JANUARYCONSTRUCTIONBUSINESSREVIEW.COM8IN MYOPINIONBy Shawn McNamara, Director of Business Development, Dayton SuperiorsTHE NECESSARY MARRIAGE OF CONSTRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE POST PANDEMIC WORLDConstruction and technology have long complemented each other since the inception of design and construction. Key examples representative of this interdependent relationship can be observed over the past Millenia from the creation of the Pyramids in Egypt, and the Romans demonstrating aesthetically pleasing, yet revolutionary practical aqueducts. The demand for more complex, higher-performing structures has required more efficient design and construction techniques; pushing our industries forward and enabling us to build better, faster, and safer.COVID-19 has demonstrated our reliance and adaptivity with technology during and post-pandemic due to constrained materials, increased demand, and a depleted labor force. As project demands increase and timelines decrease, the latter of this post-pandemic effect has made adoption of newer workplace and on-site technologies/computing a necessity as opposed to luxury. The drastic reduction and constraints within vocation and STEM related fields has created more efficient building design essential.Dayton Superior has experienced these challenges but has witnessed enormous success in mitigating these constraints by integrating and investing in technology. During lockdown of 2020, we needed to pivot swiftly as we saw unprecedented demand and growth within commercial Distribution and Warehouses. Yet, simultaneously, our team was undergoing the same challenges faced globally; labor shortages, working remotely, social distancing protocols etc. Therefore, it became increasingly evident swift change was required,and utilizing our existing resources more efficiently was critical. We initiated a complete restructure of internal processes within our Tilt-Up business sector, harnessing our proprietary software Tilt-Werks® as the backbone. Tilt-Werks® began its life as a Structural Engineering software, but after years of development and practical use by engineers, it is now a staple within the Tilt-Up industry; utilized by every stakeholder within the construction process (See Figure 1). Cloud-based technologies like Tilt-Werks® continue to emerge, providing value within the entire construction process. The method of submitting a singular set of drawings downstream to multiple stakeholders is linear, causing unnecessary delays, RFI's, financial burden, mistakes, and potential safety issues. With Tilt-Werks® the process is more collaborative.With principal materials such as steel and concrete constrained in today's market, using technology to capitalize on the most efficient design can be the difference between not being awarded a project, and facing owner/developer back charges due to unforeseen delays in obtaining materials. In a recent project, by utilizing advanced tools such as Tilt-Werks®, savings exceeding $50,000 dollars were realized by the contractor from optimizing steel quantities specified. Inherently, nothing was incorrect with the initial design from an engineering and safety standpoint but using spreadsheets and older design methodologies resulted in an overly conservative structure. With newer tools, projects can now be analyzed from a micro perspective to optimize every portion of the work scope. If we extrapolate these savings using the estimated market size of Tilt-Up, published by the Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA), that presents upwards of over $50,000,0001 dollars of unnecessary building materials in one construction sector alone. Overlaying this with today's market constraints, the lack of employing more technology-based tools within the design and construction sectors will likely contribute to excess material needs, Shawn McNamara
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