Thinking Outside the Box

June 24, 2024

Incorporating Technology

In the last issue of Thoughts from the Field I talked about rethinking the adoption of technology in the construction industry by considering how the adoption of new products could improve our working conditions on our projects. While I still believe that ditching the paper blueprints and switching to the use of shared digital drawings should be the number one priority if you have not yet made that switch, I also believe that there are other things we can do out there that can make a real difference. As I acknowledged last time, there are things that are probably best suited for adoption at the company level, but I do think there are things that can be adopted at the project level, and even at the individual level. Sometimes this can be the best way to see if you can recognize tangible benefits before introducing changes to the entire company.

In this issue, I will review a few of the ideas I have tried, along with some of the best innovations I have seen lately. To be clear, I haven’t seen any of these things implemented on a large scale, but I do see some promise in each of them, and I think the construction industry could benefit from a little more R & D in the field.

Going Big to Beat the Heat

We all know it’s getting hot out there. We have all heard the mantra of “water, rest, shade” repeated by the safety professionals over and over again. Unfortunately, many of us have also been on plenty of job sites where conditions just don’t provide an obvious solution, and I have stated many times, “water, rest, shade” takes planning on a construction site. Check out this post from Global Roofing Group with one of the most unique solutions I have seen so far on a Clayco project.

Yes, I know we have job site trailers with air-conditioning on many projects, but we all know that it’s not going to go over well if all the field crews decide to take their breaks inside while the weekly owner’s meeting is in progress. And on residential sites, the builder’s superintendent always has the trailer locked anyway. This purpose-built, air-conditioned, modular break room could provide some much-needed relief out there on-site, and I can place it closer to where the actual work is being performed.

Until the Robots Take Over Maybe this is the Solution

The number one injury in construction continues to be muscular skeletal disorders. In other words, all those sprains, strains, and back injuries. Some work is just really hard on the back, leading to injuries, reduced productivity, and an aversion to getting into the trades in the first place. We need to find solutions to this. While some of the “futurists” out there predict that robots will take over this work, I think that version of the future is still far off. In the meantime, here are two solutions to help individuals in the field be more productive and protect their backs at the same time.

It may look a little strange, but this harness by Hilti North America takes a tremendous amount of weight off the spine!

This new harness by Fraco Products Ltd is perfect for applications like laying block. Looking forward to the Arizona Masonry Council trying this out with their apprentices!

Can AI Improve my Life?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere these days, at least that’s what you would have to believe with all the constant media coverage. But are we seeing it help us in the construction industry yet?

Not from my perspective. At least not on a very big scale. The best example I have seen that offers a promising solution is an application by Buildots that uses 360-degree images and video of the jobsite as input, and then outputs information for things like payment applications. The idea being that the AI can analyze jobsite conditions to determine what to bill the owner and what payments to approve to the trades. As this solution matures, this could be a huge help as cash flow is a big pain point in the construction industry.

Why Don’t We See More Use of 360 Degree Photos?

Speaking of those 360-degree photos, I am still really surprised that I don’t see this utilized more often to document conditions and progress on a job site. The Buildots solution I discuss above is a good example of a companywide or project-based solution for a general contractor to utilize these photos, but it is so easy to grab these 360-degree images using fairly inexpensive hardware that I am surprised I don’t see more trade contractors taking advantage. Think about the small electrical or plumbing contractor that is responsible for providing “as-builts” or “red-lines” once their work is complete. This is a time-consuming task that is often done hastily and lacks accuracy when a small company doesn’t have a good way of documenting their in-place conditions. Check out these videos that show how easy it is to snap a single 360-degree photo of the room or area as soon as work is complete and drop it in place on the digital drawings. Instant, accurate, documentation of work put in place before it is covered up that can be used to quickly create redlined drawings to meet contract requirements and owner needs.

But what can AI do to improve my life today?

I recently tried out an application called Fathom - AI Meeting Assistant . I used it to “listen in” to a meeting I had on Zoom, with the idea being that it would take notes and produce the meeting minutes (two things I am really bad at). The results were amazing. Within minutes of ending the meeting, I had an email in my in-box that was well organized and formatted, even though my meeting was not. It was one of those meetings where there were many ideas thrown out in no particular order and we came back to some of them randomly throughout the meeting. The AI collected all of this information and formatted a summary organized by topic, with bullet points and a list of action items. It was also accurate and required no effort on my part beyond the initial setup of the software.

Look at the benefits here:

• I did not have to spend any time writing up meeting minutes
• I didn’t have to take notes during the meeting, so I was able to participate in the conversation
• Everyone got the summary and their action items within minutes of the meeting ending
• It was more accurate than what I would have produced on my own

Take Aways

The takeaway for this edition is: think outside the box. Try something new. See if it improves your life at work.

• If you are a field engineer, project manager, or superintendent that conducts meetings, consider using an AI tool like Fathom to take notes and write up minutes and action items. Get creative and think about how you could use this. Can you record your daily huddle and let the AI generate the list of action items for you?
• If you have a need to document your put in place work, consider picking up a 360 degree camera. No, it’s not going to be the same as laser scanning. You are not going to get millimeter accuracy, measurable documentation of all the utilities in the wall, but do you really need that? Get creative. Put a scale or tape measurer up on the wall before you take the picture. Or maybe there are enough existing reference points to get the accuracy you need anyway. Drop these onto a digital drawing. Use a digital drawing app that lets you stack the photos in each room, and you have a very easy to reference record of put-in-place work tagged with the location, date, and time.
• For the larger items like the cool-room or the exoskeletons, if you can implement this on a project, give it a try. It can be more difficult to measure success on these types of solutions, but I think it is worth it. In the construction industry our most important asset is our people. We need to protect the ones we have, and we need to attract more. Showing that we can respond to the things that make life challenging will go a long way towards accomplishing both.

Additional Resources for Construction Management Professionals

If you are on LinkedIn Learning and haven't seen the new professional certificate programs that are being offered, you should go take a look! This page lists all the professional certificate offerings (with new programs in the works), along with cert prep exams and continuing education partnerships. Many of our construction management courses are accredited for CEU's by the Project Management Institute. I am excited to announce that one of the latest offerings on LinkedIn Learning is the Construction Management Professional Certificate, sponsored by LinkedIn and Procore Technologies. Earn the certificate by completing 9 courses and passing a final exam. If you have been watching my courses on LinkedIn Learning, you may already have some of these requirements completed! Check it out by clicking on the image below.

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