Building for the future means planning from today. Learn how to make the most of the latest construction technologies and innovations.
Until recently, the use of augmented reality (AR) in architecture and construction was the preserve of big corporates with equally big technology budgets. No longer.
Technologies such as data analytics, predictive maintenance, prototyping through 3D printing, automated site-management solutions and drone-enabled inspections are now taking the construction sector by storm.
Driven by the need to meet ever tighter deadlines and ambitious client specifications, the sector is rapidly digitising previously manual workflows and information systems.
The rise of the digital construction site
In previous waves of digitisation, companies adopted discrete technologies, each designed to tackle a single task. Today, using digital construction site management solutions, firms feed data from a range of systems into a single-site model and a single, dynamically evolving project-management plan. This allows many previously separate systems to now interact to become more than the sum of their parts.
For instance:
The result is a construction site on which every job is done in a sequence, machine utilisation rates are kept as high as possible and idle or unplanned downtime as low as possible. Every person and piece of equipment is where he, she or it should be at any given time.
At least, that’s the theory. To ensure that it translates into reality, all the machines and equipment on site must be as available in the real world as they are in the virtual one. And that’s why maintenance is more important than ever.
Innovation means nothing without reliability and performance
If you’ve planned work schedules on a complex construction site down to the minute, then all the equipment in that plan needs to be available, working at peak efficiency, and where it’s supposed to be. But that cannot happen if machinery is lost to unplanned downtime or is working at below expected performance levels.
According to the Shell Powering Peak Performance report:
This is important. The latest low-viscosity, synthetic lubricants are designed to be effective for longer, extending the time between drain intervals. They combine protection against wear with friction-reducing properties, helping to safeguard against damage but also maximising the amount of energy in the fuel that is delivered to the machine’s moving parts. This helps cut fuel costs and emissions.
Keep pace with progress through partnership
As the construction industry evolves, the companies that manage to respond in an agile and innovative fashion will gain the edge over their competitors.
Working with Shell Lubricant Solutions is one way to ensure that advanced equipment operates at optimum levels – by using innovative and high-performance products, and providing engineers and maintenance staff with the knowledge and tools they need to apply the latest technologies in lubrication and equipment maintenance.
Through services such as LubeAdvisor, LubeMatch and LubeCoach, Shell provides knowledge and tools to help companies:
Our experts can help you keep up with the pace of change and stay ahead of your competitors.
The environment the construction industry has to operate in has never been tougher. Margins are razor thin, demand for improved productivity is constant, and environmental standards continue to tighten. Firms investing in new technology to maintain their competitive edge are doing exactly the right thing.
Yet ultimately, if the same innovation and diligence are not applied to maintenance, all these efforts to maintain profitability will be unsuccessful.
With the innovations arriving now and imminently, these are exciting times for the sector – but this potentially bright future still needs to be fought for.
Innovation in Construction – Fred Mills
Title: Innovation in Construction with Fred Mills
Duration: 2:16 minutes
Description:
An industry expert viewpoint video covering innovation in construction with Co-Founder and MD of The B1M, Fred Mills.
Innovation in Construction with Fred Mills Transcript
[Background music plays]
Bright, uplifting and futuristic music
[Animated sequence]
A box focus on a timelapse video of a bright, cityscape which pans wider to show more of the city.
Cityscape is overlaid with a rectangle timelapse of cranes building a tall structure that pans widely to show the whole structure and cranes.
[Text displays]
Innovation in Construction with Fred Mills
3D Printing
[Title of speaker]
Fred Mills
Co-Founder and MD
The B1M
[Visuals]
Front facing camera on speaker, Fred Mills
Fred Mills
It's a really interesting time for our planet right now; we've got 60% of people set to be living in urban areas by 2030.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to a time lapse of a motorway with the sunsetting in the background and cars moving on the road.
Fred Mills
That’s a massive shift, a massive migration from rural areas into urban-based populations.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to front facing camera on speaker, Fred Mills, alternating with second camera angle of speaker
Fred Mills
There are housing crises in different cities around the world literally we can’t build homes fast enough for the population that’s growing in some countries, London included.
I think 3D printing is a great potential way for us to build houses and construction assets faster.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to a full screen image of robot arm in factory. The image is overlaid with a 3D (three dimensional) printing machine in action that is cropped in a box format then expands to cover the full screen.
Fred Mills
There’s a long way to go with 3D printing. We need to get the outcomes of 3D printing up to a level that can really meet quality across the board in construction.
There are some firms doing that already but we need it on a wide spread uptake.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to front facing camera on speaker, Fred Mills, alternating with second camera angle of speaker
Fred Mills
I think, once you start doing that, the costs of investing in 3D printing will be far offset by the value and
benefits that they bring.
[Text displays]
Virtual Reality in Construction
[Visuals]
Visual transition to front facing camera on speaker, Fred Mills, alternating with second camera angle of speaker
Fred Mills
I think virtual reality is a really good way of pulling all the design team together and making people understand and really visualise what it is they’re building in a much more intuitive and straight forward way.
And it’s a great way of engaging end users as well.
If you can sit down with a teacher in a school, or a surgeon at a hospital and show them an immersive, 3D space of what their new environment is going to look like they’re instantly more engaged and instantly more part of the process.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to a video footage of two people wearing virtual reality headsets, looking at a city that has been built through virtual reality.
Fred Mills
I’ve seen skyscrapers in London that have been literally planned step by step in virtual reality before they’ve then been built on site.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to front facing camera on speaker, Fred Mills, alternating with second camera angle of speaker
Fred Mills
That’s improved safety on site, it’s reduced accidents, it’s enabled the project team to work more collaboratively together because they understand what each other are doing.
I’ve seen AR make a real difference out in the field because people actually have the information they’re supposed to be building to.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to a full screen image of four mini construction excavators on a site with graphs and data overlaid in the background and transparently over the site.
Visual transition to a rectangularly cropped concept image with floor plans being interacted with through augmented reality, with a paper draft of floor plans.
Fred Mills
The right information, not the latest drawings they’ve printed off, or the drawings they have in the back of their van, it’s the latest information there and then in front of their eyes.
[Visuals]
Visual transition to front facing camera on speaker, Fred Mills, alternating with second camera angle of speaker
Fred Mills
I think digital technology can be adopted by anyone. People think it’s something that only the big companies have the budgets to do, but actually smaller companies are more agile and can implement some of these changes really quickly.
It’s a truly exciting time to be working in the construction industry.
It’s the best industry in the world, it makes a huge difference to people’s lives
It’s going through a lot of change and I think there’s a lot of potential ahead.
[Text displays]
Shell Lubricant Solutions
Innovative lubricant solutions, current expertise and maintenance training will help address the challenges in keeping up with the latest practices in construction.
Read more about Construction equipment progressEnsure your equipment lasts as long as what it builds, so you can focus on creating a thriving and sustainable future.
Safeguarding your assets is a business imperative. Discover the link between healthy equipment and a healthy balance sheet.
Construction industry trends come and go. A good partner won’t. See how we can help you get the most out of your people.
Whether you’re an OEM or a site manager, productivity is paramount. Find out how to unlock new efficiencies by improving your fluid management.
Explore our complete toolkit of services, gain full access to Shell expertise and get online and in-person support.
Find out how lubricants can affect you and your maintenance costs, and what else you should think about, including getting the right partners involved.
Explore our range of high quality lubricants. Designed by technological experts, our products create substantial savings for businesses by helping to increase component efficiency, prolong equipment life and significantly reduce vehicle downtime.
