The issue is not the availability of technology, but more about navigating the noise and answering some or all of the following simple questions:
- Which technology should I be starting with?
- How do I avoid wasting time, effort and money choosing the wrong technology?
- How do I actually get technology working for my business – and demonstrating a return on investment?
- We don’t have tech expertise in the business – who do we hire?
- Who can help me combine technologies into a ‘system’ that works for our business?
It’s not surprise that traditional contractors are struggling with the confusion created by literally dozens of technology messages from across the industry. In our view, ‘doing nothing’ is not an option in a world where those who fail to change will fall behind. In this article we have three clear steps to building a technology strategy – hope it helps
1. ‘Connect’ simple point-solutions to realise ‘obvious’ benefits
The first and lowest-risk step has to be the adoption of the most obvious point-solutions to known issues. For example, at SITECH we understand the benefits the machine operator sees when Grade Control Technology is added to dozers, to allow operators to work smarter, faster, and more profitably. The simple act of aligning site plans with the machine on site is an example of how technology can have a dramatic impact on the rate at which a single machine can complete a task, with fewer errors to correct after survey.
Check out this video where an operator from Collins Earthworks describes the impact of machine control on his work:By addressing these immediate opportunities with specific areas of your work, technology can not only deliver benefits straight away, but also build confidence in going further with technology and ultimately transforming the construction business.
2. Experiment with changing the way you work
For many years technology vendors have often forgotten that, for their solution to work, people need to change their behaviours and ways of working, in order to see the benefits.
Failing to change ways of working in partnership with new technology is the most common reason that technology deployments don’t succeed.
We believe therefore that every technology deployment needs to be trialled by forward-thinking staff who are willing to do things differently. Of course we all understand that not every member of the team is flexible in this way and many people are resistant to change, but we recommend choosing a trial team that believes that there might be a better way.
A great deal has been said before about the younger generation’s desire to adopt technology more readily, rather than doing things in traditional ways. Could the answer be to make sure the more forward-thinking members of the team trial new technology, while less adaptable members of the team continue using traditional methods?
The final step in experimentation is to measure success/impact if possible, making any trial more objective and worthwhile. This will provide first-hand evidence of the business benefits of technology adoption, fuelling further investment as appropriate.
3. Integrate data and technologies together
Having successfully deployed new technology within the team, the business is much more likely to invest further in transforming the business completely. Changing the ways of working is the key step in creating a “learning culture” which in turn is likely to accelerate interest within teams to explore new approaches.
Once multiple technologies are being deployed successfully, the ability of tender responses to contain innovative ways to deliver high-performance projects will begin to set the technology-enabled contractor apart from more traditional peers, driving home commercial advantages for the business.
Every journey starts with a first step
As a technology provider, it’s easy for us to talk about the technology adoption journey as a straight-forward thing to do. We understand that the needs of construction teams on the ground are complex and every business is under day-to-day pressure. If you are interested in setting time aside to start transforming your business, SITECH can work with you every step of the way.
