While we’ve missed seeing BuiltWorlds Members in person, it has been amazing to see the excitement, interest, and engagement in our virtual conferences, analyst calls, and other digital offerings. Riding the success of the BuiltWorlds Digital Summit, we’re excited to continue to provide BW Members with more opportunities to learn, share, and connect at our upcoming Digital Conferences.
Next up is our Project Delivery Conference, slated for July 8-10. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak prompted our move to a digital format, BuiltWorlds already had a unique twist planned for this event once we made the decision to combine three conferences into one. In the past, our Projects Conference Series was held in three locations and highlighted three different themes:
- Projects NY normally kicked off the BuiltWorlds Conference Calendar, and focused on innovative strategies, practices, and solutions in pre-construction.
- Projects Chicago gave BW Members an excuse to travel to Chicago mid-summer, and dove into enterprise-wide and project-specific operational, management, and intelligence solutions.
- Projects LA was our Smart Jobsite conference, and highlighted in-the-field, sensor-based solutions tracking, monitoring, and collecting data to help ensure safe, productive, and efficient jobsites.
The conversations at each of these conferences seemingly blended together more and more every year, as solutions became more integrated and comprehensive. So, heading into 2020, BuiltWorlds decided to bring it all together under one (virtual) roof. Come July, BW Members will see the conversations across a 3-day virtual event. Here’s what to look out for on each day:
WANT TO SPEAK AT THE PROJECT DELIVERY CONFERENCE OR ANOTHER BW EVENT? APPLY TO SPEAK HEREDay 1 – Preconstruction
Driving Innovation & Building Tech Roadmaps
For an industry that has been traditionally slow to adopt new technology, the idea of driving innovation enterprise-wide can be daunting to some. How do contractors balance the various ideas from their project teams, strategy and push from leadership, and new solutions making noise in the market?
In the recent BuiltWorlds Benchmarking Surveys, we asked the contractors in the BW Member Network if they a had person, group, or department specifically responsible for innovation and tech implementation within their company. Based on the makeup of BW Membership, it was not so shocking to learn that almost all survey participants did in fact have a person or group dedicated to driving innovation, testing new technology, and implementing new solutions into their operations. At the BuiltWorlds Digital Summit, we hosted Chris Dill (VP of Technology & Chief Information Officer, Kiewit Corporation) and Kim Arrant (Vice President, Business Transformation, APTIM) for a discussion on Building a Construction Technology Roadmap, in which we discussed their strategies for innovation management, pilot programs, and integration into an already existing tech stack.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW E&C TECH LEADERS ARE DRIVING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION AT THEIR COMPANIESIn the morning of Day 1, we’ll hold similar conversations with more Construction Technology Leaders to learn how they’re addressing these issues within their companies, including one session with Dana Erdman (Director of Technology & Innovatoin, Bulley & Andrews), Dan Smolilo (Director of Process & Innovation, The Walsh Group), and Andy Gajbhiye (Director of Construction Technologies, Joeris GC) as they discuss impactful strategies for driving innovation and effective processes for technology adoption across their construction practices.
Estimating, Scheduling, and More Precon
At the BuiltWorlds Digital Summit, we hosted Sunil Dorairajan (CEO, Pype) and David Letlow (Director of Project Analytics, Skanska) to discuss how AI, Machine Learning, and other technologies are not only driving efficiency in preconstruction, but also fundamentally changing it by shifting certain opportunities, responsibilities, and even risks to different project stakeholders. Pype leverages automation to review critical preconstruction documents and catch any changes that may have otherwise been missed, saving contractors time and ensuring accuracy. Automating these tedious, repetitive processes is one of the themes that will be covered extensively on Day 1 and throughout the Project Delivery Conference.
The BW Benchmarking Surveys garnered many interesting sentiment-based results, especially when we asked BW Members to indicate what processes gave them the most trouble in preconstruction (see image on left). Moving into the afternoon of Day 1, we’ll hear from industry players, technologists, and other Built World thought leaders on how they’re leveraging automation, BIM, and other tech to optimize these different preconstruction phases.
To kickoff the afternoon, we’ll hear from Rob Otani (Chief Technology Officer, Thornton Tomasetti) as he demonstrates Konstru, a 3D BIM collaboration platform that facilitates the integration of data between design and analysis applications, born out of TT’s R&D Incubator, CORE. We’ll then move into conversations surrounding effective Bid Management and Prequalification, leveraging BIM and other tools in estimating, and project simulation through virtual design and construction.
READ THE 'AI & MACHINE LEARNING IN CONSTRUCTION' RESEARCH REPORT FOR MORE PRECON INSIGHTSDay 2 – Project Management
On Day 2 of the Project Delivery Conference, we’re covering Project Management, Executive Oversight, and Operational Intelligence, and investigating the emerging tech trends that are enabling them all.
Project Management
As referenced in yestereday’s BuiltWorlds Archives briefing, five years ago project management leader Procore raised $50 million. Flash forward today, and the 2020 BuiltWorlds Benchmarking Surveys show that around 95% of the contractors in the BW Member Network are utilizing project management systems – and Procore is rumored to be valued at $5 billion.
5.2 / 10
BW Members Rating for How Well Their PM System Integrates With Other Solutions
As project management systems have become adopted at an extremely high rate, contractors are looking to get more from their solutions through integrations with other enteprise-wide and project-specific digital tools. One popular sentiment we have heard from our membership is around the effort to get BIM into the hands of their workers in the field for more streamlined collaboration and quality. Through Procore’s acquisition of BIManywhere in late 2018 and other providers’ BIM-related additions to their project management platforms, it’s clear to see the industry recognizing the positive impact that this can make.
To showcase BIM-Based Project Management, we’ve invited Chitwan Saluja (BIM / Digital Lead, Jacobs) and Phil Lazarus (Digital Delivery Manager, Jacobs) to discuss how they’re leveraging BIM throughout their projects for more optimized communication. We’ll explore the tools they’re using, what kind of projects they’re best suited for, and what other tech integrations they see plugging in down the road.
Data Analytics and Operational Excellence
Over 47% of BW Member are Using a Business Intelligence Solution
Jit Kee Chin (Chief Data and Innovation Officer, Suffolk) and Erin Roberts (Global Engineering & Construction Leader, EY) discussed leveraging predictive analytics at the executive level to spot early indicators of potential cost overruns, schedule delays, and safety incidents before they can have an extreme impact on any company’s bottomline at this year’s Digital Summit.
On Day 2 of the Project Delivery Conference, we’re hosting multiple sessions concentrated on how contractors can integrate their tech stack, put their data to work, and collect real-time insights from their portfolio of projects:
- Building an Effective Data Management Dashboard – Rob Wagner (Sr. Project Manager & Operations, Del Amo Construction)
- Leveraging Data for Predictive Analytics – Meirav Oren (CEO & Co-Founder, Versatile Natures) and Nick Carbone (Data Science Manager, Suffolk)
- Integrating the Contractor’s Tech Stack – McCarthy Building Companies
As contractors search for more ways to effectively manage their data and glean insights, we’ll hear from leading technologists and industry players showcasing how they’re doing just that.
WANT TO SPEAK AT THE PROJECT DELIVERY CONFERENCE OR ANOTHER BW EVENT? APPLY TO SPEAK HERE
WakeCap Workshop & Virtual Happy Hour
We’re excited to have WakeCap, an IoT-based, hard-hat embedded product, lead a discussion on unique and disruptive approaches to construction site safety and productivity. This solution has become even more useful to industry players trying to safely return workers to jobsites, but has always provided unique safety and productivity insights for users since its inception. The workshop will consist of a briew overview and demonstration, move into a project-specific case study with a leading industry players, and wrap up with an interactive Q+A with the audience. Solutions like Wakecap and other technologies (see Day 3 below) are yet another method for contractors to collect unique information and incorporate data into their decision-making moving forward.
For more opportunities to network with BuiltWorlds Members, Speakers, and Sponsors, Day 2 attendees can stick around for our BW Member Virtual Happy Hour to wrap up the day’s programming.
Day 3 – Smart Jobsites
On Day 3 of the Project Delivery Conference, it’s all about construction technology in the field.
The Connected Jobsite
On top of the slow-to-adapt reputation that the construction industry already has, implementing new technology on the construction jobsite comes with its own unique set of challenges. The adoption rate of jobsite tech has varied from solution (see image above), but success has been found in a number of areas.
To kick off Day 3, we’ll hear from Andy Lambert (Group Program Manager, Milwaukee Tool) as he presents how contractors are leveraging several different solutions on the jobsite, the critical insights that can be gained from doing this, and how they’re managing to keep track of all this tech.
The Construction Supply Chain
The Construction Supply Chain has long-served as a bottleneck for successful projects, creating unexpected delays and unwanted problems. In this session, we’ll hear firsthand how Kiewit is partnering with Jovix to implement a Digital Supply Chain program, and putting this new technology-enabled innovation into action across a global Supply Chain on a large-scale capital Project. Learn how they are digitizing Procurement, Supply Chain, and Field Materials Management processes to give the construction industry visibility into material flow throughout their Supply Chain ecosystem.
We’ll then transition into conversations on how contractors can ensure effective field communication and easily access critical information through DADO‘s construction search engine, and then discuss how HITT Contracting is documenting progress and ensuring quality using drones and other reality capture solutions.
Safer Working Conditions & Smart Equipment
For many industries, the COVID crisis has magnified how technology can be utilized to ensure worker safety, but for the construction industry this has always been top priority. So, to wrap up the Project Delivery Conference, we’ve put together three sessions to discuss how different solutions are making on their own impact on safety:
- Leveraging Technology for a Safer Jobsite
- Digital Solutions for Safer Equipment Operation
- Robotic Solutions in the Field
The conversations will range to broad discussions about safety management programs to specific solutions contractors are using to monitor and prevent incidents. Aside from the critical safety components these solutions provide, they’re also allowing contractors to collect valuable data insights for productivity and project efficiency.
Don’t forget to visit the BuiltWorlds Events page to register for the 3-Day Project Delivery Conference and other upcoming BuiltWorlds Analyst Calls, Digital Events, and More!
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