{"id":132360,"date":"2023-09-25T08:01:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T07:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=132360"},"modified":"2023-09-25T09:34:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T08:34:50","slug":"why-every-construction-product-manufacturer-needs-to-digitise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction-news\/bim-news\/why-every-construction-product-manufacturer-needs-to-digitise\/132360\/","title":{"rendered":"Why every construction product manufacturer needs to digitise"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the new regulatory regime emerges under the Building Safety Act, Rick Hartwig, built environment lead at the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET), makes the case for structured product data, without which building safety will not be possible<\/h2>\n

Safe and reliable construction product manufacturer information is essential to our industry and the safety of our buildings, and this has been recognised repeatedly in recent years.<\/p>\n

Six years on from Grenfell, we now have a Building Safety Regulator<\/a>, a regulator for construction products, the Morrell Review of construction product testing and we will shortly receive the guidance on the Golden Thread of building safety information. And paramount to all of this is digitisation, and data \u2013 but are manufacturers ready and willing to provide it?<\/p>\n

There is a lack of awareness surrounding digitisation<\/h3>\n

Earlier this year, we commissioned some independent research into manufacturers\u2019 views on digitisation. 80 C-Suite individuals whose companies supply construction products to the UK were interviewed by telephone. Their responses were concerning.<\/p>\n

Most manufacturers think of digitisation in the context of their accounts, which is not surprising as the Making Tax Digital requirements have been challenging. But crucially, they haven\u2019t made the same steps to supplying structured product data to the supply chain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some 85% of construction product manufacturers provide product information to customers via PDF or hard copy brochures. Only 31% provide product information via spreadsheets and very few via external sources, such as third-party websites or online portals.<\/p>\n

This suggests that they are not providing structured data and that the information available to their customers is unlikely to be up to date.<\/p>\n

This is further confirmed by the result that 42% of manufacturers interviewed update the product information supplied to customers less than every six months.<\/p>\n

A lack of real-time updates can lead to inaccuracies<\/h3>\n

Construction product manufacturers therefore don\u2019t appear to be updating customers in real time, which could lead to inaccuracies.<\/p>\n

The vast majority are using a manual process and therefore there is unlikely to be a reliable connection between manufacturers updating their products and updating the product information in the supply chain.<\/p>\n

Digitisation is a low priority for construction product manufacturers<\/h3>\n

While the vast majority of manufacturers say that digitisation increases efficiency<\/a> and profitability, 92% do not see digitisation as a major concern. Less than half think it is a minor concern.<\/p>\n

Manufacturers\u2019 concerns are primarily:<\/p>\n