Impact of Automation in Construction: Too Good to Be True?

The impacts of automation in construction have brought massive industry upgrades that have made workload completion more efficient, quicker, and easier

Automation in the construction business is a popular topic. It’s been known to bring some massive technological advancements, but employees working in this sector are concerned about the overall impact of automation in construction.

Essentially, they perceive this concept as a potential threat to employment opportunities. While automation in construction is somewhat misleading and may give the impression that robots will replace workers, it is essential not to focus on the negative impact but be aware of its benefits.

Therefore, this article will take you through the various aspects of automation construction and its working efficiency. Keep on reading to explore more.

What is Automation in Construction?

Automation in construction means the process through which autonomous equipment takes part in several construction activities. The central purpose of autonomy is to reduce the workload of human labour and perform short-term operations.

For instance, the construction industry has many on-site physical duties, such as commercial asphalt paving, which can be covered through automation. Also, the modular construction workload can be assigned to robots for a faster and more accurate delivery rate.

If talking about the overall impact of automation in construction, there are several factors to highlight. But most importantly, automation has been a great help to the human race in terms of working efficiency and keeping up with the advancement of technology trends.

Automation Will Diminish Work Opportunities for Employees – Is That True?

There is a high chance that automation will displace several laborious tasks at the construction site.

However, that doesn’t necessarily indicate diminishing work opportunities for employees; rather, some new working sectors will be opened, and employees experts in machinery management and construction engineering will be in demand for jobs.

With construction technologies rising, industrialists will face a potential lack of quality candidates who can understand, process, and manage this type of technological equipment in person.

They will be looking for more upskilled individuals with a strong educational background to fulfill their expected job criteria.

Therefore, we assume the job opportunities in the construction industry will double in the near future. Also, pay wages for employees will encounter a massive growth.

Exploring 7 Construction Automation Impacts and Opportunities

The opportunities and impact of automation in construction are endless, but the following are some of the most commonly highlighted.

1. Better Decision-Making

For businesses, gaining insights from data can allow for more efficient decision-making. Users who can make decisions quickly can complete projects on time and as per a defined schedule, and that’s a somewhat challenging task for us.

We are bound to make mistakes and cannot handle multiple decision-making activities within a short period of time as machines can.

Therefore, the use of automation in the construction industry will allow project leaders to handle insightful data and finalize a project decision accurately to satisfy both the stakeholders and buyers.

2. Reduced Construction Cost

Although automation manufacturing requires a costly investment, it can reduce your construction cost hugely.

For instance, an integrated enterprise system has the ability to report on ongoing construction projects while collecting data from multiple software simultaneously. This would have been very challenging and costly if performed by several individuals on board.

3. Delivery on Time

Automation allows industrialists to complete each task on time. Unlike humans, technological devices are programmed to process data in the correct order to perform tasks without any error and within a fixed time period.

4. Fulfill Buyer Expectations

Businesses are bound to fulfill their buyers’ expectations to attain success and a high value in the industry. Therefore, relying on the automation system allows industrialists to mark all the buyer’s demands and assign machines or robots to complete those tasks without error.

5. Effective Design, Planning, and Management

Construction operations have a lot of data that needs to be designed, planned, and managed effectively.

Implementing automation systems can reduce the administrative workload on the engineering staff and help construction managers be more effective in these crucial factors.

6. Bidding and Procurement

Quality contract procurement is critical to ensure construction projects’ timely and cost-effective completion.

Using automated RFQ systems, companies can reach out to multiple vendors to receive a proposal and complete an online bidding process which allows for accurate budgeting and estimates.

7. Competitive Capital Advantage

Automation in construction allows you to gain a competitive advantage, provided that your company has the necessary capital and resources to meet its goals.

Benefit from the insight created by automation to determine each project’s priority, then select those that are most worthy of moving forward.

8. Key Takeaway

Automation in construction projects has given builders a new way to handle complex tasks with ease, quickly, and without error.

This advancement means that instead of overseeing projects from start to finish, engineers can concentrate on other specific tasks while the robots finish the site works.

So, to summarize, the impacts of automation in construction have been mostly beneficial compared to people’s expectations. It’s evident that the future of automation construction is bright and will ensure the potential economic growth of the industry.

FAQs

How will automation affect the supply of labour?

While automation may render some workers obsolete, it does not entirely affect the supply of labour negatively. Other than site-building tasks or laborious jobs, there is a potential need for workers in the other sectors, such as the engineering, training, and maintenance sector.

Therefore, even though robots take up some laborious tasks, they won’t decrease the employment opportunities and wages for workers.

What are the disadvantages of automation?

One of the main disadvantages of automation is its investment rate. Automated equipment is costly as well as the implementation of an automation project requires a higher budget initiative which is somewhat challenging for construction companies to manage.

Also, automated equipment comes with strict flexibility, which is another downside of this technology. It doesn’t allow you to input improper functions or requires each specific data to conduct a specific task without errors.

Is automation a threat to employment?

Generally, automation is a threat to short-term-based employment. For instance, the short-term jobs of construction sites will no longer require human involvement when automation technology arrives.

So, automation will decrease the rate of employment rate in mostly the laborious sectors.