Trent Cotney, Owner, Cotney Construction Law LLP
In today’s technology-driven world, it should come as no surprise that many trends in construction revolve around new technologies that will improve and enhance the building design and construction process. Through organizations like the Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3), the roofing industry has recognized the need to supplement lack of skilled labor with technology and automation. It’s critical that construction professionals stay abreast of the latest technology trends so that they can remain competitive. This article will identify the issues that industry professionals are faced with and provide tips for introducing new technology on projects.
A business case must be made for bringing construction technology solutions into projects. Since every job is different and requires different levels of technology, it’s important to make sure the solution fits the problem. Companies must think about the following:
■ Selecting the right technology to solve their problem
■ Engaging all leadership with the new technology
■ Ensuring the team is on board with the process
■ Consistently following a specific implementation process across the board
When technology is successfully integrated into the construction process, professionals will be able to find, record, and manage their risks and liabilities.
Construction companies that are already embracing and using the latest technology will often find themselves outpacing their competitors. Having better and more advanced technology in place will better serve your customers. In turn, they will respond to the company that can offer them superior customer service which translates to faster project completions, reduced costs, and improved quality.
The most successful companies typically have both formal and informal processes in place to ensure innovative software and hardware systems are continually identified and implemented into their processes.
Usually, larger companies will already have some technology in place. This could be a specialized program or an application specifically intended for use in the construction industry, for example. Because they already tend to have technology in place, integrating new technology with their existing systems can become a challenge for larger corporations.
With smaller to medium-sized companies, understanding pain points is the key to vetting and adopting new technology. Once the company’s processes are evaluated and their pain points are identified, they can select technology that will help them to streamline their business. Companies will then see an increase in their efficiency and productivity.
Although new technologies are increasingly being introduced into the construction field, many construction companies may not be taking full advantage. If construction professionals want to drive performance, increase productivity, and decrease risks, it’s imperative they find a way to implement new technology to ensure they can effectively compete with their competition.
The construction industry is known to be complex and slow when it comes to adopting new technology. When leaders lack an urgency to bring about transformative change to their business, this can trickle down to their employees’ receptivity of technology. Engaging the team across the board is the key to getting everyone excited about the adoption. It’s also important to study the users of the technology (manager, contractors, etc.) to see how they interact with the system and how it can improve the way they work as well as their areas of difficulty.
Training is essential to the success of new technology. Training should be continuous and mandatory. Ongoing training will help you keep up with needed updates and readjustments. Users need to understand why training is important and the impacts it will have on their work. If necessary, lean on the technology vendor to facilitate training as well. You may select the technology based on its capabilities, however, without understanding concepts such as best practices for using the product or having an expert readily
available to address concerns, you may still experience user errors and an unsuccessful implementation.
At times, new technology implementation should be done on a smaller scale. In order to reduce business disruption, select a project team and test out the new technology to get an idea of the benefits, the potential problems, and the solution to hiccups. Once you identify this team, select a dedicated employee to own the implementation process. This employee must be the advocate for the new technology, the main point of contact for the vendor, and the one who can successfully engage with the project team and report results to key executives.
Author’s note: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not
constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific
factual pattern or situation. Trent Cotney is an advocate for the roofing industry, General Counsel of FRSA, RT3, WCRCA, and PBCRSMA, and a Florida Bar Board Certified Construction Lawyer. For more information, contact the author at 866-303-5868 or go to www.cotneycl.com.
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