Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Monday, March 12, 2018
5 awesome tech tools for successful construction companies
5 awesome tech tools for successful construction companies
Technology has its pros and cons — it can lead to role reductions but increase efficiency.
And although construction is one sector that might always require the human touch, it includes areas ripe for improvement through digital innovations.
With that in mind, here are five awesome tech tools for successful construction companies.
- Virtual Reality (VR)
Architects, designers and engineers have relied on flat 3D construction models for years to work out how their projects will look in real life.
But looking at a scale model of a bridge, shopping centre or office block on a desk or computer doesn’t enable an accurate assessment — which leads to expensive snags once building work is well underway.
VR is being adopted by specialist firms like Victaulic to solve this age-old problem. It allows staff to walk inside a built environment to see and feel whether their designs for mechanical piping and fire-protection systems are up to the job.
- Wearable tech
Wearable tech like exoskeleton suits and Augmented Reality (AR) goggles looks set to carve a foothold in the construction industry very soon.
And it should make sites safer for all workers, as well as increasing efficiency.
Exoskeletons will improve the power and precision of the human body, while protecting it from injuries.
And AR headsets from firms like Meta allow teams in different locations to collaborate on construction layouts in real-time — and quickly create prototypes for clients so that they see how their new home or business premises will look prior to physical construction.
- Automated HR
Making sure staff get paid on time, with the appropriate deductions and benefits, is fundamental to good business relations.
And construction firms who operate across different tax jurisdictions often employ expensive HR teams to cope with this admin-heavy and time-consuming task.
But outsourced payroll services can be less expensive and more accurate, so less time is spent correcting inaccuracies, and data analytics produce detailed reports allowing management to monitor useful metrics.
- Project management software
Pulling together all the work streams on a large civil engineering or architecture project and delivering results on time and to budget is no easy task.
Project management software can help to make the process more efficient at every stage by identifying problems early, reducing risks and using rich data to automatically generate high quality handover manuals for subcontractors and clients.
- Field productivity software
Large construction projects with tight timescales require regular detailed monitoring to stay on track.
And that entails daily field report being completed, collated and sent to management.
Field productivity software from niche firms like PlanGrid allows workers to fill out forms and reports on mobile devices onsite and upload them instantly so they’re easily found, analysed and shared.
This means project leads can report to clients regularly without a wasteful paper trail.
Invest in any of these five awesome tech tools for successful construction companies and impress every stakeholder involved in your next project.
Has your construction form adopted new technology recently? Share your story in the comments section.
The post 5 awesome tech tools for successful construction companies appeared first on http://ukconstructionblog.co.uk
Friday, March 9, 2018
JCB creates 600 jobs to meet boom in global demand
UK plant giant JCB is hiring 600 production line staff over the next three months due to “unprecedented” global demand for its machines.
In addition to these shop floor jobs, JCB said it also had vacancies for more than 100 permanent employees in engineering and other staff professions at its World Headquarters in Rocester and sites across the UK.
Worldwide growth in construction has brought record demand for many of the product lines manufactured at its Derbyshire plant at Foston, as well as its Staffordshire factories at Rocester, Cheadle and Rugeley.
JCB chief operating officer, Mark Turner said: “This is great news for the local economy and great news for anyone seeking to work with a globally successful business.
“We know the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and surrounding towns have people with the skills we need, and in return they can expect excellent rewards.
“The opportunities are initially for agency employees, however we see them as long-term opportunities – in fact, in the first three months of 2018 we have given permanent contracts to 200 agency staff. That means over the past four years we have handed permanent contracts to 850 agency employees.
“The future is very bright for JCB as global demand for our machines continues to grow, which means great prospects for people who want to work with us.”
The new roles pay a minimum of £10.40 per hour for Monday to Friday working hours, with a premium paid for shift-work opportunities.
The post JCB creates 600 jobs to meet boom in global demand appeared first on http://ukconstructionblog.co.uk
Thursday, March 8, 2018
https://t.co/bLEVbG1t09 thanks for following us! Have a great day :) #pavingcontractor
https://t.co/bLEVbG1t09 thanks for following us! Have a great day :) #driveways #pavingcontractor
— Driveway Contractor (@drivewaysuk) March 8, 2018
from Twitter https://twitter.com/drivewaysuk
March 08, 2018 at 01:37PM
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Monday, March 5, 2018
Vienna calling’ at Ecobuild to show training programme sets the pace to develop sustainable construction skills
Visitors to Ecobuild can find out more about how a renowned design and engineering programme based in Vienna brings together expertise from across the globe to identify ways to make buildings more sustainable.
The Austrian capital offers an innovative backdrop as a live case study, providing insight into passive house and sustainable, smart city expertise for Green.Building.Solutions. (GBS).
Participants can immerse themselves in a unique, intensive experience – developing new skills to design and build sustainable cities in an environment that includes workshops, lectures, fact-finding visits and insight from world-leading academics.
Applications are now open for the not-for-profit programme, which is relevant to students and professionals alike in the fields of architecture and professions relating to the built environment – and with all study and social activities carried out in English, it is well-suited to participants from a truly international background.
The GBS team will be on the Advantage Austria stand at the event to talk more about the programme.
GBS takes place from 21 July to 12 August and is organised by the OeAD-Housing Office – part of Austria’s national agency for international mobility and cooperation in education, science and research.
Run in association with 16 universities, including Vienna’s BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and the Vienna University of Technology, the course is priced at €2,490 for professionals and €2,000 for students.
This cost includes all social activities, lessons and tours, as well as accommodation for participants throughout the duration of GBS in one of OeAD’s passive house student residences – giving an added perspective to participants’ experiences in Vienna.
The accommodation is also included as part of the fee for almost a week after the programme, enabling those taking part to explore the city at leisure. Two additional workshops are offered during the extra week: a three-day specially-priced Passive House workshop and a three-day excursion for all 2018 participants.
Günther Jedliczka, CEO of the OeAD-Housing Office, said: “Austria is world-renowned as a pioneer in sustainable construction and GBS offers students the opportunity to broaden their perspective and build a network of useful contacts.
“It provides a truly international atmosphere, with 46 students from 30 nations successfully completing the programme in 2017.
“GBS’s timetable starts with an overview of the historical development and introduction to green building design, before moving on to the detailed study of highly efficient and sustainable buildings.
“Sustainable materials, construction ecology, building physics and innovative energy technologies are addressed, as well as building simulations and daylight engineering.
“The Sto Foundation will also offer a hands-on workshop to students studying colour technology along with architecture and engineering students, whereby they physically build a 1:1 wall model of Passive House details.
“Finally, an investigation into indoor and outdoor climate is undertaken, before the programme concludes with an integrated design project, which centres around an actual live topic in Vienna.”
As well as GBS, the OeAD-Housing Office also operates the Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems programme (AEMS).
AEMS analyses how economic, political, monetary and environmental factors need to change to be more sustainable and takes place from the 25 July until 10 August 2018.
More details about GBS and AEMS – including testimonials from 2017’s programme participants – can be found at www.summer-university.net
The post Vienna calling’ at Ecobuild to show training programme sets the pace to develop sustainable construction skills appeared first on http://ukconstructionblog.co.uk