Making the Most of Mobility
January 19, 2010
Given the changing economic times, construction companies are taking a closer look at improving efficiencies in such areas as project collaboration and coordination. Mobile construction technology is playing an enabling role in helping improve project collaboration—but are these tools being used to their fullest capacity?
Motion Computing, www.motioncomputing.com, Austin, Texas, a provider of mobile hardware solutions, recently released a whitepaper with highlights from a mobile and wireless solutions research brief from VDC Research Group, www.vdcresearch.com, Natick, Mass.
Based on the research brief—Mobile and Wireless Solutions in Construction—VDC Research Group has found while the construction industry has embraced push to talk, overall the use of mobile applications in the industry has been limited.
Still, with the remote nature of the jobsite and the need for workers to access information on mobile devices, it makes sense that the industry will need to examine mobile technologies further in order to help improve operational issues.
According to VDC Research, some of the broader issues in the industry include the process of generating and managing building data throughout the lifecycle of the construction process, which can be improved through the use of collaboration technology and BIM (building information modeling).
Some of the benefits of BIM are improved productivity, increased coordination, and cost savings. While BIM solutions aren’t specifically designed for mobile applications, BIM solutions can be applied in a mobile environment.
There are a number of construction companies that have taken the steps to introduce BIM both in the office and in the field. As one recent example, DPR Construction, www.dprinc.com, Redwood City, Calif., has used technology to enable the BIM process and construction field mobility software in the office and in the field. DPR has found a quantifiable time savings and project visibility using this technology.
The BIM process allows construction companies to share information and collaborate throughout the supply chain—from beginning to end. This process has been successfully in helping project teams reduce change orders, resolve clash detection issues, and collaborate more effectively, among other benefits. A focus on BIM in a mobile environment might uncover even great benefits going forward.