Over-customisation of construction software solutions and a lack of integration are holding back digital transformation of the construction industry, argues Rob Ramsay of Causeway Technologies
It’s well known that the construction industry lags behind others in terms of construction software solutions and technology, but while we are slower to digitalise processes, it’s not that we aren’t trying.
Instead, results from our survey of 175 construction industry decision-makers suggest that industry-specific software solutions lack integration, with employees spending a considerable amount of time moving data between disparate solutions. The over-customisation of software and lack of integration present big challenges to construction companies.
Our research reveals that UK construction is urgently in need of integrated construction software solutions that cover all aspects of an organisation’s processes.
Moving towards maturity?
The vast majority of people we surveyed reported that their organisation is currently implementing an initiative to digitalise an aspect of their business process. Of those that aren’t, all are planning to start within the next year.
However, over a third of respondents still report administrative tasks as their organisation’s greatest challenge. Manual spreadsheets are still ubiquitous: 94% of organisations in the survey still use them, and 87% say that inconsistent processes and technologies pose a challenge to their organisation. This raises a question about just how digitally mature construction is.
Achieving digital transformation
Despite the widely acknowledged benefits that digitalisation can offer, there are also common challenges facing construction businesses when it comes to achieving that transformation.
Of those surveyed, 31% report that employee resistance to adopting new technology is among their organisation’s greatest challenges. Meanwhile, 35% say they face a lack of internal ownership and buy-in from relevant stakeholders, with a similar number reporting a lack of skilled employees to implement digital software solutions. Some 37% of respondents said they lack the time and resources to implement the solutions they need.
The value of integration
All our research respondents said they have used industry-specific digital solutions to some extent, particularly software for safety and compliance (42%), infrastructure design (41%), supply chain management (40%) and cost/budget management (36%).
But herein lies one of the big problems: organisations are currently using seven different industry-specific solutions, on average – the majority (57%) of which are actually not integrated with one another.
Despite the known benefits of joined-up systems and processes, no one reported that their organisation’s software solutions were fully integrated with one another; most respondents have achieved 25%-50% integration so far, but 59% say they face challenges with integration and 41% report a lack of technical support. Construction companies are, therefore, vulnerable to issues and lack the support they need to achieve their digitalisation goals.
One of the most shocking results from the research was, therefore, the view that, on average, employees are spending 48% of their time moving data between disparate industry-specific construction software construction solutions. What’s more, every single organisation we spoke to said that they customise these software solutions to some degree to meet their needs.
These findings suggest that construction is struggling to find a single offering with the functionality or flexibility to cater to its full business needs and is increasingly reliant on a complex web of bespoke solutions.
The benefit of digital tools to help with sustainability goals
One of the most interesting issues to come out of our research is the increasing view that digitalisation – in particular, the buy-in to new technologies, integrated processes and data standardisation – is likely to make a tangible difference to construction companies meeting their sustainability goals.
More than nine out of 10 (96%) of construction businesses say that they would benefit from the use of digital tools to help drive decarbonisation and energy efficiency. A similar proportion (94%) say that technical innovations are key to driving decarbonisation.
Technology is also seen as vital in addressing carbon targets. Some 38% think it’s about using technology to help benchmark carbon targets, and 33% say the most difference will come from using technology to support evidence of accurate carbon levels.
However, given the nature of the industry’s complex supply chains, very few construction product suppliers can provide consistent transaction-level data on the carbon emissions of their products so contractors are heavily reliant on using generic carbon calculators for recording Scope 3 emissions. While useful estimating tools, they do not provide a full picture of the actual materials and products used, making it difficult for contractors to make informed decisions as they implement their net-zero strategies.
Next steps
A clear thread throughout the report is: that although data is great, the real power lies in an organisation’s ability to understand it, and using data in a way that is meaningful is truly beneficial to a business. It is the connectivity and standardisation of data across the construction lifecycle that will genuinely unlock productivity and drive transformative change.
The benefits are endless, including increased efficiencies across business processes, consistency and simplicity of reporting, accurate and reliable data, end-to-end project transparency, completion of projects on time, employee productivity and well-being, and communication.
To access the full report, plus some recommendations for your business, visit: campaign.causeway.com/beyond _the_basics_report_2023
Rob Ramsay
Product director
Causeway Technologies
Tel: +44 (0)1628 552 000
