While digital transformation has been present across industries in recent years, some are slower to adopt than others. Within the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, architects and engineers have been quicker to embrace digital solutions, while the construction industry has lagged behind, relying mainly on analog processes to get work done.

Nevertheless, the Fourth Industrial Revolution continues, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) remain driving forces alongside:

• Cloud solutions
• Big data harvesting and analysis
• Internet of Things (IoT) technologies
• AI/ML specific to design and construction
• Building information modelling (BIM) and building information management

For AEC, digital technologies like these will enable and provide positive disruption to infrastructure programs as decision-makers use digitized workflows to gain insight into quality, project predictability, long-term lifecycle understanding, costs, and safety.

How Workflow Automation Powers Digital Transformations for AEC

While construction remains the least digitized industry in the world, 75% of E&C companies are looking to leverage a digital transformation in the next five years. While this might sound daunting when you look at transformation as a whole, it is much simpler when employed incrementally through some foundational processes that target daily operations.

That’s where the power of workflow automation for digital transformation comes into play.

Automated workflows provide AEC companies with many advantages, such as reduction of errors, faster project timelines, greater visibility, and increased time and cost savings.

Managing the Document-Centric Workflow

Typically, multiple AEC personnel must collaborate using the same documents — at the same time. Workflow automation can simplify this process using AI and ML to automate manual entry processes, design conditions that trigger actions, and perform said actions automatically, removing the burden from AEC personnel.

Automated workflows preserve document versioning to reduce miscommunication and error and bring visibility to all touchpoints during the document lifecycle.

Tapping the Cloud, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

These two technologies, cloud-based services and software-as-a-service (SaaS), can both provide a digital platform that can support collaboration and integration across the value chain of integrated partners — from engineers and architects to construction managers.

Either of these can help provide a data platform that will allow construction projects to connect workflows from both upstream and downstream partners for seamless connection of data and a streamlining of processes.

Streamlining processes helps AEC team create:

• Robust project data with increased accuracy for better project outcomes
• Specific material quantities for repeatable ordering
• Frameworks that support reusable content for optimization
• Repeatable processes that produce predictable plans for more accurate budgets and schedules
• Real-time cross-disciplinary collaboration through the entire project lifecycle

These actionable processes that stem from — or are enhanced by — the application of workflow automation can help your AEC company implement a digitally transformative strategy that pays dividends from the outset of deployment.

Blue Technologies Has the Tech Tools You Need to Automate Your Processes

Companies are moving toward a digitally transformed model of business at the speed of light. If you want to garner the benefits, like cost savings and greater productivity and profitability, then you want to adopt some digital strategies now to avoid being left behind by your competition.

At Blue Technologies, we make digital transformation easier with an entire suite of tools that you can use to enhance your adoption of workflow automation — one of the primary strategies for digitally progressive companies.

From data capture, processing, and management to technologies that support and enhance streamlined workflows through automated processes, our team of IT experts has exactly what you need to get started.

We can begin with an in-depth analysis of your current infrastructure, followed by design and creation of customized solutions that speaks to your specific needs and challenges. Finally, our team can deploy, maintain, and manage your solutions for added cost savings and to remove the burden on internal staff.

Bring the power of automated workflows to your next collaborative project for amazing results. Contact a Blue Technologies consultant and check out our suite of technology and tools that will help get your digital transformation off the ground today.