THE TECH PUSH MAXIMIZING TECHNOLOGY TO CHANGE THE WAY WE BUILD
After decades of very little improvement in how projects are built, emerging technology offers hope that significant progress is just around the corner. To achieve such progress, technology and innovation must play a key role in offering our craft men and women new ways to improve means & methods, efficiency, speed-tomarket delivery, safety, and quality control. The goals of increasing productivity, combating the labor shortage, attracting a new generation of talent to the industry, and changing what we design and how we build are lofty. The primary areas where such emerging technology shows the most promise are augmented/virtual reality, generative design and super-computing, scanning technologies, robotics, drones, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, BIM, digital twin, prefabrication, and modularization. The primary challenge we need to overcome in our quest to build better, smarter, safer, and faster is demonstrating measurable value, not just innovative technology. The transformational solutions we can provide are only as good as our clients can actually count on to increase value. Until the power of the emerging technologies listed above can be harnessed and used to generate measurable value for our trades and/or our clients, they will simply be grand ideas. At JE Dunn, we believe we have a unique opportunity to pair some of our key thought leaders within our team of skilled builders with our innovative in-house technologists to turn those grand ideas into measurable value. Hear from three JE Dunn experts on three keys to achieving this goal. Trent Nichols, National Director of Virtual Design and Construction, will discuss the technology components from virtual design to augmented reality, while John Jacobs, Chief Information Officer, outlines how we convert data (or raw material) into analytics (fuel for improvement) for a data integration perspective, and Rodd Merchant, Chief Strategy and Client Experience Officer, talks about the real value to clients from utilizing advanced technology on their projects.
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