The UK, according to Nesta, only spends half of the amount that Japan spends on innovation, which gives the construction industry a poor reputation. To tackle this matter, TowerEight questions what more can be done for the future of this sector and how it can increase in innovation and productivity.
The root cause of this inefficiency “is the cyclical nature of the property market that penalises capital investment but rewards lean firms, and those that can retrench rapidly in terms of both staff numbers but also training and technology costs,” said James Morris, Managing Director at TowerEight.
Other sectors have made use of the benefits of technology, while the construction industry “has collectively failed to embrace BIM with any great enthusiasm”. Even though modular technology could be the answer to the innovation problem, the response to it has not been great.
According to an article from the Economist, the change could come from the public sector by spending more on infrastructure projects. If the government decided to step in when the private sector becomes unwilling to release funds, then the market will see a boost.
Another issue lays within the embedded contract forms and sequential processes that have resulted in a lack of teamwork and a consequential adversarial approach to construction. Teams are disbanded and knowledge is rarely shared across project groups, which makes innovation an inhibiting process.
Moreover, the biggest issue seems to be the lack of investment, both in terms of technology and staff training. The failure to attract more women to the industry also impacts on the possibilities that this industry could have.
A hope could come from the public sector that is thought to impose the blanket use of BIM across public sector projects to create the efficiencies it has promised for so long.
The nature of the construction industry, its fear of making mistake, its lack of effective knowledge management, its irregular demand and fragmentation, stand in the way of innovation. However, this issue appears to be improving. There is hope for the future, but there must be far greater collaboration across all the disparate elements of the construction sector and a more collegiate response to industry-wide issues.
