Construction World September 2018

PROJECTS & CONTRACTS

A PARADIGM SHIFT in construction Digitalisation is a buzzword in every business field. In construction, the possibilities for new technology are impressive. The iCONS research project by Aalto University based in Finland is a step into the future.

that shows where the people, materials and tools are, it saves a lot of time and wasted effort at the sitE. For example, instead of searching endlessly around, a worker can simply check on his phone where the hammer drill is or where a certain precast element is. Prefabrication 2.0 In prefabrication, the new technology opens many doors. An RFID tag can be placed on a slab already at the factory, so the construc- tion site knows in real-time when it is sent. Both the factory and the site can monitor how and when that particular slab arrives at the site. After installation, the tag can be removed and the product checked in as installed. This is only a simple example. When situational awareness is enabled and progress at the construction site is monitored, the gathered data can be leveraged by artificial intelligence. This means automatic communication between the construction site and the precast concrete factory. Both have access to the same digital twin of the project, which is updated automatically according to the changes made. ”In the future, builders can see continuous automatic schedule optimisation. Precast concrete producers who offer new solutions are ahead of the game for sure,” Seppänen says. Lasse Rajala, Business Area Director at Sweco, adds that not only buildings or parts can be monitored digitally, but also machinery. “Suppliers are able to get data about how the supplied machinery is used. This is a big improvement and helps in designing machines that meet the needs of the clients. Whenever there is a problem, the supplier can analyse the situation in real-time.” Real-time monitoring The iCONS project is an example of large scale progress in construc- tion. Senior Advisor Lassi Järvinen from Elematic says that a major ambition in the whole industry is to make the construction site mas- ter everything: the prefabrication, the logistics, the whole workflow. ”From our point of view, the construction site should be controlling the precast process by ordering exactly what is needed to be delivered exactly when it is needed. We have built an integrated system with Trimble that enables this,” Järvinen says. The EliPlan system is a resource planning solution specifically designed for precast factories. It automatically brings accurate data directly from the BIM (Building Information Model) to the production line. This helps the factory to optimise the use of resources and minimise waste. The BIM model alone is a great tool and should be used a lot more, Järvinen says. Especially in bigger projects, companies should always make a 'master model' available to all parties. Currently the providers often make their own models based on whatever information is available. Way too often this information is limited and inaccurate. ”The BIM model should be made available to every provider at the beginning. Then, the providers could easily calculate the exact amounts of resources needed. The BIM model could then be modified along the way and used as a central source of information for the entire life cycle of the building,” Järvinen says. Baby steps Seppänen says that the iCONS system is not yet commercialised, but that interest is growing. One major challenge is that construction sites are always at a new location. ”In other areas of industry such as car manufacturing or dockyards, the location never changes. It is easier to get data. In construction, we are taking the first steps towards new effective solutions,” Seppänen says.

I n today’s construction, only 30% of the time is used for actual production. Another 30% goes to logistics and traffic, and the highest number, 40% goes to waiting. The most alarming number is the 30% that is used for productive work, says Olli Seppänen, Professor of Practice at Aalto University. ”The productive work time can be raised to 50-60%. We have created a system that enables workers to minimise the time spent searching for materials or tools,” he says. The idea is to present real-time situational awareness for everyone at the construction site. When Seppänen was previously working as a consultant solving disputes in construction, he won- dered how to get an overview of the construction site as a whole." "Real-time situational awareness exists in other areas, for example hospitals and offices, why not in construction?” Seppänen soon commenced the appropriate research through Aalto University. Finding the tools The iCONS (Intelligent Construction Site) research project began in October 2016 and was followed by two other projects that delve deeper into the digital world, ReCap (Reality Capture) and DiCtion (Digitalised Construction Flows). ”The follow-up projects are linked to iCONS. First, we need data, then we need to analyse that data and then we need to act based on the data analysis. This way we can make detailed plans and predict the workflow accurately.” Other universities involved in the project include Tianjin University from China, Stanford University from California and Unicamp from Brazil. The Technion Institute of Technology from Israel is a tech- nology partner along with Tianjin University and Trimble, a company behind the Tekla software solutions for advanced building information modeling and structural engineering. Several construction companies are either members of the consortium or are on board as observers. The main idea of iCONS is that if everyone has access to data

Olli Seppänen, Professor of Practice at Aalto University.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2018