Digitalization moves into various industries and businesses. However, while healthcare and finances are sectors seemingly reaping the most benefit from the phenomenon, there is not much said about the value of the approach in the construction business. Currently, it is prime time for proptech companies. New construction technologies allow for saving costs and delivering services more efficiently, allowing the evidence from Statista. There is rising output in the construction industry all over the globe and digital technology trends in construction are blooming. More specifically, in Europe alone, about 267.1 billion euros had been generated in the civil engineering sector in Europe independently. The forecasts suggest a 2 percent growth of the industry annually. In terms of the PropTech industry, CB insights illustrate a 65 percent rise in funding from $5.4 billion to $8.9 billion in 2019.
The PropTech industry is booming. Yet, even the best proptech companies, especially proptech startups, need to understand how to use digital construction technology for the best digitalization in the construction industry.
Here, we’ve collected a number of ConTech tools proven effective in various construction industry segments. These tools will benefit everyone, from a proptech startup to a major proptech construction company.
First and foremost, we have to clarify what is contech. Also known as construction technology, contech is the technology that helps to plan, design, and build various structures as well as technology that caters manufacturing and installation of building materials. Contech engineered solutions are here to improve the working process of engineering, construction, and architecture professionals.
From the app that helps to perform waste management at the construction sight to the drones that are used to monitor the building process — all of these are examples of construction technology that will give you a general understanding of which contech tools we will talk about in this article.
Adopting new construction technologies is a deliberate process requiring much effort and expertise. What is more, when it comes to the digitalization of the construction industry, it is important to understand the scope of the approach. Following a report offered by McKinsey & Company, there is a productivity gap in construction costs worth $1.6 trillion on an annual basis. At this point, such a massive number indicates the broad area of application for tech in the construction industry.
Yet, even though there is a platform for applying new construction technologies, people need to remember about opportunities and challenges brought by tech.
Point out the key opportunities, and one can focus on the following:
Along with opportunities, there are several challenges to the adoption of construction technology:
While there are both challenges and opportunities in tech adoption, it all depends on the ability of contractors to evaluate the prerequisites. However, the practice shows that construction technology implementation is worth the risk as new contech startups keep appearing on the market.
There are hundreds or even thousands of available contech construction products. Yet, finding the one meeting your needs is a challenging task to uphold. We did our best to go through the massive number of contech tools and selected the ones that can be used in various instances in the construction industry.
Eyrus is a company based in Washington. One of the key approaches offered by the firm is to use technologies better to understand the workforce and easier perception of worksite status. Eyrus values simplicity and wants to bring it into PropTech.
The company provides its clients with a remarkable tool called the Workforce Visibility Platform. It allows superintendents and contractors to cover safety, access control, and reporting areas. The platform revolutionizes the entire management process in real-time. As a result, clients receive a more accurate and impactful process at hand.
Eyrus simplifies data capture and changes how proptech companies report payroll and compliance. The company makes proptech startups forget about archaic timesheets and switch to more accurate digitalization tools.
Currently, the company proved its worth and is looking for new investors. Eyrus has collected about $10 million via Crunchbase. Essentially, investors favor the company and see its bright future. You can book a demo on their website to make the most of what Eyrus contech IT solutions can offer.
Skrap is a London-based company with a major focus on construction hire. Among the key areas the firm emphasizes are waste services, concrete, aggregates, plant hire, and welfare.
Speaking more specifically, in terms of a more effective waste management Skrap offers a broad range of commercial and domestic solutions. In terms of concrete-based services, the company collaborates with supply chain partners to devise the best and most efficient solutions in delivering concrete to sites of all sizes, from small domestic ones to large construction.
Skrap provides a diverse range of recycled and quarried aggregates throughout the nation. In terms of plant hire, the company emphasizes offering plant equipment in the best way possible. Finally, Skrap uses technology to update site accommodation focusing on welfare units, which is proved to be a major part of any construction setup.
In general, Skrap took the best of available digitalization to improve major components of a construction process. For the company, the important part is to focus on workers’ welfare. The firm offers all the instruments to help proptech companies simplify the construction process and make it more efficient.
Here, you can book Skrap’s services.
Rhumbix is a company focusing on the modernization of various field operations. Having its headquarters in San Francisco, the firm gathered a whopping $11 million in investments. One of the key objectives pursued by Rhumbix is to help construction workers and contracts go paperless, providing digital construction technology allowing more effective field data capture.
When delivering its services, the company relies on the Field Intelligence Platform. It is a cloud-based mobile workforce management technology that helps workers and contractors to collect and digitize existing data. Essentially, such construction technology is a great substitute for paper-based workflows. New construction technology offered by Rhumbix can calculate labor costs in real-time. At this point, the company’s innovative approach focuses on:
Rhumbix is the tool making the workflow paperless and mobile. If you want to try the service, book the demo on their website.
PlanRadar is a major player in assisting proptech companies in adopting new technology in construction. The company offers strategic management services in many countries. Yet, PlanRadar’s headquarters are located in Wien, which means a greater focus on the European construction market. The firm managed to gather about $68 million in terms of investments. PlanRadar emphasizes task management, documentation, and communication in construction and real estate initiatives.
While PlanRadar’s services are available on multiple devices, the company focuses on a range of shareholders who can effectively use the solution:
If you want to check the tools offered by the company, you can get a glimpse for free on PlanRadar official website.
InnDex is a London-based company that brings digitalization to the construction industry. The company was founded by two civil engineers, who experienced fragmentation in construction processes and decided to develop technological solutions for existing issues. InnDex’s primary aim is to use about 96 percent of data, which is reported as a byproduct of the construction industry.
The company intends to bring affordable innovation with minimal margin. It allows everyone in the construction industry, from proptech startups to massive proptech construction companies, to adopt innovation and redesign the entire industry.
There are three key aspects of InnDex’s contech IT solutions:
You can book a demo here if you want to see how InnDex brings digitalization to the construction industry.
Another company with headquarters in San Francisco, OpenSpace, is the one that took upon a mission to boost transparency in the construction industry. The firm's approach is based on the use of 360 cameras, computer vision, and AI to make the process of visual recording on a job site. Besides, with direct access to the cloud, OpenSpace managed to bring the digitalization of the construction industry to the highest level.
The company’s clients managed to use the platform to capture over 4 billion square feet of active construction. Currently, OpenSpace attracted about $102 million in terms of investments.
OpenSpace ClearSight is proved to be a new AI-powered tool allowing track progress and have an up-to-date vision of what happens on-site. Such a unique construction technology brings several notable benefits:
OpenSpace is a company utilizing digital technology in construction to take monitoring to another level. Book a demo if you are willing to check OpenSpace ClearSight for yourself.
The San Francisco-based company, Offsight provides software development solutions to different industry offsite construction and building components. At the moment, the firm managed to attract about $6.4 million in investments. Offsight assists its clients in delivering traceable and high-quality communication in the context of offsite construction. For instance, it makes it easier to use manufacturing project management in the construction business.
Another major component of the company’s strategy is streamlining collaboration between project managers, production supervisors, and quality inspectors. Offsight ensures proptech companies have their projects on track with such an approach.
When delivering its objectives, the company emphasizes aspects like:
You can request a demo to try the range of instruments offered by Offsight.
Cosuno is a Berlin-based company focusing on increasing the efficiency of construction projects through modern and user-friendly solutions. Transparency, fairness, and respect are the core values propagated by the firm. Since its inception in 2019, Cosuno has managed to integrate its values into various client solutions. The instruments offered correlate to the digitalization of the construction industry through the latest standards and technologies.
While focusing on state-of-the-art tools, the company puts forward automation as the primary aspect of boosting transparency in the construction process and compensating for the time lost on mundane tasks. Cosuno developed a Software-as-a-Service solution, a new technology in construction, allowing clients to save time in the procurement process.
In terms of sheer number, Cosuno managed to deliver 60 percent of time-saving for its users, engage in more than 1 billion euros in European construction volume and cooperated with more than 80,000 subcontractors.
On their website, you can request a demo and become one of the clients satisfied with Cosuno’s services.
AIClearing is a unique construction technology platform putting a massive emphasis on AI and advanced GIS analytics. With its headquarters in Austin, TX, the company focuses on the automation of infrastructure construction progress reporting.
AIClearning offers a stack of SaaS solutions. For instance, its AI HEART Engine is a tool proven to shorten construction progress tracking significantly. Such digital technology in construction utilizes leading technologies to make the tracking process transparent and efficient. AI HEART is based on machine learning solutions that predict and automate the analytics process. Another advanced solution is linked to the use of drone data. The new technology in construction allows construction workers to create reports while covering the entire construction site surface in three dimensions.
In addition, tools offered by AIClearning use multiple available digital data types and have sufficient potency to engage in 4D geospatial analytics. Such technologies shorten the reporting cycle and allow architects to create comprehensive reports with high interactivity.
If you have any questions on how to start using AIClearning and its capabilities, contact the company’s representatives.
GoContractor is a Dublin-based company working with one of the most valuable commodities in construction - time. The firm suggests that paperwork, filing, fumbling, and printing are the aspects that drain resources from the construction process, thus having a major impact on the deliverance of projects. GoContractor created a simple online platform that has already helped more than 350,000 construction workers and companies.
Among the primary objectives, the company focuses on eliminating paperwork, saving time on different stages of construction projects, and reducing workers’ comp and claims. GoContractor claims that its clients can use the online platform to boost the efficiency of construction workers and managers threefold. The entire system was created to optimize aspects like reporting and documentation. The new construction technology is easy-to-use and is built on a user-friendly foundation. It means that proptech startups and proptech companies do not need to invest much time and effort to train their employees to use the new technology.
Moreover, you can get a free GoContractor demo.
Modulize is among the companies showing how software and innovation benefit both people and the planet. With its headquarters in Oslo, the firm focuses on creating broad partnerships to deal with major issues plaguing the entire planet. Following the estimates, construction produces about 40 percent of waste and emissions all over the globe. Therefore, the company focuses on offsite construction as they believe that this is the way to solve the problem .
To unlock the true potential of offsite construction, Modulize offers a single procurement platform that includes automated takeoff, cost estimation, collaborative tendering and bid generation. Just in three simple steps, offsite manufacturers and contractors are able to make bids on the best projects thus working more sustainably and efficiently.
Modulize offers a specific vision on the benefits of offsite construction in a broader picture of more sustainable building.
Qflow is a London-based digital platform enabling construction workers and managers to collect real-time data on materials and waste. The new technology in construction helps project teams make informed decisions on cost, quality, and carbon. At this point, Qflow managed to achieve 135,640 kg in carbon reductions across its clients. The estimates suggest the company’s approach resulted in £200,000 cost-saving per project per year.
Achieving such staggering numbers relies on collecting GRNs from clients’ diverse supply chains. The process requires almost no effort, and a single photograph will be enough. In addition, QFlow integrated with existing site apps to ensure people working onsite do not need to know the platform is there. Another important tool, Qflow API, proved to be an easy instrument for verifying goods received and delivering prompt payments. Some of Qflow’s clients managed to achieve a staggering 271 percent efficiency gain while using what the platform offers.
Heard enough? You can book a consultation with a single click.
Modulous is another London-based platform that has created one of the first globally scalable models for the delivery and design of homes. The company's key objective is to eradicate the deficit of more than 500 million homes. To improve the construction industry's digitalization, Modulus focuses on creating software offering highly engineered design solutions and providing detailed cost information that heavily impacts the landowners’ risk versus reward calculus.
People working at Modulous believe that everyone should have access to a safe and sustainable home. When achieving the initiative, the company designed its Kit of Parts tool, a series of sub-assemblies procured from the supply chain with a chance to be brought together and translated into modular homes onsite.
You can become a part of a journey offered by Modulous by contacting the team first.
Managing finances is one of the most important and simultaneously time-consuming things any company has to handle. And when it comes to the construction industry, it becomes even more complicated. Some sources claim that construction companies spend twice as much on financial management as companies that work in other industries.
With this challenge in mind, software company Handle created an automation solution that would simplify the mundane manual daily financial tasks and shorten long payment cycles. The solution includes features for notice management, optimization of digital RFI, interactive reports, deadline tracking, enhanced waivers, and opportunity for accounting system integration.
At the moment, Handle is available in the US, and the best thing is that Handle actually takes into consideration all the legal features of each state thus protecting the payment rights of material suppliers, vendors, and contractors. If you are ready to try Handle's solution today, just follow the link.
Leicester-based company Archdesk aims at utilizing the potential the construction industry has with the help of modern technology. Their platform allows all the teams that work on a construction project to collaborate in real-time, share and request information, and coordinate their tasks. Automation and optimization Archdesk offers might be a lifesaver for a construction business as they usually involve cooperation with numerous vendors, contractors, and partners.
Archdesk solution includes:
Another amazing thing about the Archdesk platform is that it is very flexible and customizable. it can be useful for those who work in planning, construction, and operations. So it will be equally useful for architects, general contractors, and facilities managers.
You can request a demo on Archdesk website.
Speaking of the digitalization of the construction industry, it is just necessary to mention Ackcio and this company's ground-breaking solution. Ackcio Beam is a wireless end-to-end system that completely automates geotechnical and structural sensors monitoring. Ackcio's long-range, mesh-based, wireless data collection protocol allows for saving time, cutting costs, and making informed and timely decisions.
Ackcio Beam can be used not only on construction sites; it also proves to be useful for those who work in infrastructure renewal, mining, and railway maintenance. Enhanced safety, better risk management, and increased productivity are what you might consider using wireless monitoring. Ackcio product is already used in 37 countries across the globe and proved to be the cutting-edge technology the construction industry needs.
You can contact Ackcio to discuss in detail how the company might help you and book a demo.
Best proptech companies in the world become such because of new construction engineering technology. Digitalization of the construction industry has already made massive changes in the construction process. Contech startups should not fear what lies ahead in digital technology trends in construction. Instead, they need to use the instruments other firms have tested through trial and error. With the number of platforms mentioned above, your company has a good starting point. There are options to meet every need, from easier documentation to better payment delivery.
The key is to ask whether your business can afford to avoid digitalization?
Want to see yourself on the next list of the best companies? The Impressit team is ready to help you develop the perfect product!
Roman Zomko
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