s project teams, and can use the solution to communicate upfront with our design team colleagues on our needs later down the line.”

Using Autodesk Takeoff, Carroll Estimating can create competitive tenders by performing more accurate 2D takeoffs and generating automated quantities from 3D models. “Before using Autodesk Takeoff, we spent a lot more time on this process. As an example, on a particular project we needed to perform a takeoff for 400 doors, with over 20 door types, each type had a separate specification example some had timber or metal door frames. Previously, this activity may have taken a day to identify all of the doors on the model but now using Autodesk Takeoff, we can do this in less than a minute through the 3D model in the software,” says Patrick.

“The efficiencies for our team and our clients are what really stand out to us. Another example is the time it now takes to price structural floors – previously this may have taken half an hour and now we can do it in a matter of seconds.”

For Carroll Estimating, reducing the time spent on administrative tasks so the small team can concentrate on value-adding activities that support their clients’ needs is essential. Using Autodesk Takeoff has allowed them to do exactly this.

Patrick reflects: “Our contractors ask us to price jobs after doing measurements. When we’re working on big infrastructure or commercial projects, we could have up to 50-100 subcontractors working with our team. This means when we send out jobs for pricing, we would need to contact every single one four times as we generally get around four prices per trade. So already, we’re looking at potentially sending out pricing requests to 400 people!

“And when you add the number of email replies you may have to respond to, as well as chasing for quotes and so on, in a week you may have sent up to 1200 emails to complete that one task. Having everyone using one common data environment reduces these administrative tasks immensely – we use the clusters features in Autodesk Takeoff to break out floors, doors and windows to streamline this process and provide a visual representation.”

Staying competitive and growing their offering through technology

Not only does Carroll Estimating save time using Autodesk Takeoff’s features to generate accurate quantities needed for pricing, but the team is also able to verify and capture the most detailed quantities when it comes to bidding and tendering for future work.

As Carroll Estimating works with a number of model iterations on their projects, when drawings change, the team is alerted easily and quickly. They can then quickly verify how any changes affect their pricing using Autodesk Takeoff where previously these changes may have taken a number of days to update.

Collaborating with architects and designers on their projects in real-time in the model using Autodesk Takeoff means communication is more transparent and accurate. The project team can communicate clearly in the models on the needs for pricing and estimating work further down the line. This is vital as accuracy is key when it comes to bidding for work – the competition is fierce, and estimation needs to be spot on and competitive in the marketplace.

“For us as a team, working with more 3D models has opened up our marketplace. Previously, we were primarily doing jobs that had 2D drawings but now we’re able to work on more complex and bigger jobs as the solution improves our productivity,” says Patrick. “We’re also still able to takeoff more regardless of whether they are 2D or 3D models as we’re working from the same environment.” All of this means Carroll Estimating has the capacity to take on not only more work, but more varied work, ensuring that the team gets a diverse variety of projects to add to their portfolios.

Looking to the future, getting the most out of the features and functionality of Autodesk Takeoff is a priority for Carroll Estimating. The team continues to learn more about the capabilities as well as ensuring good BIM practices are established on projects.
Patrick remarks: “Good BIM practice not only saves time on projects but reduces the need for rework and the number of mistakes that can arise, as well as allowing remote collaboration. Our team isn’t required on site as much because we’re working in a more digital environment that is collaborative and transparent. Not only does this improve productivity but safety is also supported too.”

For Patrick, the value of working digitally using BIM is something every construction project should be doing and is the future direction the industry needs to take.

The post Using Technology to Slash the Time It Takes to Deliver Accurate Takeoffs With Carroll Estimating appeared first on Digital Builder.

Picture this. Project setbacks are no longer something to dread, instead, you’re able to navigate them with ease. Your project is on track and your entire workforce, from jobsite managers to executives in the office, are seamlessly sharing real-time data—and making great decisions because of it. Every phase of construction is on time and on budget. Sounds like a dream, right? You might be surprised to learn that this dreamscape is closer to reality than you think. 

So, what holds so many construction firms back from achieving this possibility? Harnessing the Data Advantage in Construction, a global industry report made in partnership between Autodesk and FMI, uncovers some answers to this pertinent question.

According to our research, over $1.8 trillion in global construction waste may be caused due to bad data. The root of this problem is largely associated with deficiencies in the quality of data you make decisions from. In turn, this issue begs some important questions directly related to how skilled your workforce is in leveraging the plethora of data points.

 

As a leader or manager, ask yourself:

1. What kind of skills are needed to make sure my teams keep up with industry tech?
2. Should I be investing in my teams’ data and tech skills? What does that look like?
3. What roles should I expect to fill as construction becomes more data-driven?

To help answer these questions, we spoke with several respected technology leaders in construction. They shared their thoughts on the importance of workforce upskilling and tips for embracing the data-driven world of construction. What we found was a range of ideas for getting more value from your data, how to properly govern data, and suggestions for fostering a data-first culture. Read on for their insights.

 

Data skills with high value

The volume of construction data has doubled in the last three years according to our research in the data strategy report mentioned above. We asked, “What data management or analytical skills do you think will be most important in the future of the construction industry?”

Understanding the value of data in decision-making 

“In general, every person should understand the value of data and data-driven decision-making. This might include how to think about what data is important for evaluating a particular business process or problem area, effective ways to visualize data, and even applying basic statistics concepts like correlations and standard deviations.” —Warren Kudman, CIO, Turner Construction Company

Making data trustworthy and easy to access

“Robust data collections and a single source of truth are critical for a successful project. The data needs to be timely and accurate. Users should be able to trust the data. In addition to this, the data entries need to be automated. People should not have to enter the same data in multiple systems.” —Hrishi Maha, Leader Data Analytics and Software Development, DPR Construction

Knowing how to use new analytic technology

“Do not rely on the age-old reporting that your system is currently generating. Ask new questions about how jobs perform. Ask questions about how teams and different combinations of teams, project types, and clients all interact. Start leveraging new analytic technology to tell you where it sees issues in your business and go from there.  If you just stick to the same report you have always used, you won’t see the value of the gold mine you are sitting on.” —Matt Lamb, Chief Innovation Officer, Rosendin

Ensuring data governance, stewardship and consistency

“Embedded data governance and data stewardship will be essential to ensure the credibility, quality, and security of data as the demand for self-service continues and as we become more interconnected with our partners, clients, supply-chain, and environment.” —Jenny Moshea, Chief Information Officer, Sellen Construction

“As we dive deeper into data, having governance and policies associated with how data is collected, used, and shared, is crucial. Doing so involves the hiring of IT personnel with data analytics/architecture backgrounds to help wrangle the data. This is step one; without consistency, data is useless, and without governance, the associated risk is exponential.” —Dan Smolilo, Director of Process and Innovation, Walsh Group

Connecting and relating data from disparate sources

“The two skills that will be paramount in the future are understanding how to connect and relate data from disparate sources. Then you need to focus on keeping controls in place so that the data stays clean and standardized for better analysis.” —Travis Voss, Leader of Innovative Technology, Helm-Mechanical

 

Why and how to invest in data skills

Investing in skill development can help ensure your team is equipped to manage current and future challenges. Knowing where to start is often the hardest part. We asked, “Do you think construction companies should be investing in skill development (such as data management and analysis) to equip their workforce for the future? If so, where do you think firms should start?”

Education is critical to success

“We can start by understanding our current development plans and how we can provide simple introductory lessons. These lessons will help weed out the people that do not value these processes and empower the ones who do with more refined and developed courses. There are various ways to empower through education, whether it’s through local university data analytics courses, solution-specific courses (from providers like mondoDB or PowerBI), or advanced certifications courses (from solutions such as Udemy, Codecademy, or various other certification courses). Education is key to being a highly functional and top-performing company.” —Dan Smolilo, Director of Process and Innovation, Walsh Group

Begin with a data strategy

“Companies should establish a data strategy and set goals, and work toward a data culture in the organization. That part is critical for becoming a data-driven company. Once the data strategy is established, the roles within data can be identified. As each organization works differently, the roles may have to be customized to suit the needs.” —Hrishi Maha, Leader Data Analytics and Software Development, DPR Construction

Support high-level B.I. and analytics training

“I think [companies] should be hiring people specifically for these roles. We should be investing in some high-level training for our project teams on the importance of good data collection as well as placing controls into the systems we use to prevent bad data from being entered.” —Travis Voss, Leader of Innovative Technology, Helm-Mechanical

“We should expect to support a large percentage of our staff in basic business intelligence/analytics tools so that anyone can quickly develop a visualization of their data.  Of course, there will also be specialist roles that include Data Analysts and Data Engineers, who have deeper training and experience in how to build more complex analytic models.” —Warren Kudman, CIO, Turner Construction Company

Bring or build the talent in-house

“I believe there is value in every functional area across a company having a resident data analyst with data literacy skills, whether or not it is in their official job title. Someone who likes to dig into the data, understand it, question it, and be able to run simple queries to answer business questions. Incorporate data analytics skills into existing job descriptions as you look to hire new or grow existing employees. Look for folks who are curious and want to continue to grow.” —Jenny Moshea, Chief Information Officer, Sellen Construction

“If construction companies don’t start building this talent in-house or bring it in from outside sooner than later, they are going to be behind the curve.  It will be important to have a data analyst or scientist on staff or on retainer and a data visualization specialist to present the data in a way that it can be consumed. Companies should work with their IT departments to see what is currently available in house, what is provided through an existing consultant network or what options their ERP provider has for them with regards to data management and analytics” —Matt Lamb, Chief Innovation Officer, Rosendin

Predictions for emerging construction roles

Good data is imperitive to to decision making. Who manages the data and how continues to reveal itself as the industry evolves. So, we asked, “What type of construction roles do you expect to emerge or expand in the coming decade as construction becomes more data driven?” Here’s what was shared in our interviews.

Focus on data culture and data democratization

“We will see roles emerge in the field that drive data collection workflows whether that data comes from people, passive systems, autonomous capture, or IoT edge-connected devices. Creating a data culture that fosters data democratization so that everybody in a company, regardless of their technical know-how, can work with data comfortably and make data-informed decisions is vital.” —Jenny Moshea, Chief Information Officer, Sellen Construction

Expect more data analysts and engineers

“We will see more data analysts and engineers who know how to collect, integrate, and analyze data to perform more complicated associations and correlations across individual data sets.  These aren’t construction roles per se, but will support and provide additional insight to front-line construction teams” —Warren Kudman, CIO, Turner Construction Company

“I expect more data analyst roles specialized in each part of the construction life cycle to emerge.” —Hrishi Maha, Leader Data Analytics and Software Development, DPR Construction

 

“We will start to see not only new roles but evolving roles and responsibilities such as Project Engineer – Data.  Their core focus will be to leverage the data collected from jobsites to build automation and reporting modules, enabling better decision-making. We will start to also see data groups evolving within organizations that will be used as real-time construction centers. These centers will function similarly to a 911 dispatch center as they develop tools to educate us on the real-time quality, safety, performance, and profitability of our projects”. —Dan Smolilo, Director of Process and Innovation, Walsh Group

Growth of the construction technology role

“I definitely think that the role of Construction Technologist that’s gotten popular in the last few years needs to continue to expand into entire teams and departments that will include business analysts and data scientists. It will be a very critical part of leading construction companies to continue to improve processes and to tease insights out of the data.” —Travis Voss, Leader of Innovative Technology, Helm-Mechanical

Data specialists integrated in IT

“I don’t know if I see a whole lot of new roles emerging as we become more data-driven, but I do think we are going to see more data specialists present in IT departments.  Naturally, the operations staff such as project managers and superintendents are going to have to adapt to a world that is providing them a lot more data points to accomplish their work than were present in the past.” —Matt Lamb, Chief Innovation Officer, Rosendin

 

What does the future of data skills look like?

We can expect to see data governance, stewardship, and consistency grow in importance as the industry embraces a data-first culture. As you’ve heard from the experts, making data work for your firm requires an investment in skills development as well as a strong foundational strategy. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the future of data-driven roles in construction. How do you see roles evolving and how can companies best upskill their workforce? Join the discussion in The Big Room, our online construction community.

 

Download our in-depth Data Strategy report

Harnessing the Data Advantage in Construction is a revealing report covering the true cost of bad data, and the actionable steps you can take to build a data strategy that gives you a competitive edge. The report includes guidance on establishing focal points, organizational buy-in, standardization of data and more. The report was made in partnership between Autodesk and FMI. If you’d prefer to listen, you can download the audiobook version of the report as well.

 

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Steelwork specialist Bourne Group has appointed Denis McNelis as group engineering director to spread its reach into new projects.

Before joining Bourne, McNelis operated at a director and technical engineering manager level on significant projects across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the UAE.

With over 16 years of experience working in design consultancy and a further 17 years in construction, he has worked on projects ranging from sports stadiums to bridges, to large scale industrial buildings and refurbishment projects including his two most recent projects, the new Abu Dhabi Airport Midfield Terminal and the iconic Museum of the Future in Dubai.

Denis brings a passion for construction across all forms of projects, while leveraging his strength in design and BIM.

Steve Govier, CEO for Bourne Group, said: “Denis has built a well-earned reputation and his appointment is aimed at ensuring that all of the Bourne Group companies remain at the forefront of the latest engineering and technology practices and are well placed to support future growth and diversification into new products and markets.”

McNelis said: “I am looking forward to working with the very experienced team at Bourne, to help expand the areas of work that the Bourne Group operates within.”

 

Weston Homes has appointed Peter Gore as Group Operations Director.

Gore joins from Taylor Wimpey where he has been managing director of the London region for the last three  years.

He has previously worked in senior delivery and construction director roles at Barratt Homes and Mount Anvil on projects ranging from traditional housing through to complex multi-storey scheme.

Over the last five years Weston Homes has purchased land sites that will deliver £2.13bn worth of residential and mixed use development across outer London and the South East which includes 20 current active sites and over 7,500 new homes in the pipeline.

Gore said: “I am delighted to be joining the group at an exciting time of major growth and expansion. The business has a highly diverse range of developments, including a series of major landmark schemes commencing and many others in the pipeline.”

Bob Weston, Chairman and Manging Director at Weston Homes added: “Peter Gore brings with him a wealth of construction, team development and customer satisfaction experience which will be instrumental as Weston Homes undertakes the delivery of our sizable portfolio of developments, as we work to meet the rising demand for housing in London and the South East.”

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https://www.cmcconstruction.net/?p=708