Mace Construct executive chairman Mark Reynolds has called on the industry to rethink its processes and workflows to capitalise on emerging robotic technology.
Speaking at the Groundworks conference this week, Reynolds, also co-chair of Construction Leadership Council, said the technology would play a part in making the sector more productive with the right upfront planning in place.
He said putting robots on site without planning “is very dangerous unless it’s been properly thought through”.
He added: “We can’t just buy these tools and think they’re going to be successful in doing the work.
“We need to work out the interfaces and material flows. Each task needs to be rigorously planned. Before we start the work, we need to agree the inputs, we need to agree the outputs, we need to check the measures that we need to complete the operations and make sure the environment is safe for everyone to work in.”
“We can’t just buy these tools and think they’re going to be successful in doing the work.”
Reynolds added that there were two other key factors to take into account – enabling the supply chain to invest and adapt to using the robotics, and to build the suitable skills and capability in the workforce.
Expensive but useful
Reynolds said Mace had used some of the technology with mixed results. It invested in a robotic dog (which they called Dave) fitted with a camera for site surveys. “It was the most expensive thing I’ve ever seen to carry a camera, but the camera actually proved very useful,” he said.
Reynolds said it was preferable for firms lower down the supply chain to buy the hardware, as they were better placed to negotiate discounts and had the “ability to track, maintain all of their equipment and then make sure it can be deployed in not just one organisation, but many”.
For this to happen, the industry needed to reform payments and payment terms such as retentions, as “without liquidity going into the sector, it’s going to make it challenging for people (to invest)”.
Investing in AI
Reynolds said Mace was investing in AI technology, but warned “if it hasn’t got a payback in 12 months, I’m not going to invest in it. Because it will evolve that quickly and it is… My lesson is: invest with a 12-month view.”
“A lot of people in the construction industry think ‘let’s do one pilot’, but the pilot – whatever the results – doesn’t tell you anything.”
The Groundworks event also featured speakers from robotics startups, including Monumental, which has developed a bricklaying machine. The firm currently has 50 machines working in the field, according to founder and chief executive Salar Al Khafaji.
Al Khafaji said the firm acts as a subcontractor. “We take on the risk… that’s actually how you build trust,” he said. “It makes our lives much harder, but also makes adoption much easier.”
Learn-by-doing approach
He added it was important for the industry to adopt a learn-by-doing approach by testing robots on site over a period of time rather than just one-off experiments.
“A lot of people in the construction industry think ‘let’s do one pilot’, but the pilot – whatever the results – doesn’t tell you anything. If you commit to three to five pilots in a row with the same partners, are you going to see improvements? Are you learning? I think that’s the mindset that we try to teach our partners against.”
