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Reinventing construction: Innovating the delivery of construction projects

BY: Richard Thompson, MEED

To tackle an industry that is falling behind in its embrace of change and new technology, Oracle and MEED have published a report that analyses the most effective solutions for driving innovation in the GCC construction sector.

But why would an industry so populated with trained professionals proficient in responding to technical challenges be resistant to new technology? The report suggests two central issues: lack of awareness of the latest technology and, mostly notably, insufficient collaboration across the industry network.

In fact, from the architects to engineers, civil engineering contractors to building managers, project directors to bricklayers, innovative technology can be deployed across the sector to improve productivity and safety at every stage.

Driving innovation through industry collaboration

Entitled ‘Reinventing Construction’, the Oracle and MEED industry report seeks to answer the question: who needs to drive these changes and how can they best be implemented?

According to the report, the most effective way of driving innovation is for parties working on a project to focus on successful cooperation. Industry achievements such as the Riyadh Metro and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa are just two examples of teams working well together.

However, the construction industry consists of technical and operational silos, and it is all too common that these units do not effectively communicate with each other. This lack of collaboration is often incentivised by the competitive nature of lowest-price-wins contracting, driving cut-throat prices and a cycle of potential disputes and variation claims.

Additionally, project parties that run separate systems and paper trails discourage collaboration between different teams. According to Reinventing Construction, effective communication throughout the project lifecycle needs to be better established to improve productivity and industry safety. And, as more technological solutions are developed specifically for the industry, transformations will be seen across the entire value chain, offering benefits for all project parties.

The report also discusses the best ways to introduce these innovations and which tools will deliver the most effective transformations. Comprising input from industry experts such as Oracle, Jacobs Engineering, Dubai World Trade Centre and Mott MacDonald, Reinventing Construction provides comprehensive insight into how the construction process can be improved whilst achieving long-term benefits to the sector.

The full report can be downloaded below

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Five critical steps to build the best construction project schedule

Best practices boost schedule accuracy and optimise resources. For construction project delivery teams, the critical path schedule is both the map and the compass. It sets out the myriad of complex relationships that intertwine timelines, activities, and resources. It establishes the path to deliver the project on time and within budget.

This paper examines five key areas where construction project delivery teams can improve scheduling practices to drive overall better project outcomes.

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