BuiltWorlds member ALICE Technologies recently announced that fellow BuiltWorlds member Shimizu Corporation has selected ALICE for use on their overseas projects. ALICE Technologies’ construction simulation and optimization platform helps general contractors worldwide to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to plan, bid and build their large-scale infrastructure and commercial projects more efficiently and with reduced risk.

Founded in 1804, Shimizu has grown over the past two centuries to become one of the world’s largest construction companies. As it looks to the future, Shimizu aspires to become what it calls a Smart Innovation Company and sees leading-edge construction technologies as essential to its ability to execute on this vision.

The large-scale projects Shimizu builds are extremely complicated and could potentially be built in a variety of ways. Through its use of the ALICE platform, Shimizu is using the power of artificial intelligence to create thousands of potential construction schedule options for these projects – a task that is impossible using old-school scheduling solutions. Managers can then evaluate these choices and select the construction path that best matches their business goals for a project. In addition, when Shimizu begins construction, it will use ALICE Manage to help it keep projects on time and on budget – and to revise schedules quickly if circumstances change. The ability to easily update schedules to keep projects on track will enable Shimizu to reduce the risks associated with missing delivery deadlines and avoid liquidated damages that can decrease project profitability.

“With ALICE, we can simulate thousands of ways in which we could build a complex project,” said Shuntaro Kano, Representative of Shimizu Silicon Valley Innovation Center, Shimizu Corporation. “The platform gives us the ability to experiment with different choices and run what-if analyses to find the optimal way to build,” he continued. “And once we move from planning to execution, ALICE will enable us to keep projects on track, and to easily update our schedules if necessary. This is the power of applied AI.”

“Shimizu is building some of the most sophisticated projects in the world,” said ALICE Founder and CEO René Morkos. “Airports, subways, bridges, skyscrapers – these are perfect use cases for ALICE. We thrive on complexity, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to help Shimizu to increase profitability and decrease risk by applying AI to the planning and management of its toughest construction projects.”

René will be a featured speaker at our upcoming Venture East Conference in Miami, FL on November 15-16th. BuiltWorlds Venture Conference has been the world’s premier conference focused on venture investing in construction and built environment-related emerging technology. Leading fund investors, strategic investors, and startups gather each year to take the pulse of the industry’s startup ecosystem at the BuiltWorlds Venture Conference. Hope to see you there!

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