The Connected Jobsite: What is a Digital Twin and Who Can Make One?

As the construction industry continues to advance, the value of any technology solution is not necessarily in the individual product, but rather in the product’s ability to plug into a technology platform, or system, and interact as one of many tools. Contractors increasingly have realized that their internal processes in place are equally important, if not more important, than the technology solutions themselves. While construction management continues to be a messy, at times bordering chaotic, process, the last few decades have seen vast improvements to the consistency and clarity of processes and techniques contractors are using to successfully complete their projects. 

The concept and practice of lean processes is widely credited to Japanese car manufacturer Toyota beginning not long after World War II, where they sought to improve their efficiency and reduce waste in their manufacturing processes. It was not until later into the 80’s and 90’s that Toyota identified their processes as a formal system, TPS, but the practice had been established and developed for decades prior. Then, Motorola came along with a similar project management process in Lean Six Sigma in the 90’s, which was then popularized by GE shortly after. Those in project management are now familiar with a wide variety of frameworks, including agile, scrum, critical path method, the Project Management Institute’s Body of Knowledge, and so on. What each of these frameworks seek to achieve, at their core, are integrated, automated processes that lead to higher success rates.