The labor shortage in the construction industry — combined with the challenge of finding new employees and keeping current ones — has led companies to look for ways to address these issues. An emerging trend is the use of task automation. This is the application of modern technology to minimize or eliminate the need for human involvement in order to complete a task.
In addition to alleviating labor and skills shortages, task automation can make machine operations, project estimating and other standard construction processes faster, more efficient and easier with fewer people.
With the adoption of task automation there are different steps that construction companies no longer need to take, which saves them time and money, says Cameron Clark, earthmoving industry director for the Civil Infrastructure Solutions Division at Trimble.
By way of example, he notes that task automation reduces a company’s reliance on other companies for work it would typically contract out. It also eliminates the problem of contracting out work and then having to wait for that work to get done because the contractor does not have the manpower available.
“People in the construction industry understand that machine control technology increases an operator’s productivity and accuracy but may not know there are different levels to this technology,” says Clark. “What is not as well understood is the ability of task automation to enable lesser-skilled people to be a lot more productive and to make experienced workers even better.”
Clark is leading the Alleviating Worker Shortage with Task Automation education session at CONEXPO-CON/AGG. Also on the panel are Matt Eklund, PE, GPS program manager at Sukut Construction, Ryan Edwards, president of Edwards Construction Group, and Brandon Reeves, field manager at Gill-Reeves Company.
Thinking differently
The mindset within construction about adopting new technology is changing, observes Clark. More and more companies are understanding that technology has to be adopted just to stay current. Moreover, technology — because of its competitive advantages — has become a key driver for business growth and success.
“Suppose you are a small contractor competing for a job against companies that have grade control,” says Clark. “Those companies will have lower costs which means they can make a lower bid. That makes it difficult to win the job as your costs are higher.”
He says there will not be a lot of PowerPoint presentations during the education session. “Instead, we are just going to tee it up and talk through real examples. It will be an opportunity for discussions and sharing of how task automation works and how it is being used.
Clark has done two previous education sessions at CONEXPO-CON/AGG and has been an attendee at sessions as well.
“There are so many different topics to choose from,” he says. “Not only do you listen to the content providers, but you can also ask questions. Often, the audience will feed on itself, creating a dialogue among like-minded individuals that want to learn and share how they do things.”
About the author: AEM is the North America-based international trade group representing off-road equipment manufacturers and suppliers with more than 1,000 companies and more than 200 product lines in the agriculture and construction-related industry sectors worldwide. The equipment manufacturing industry in the United States supports 2.8 million jobs and contributes roughly $288 billion to the economy every year.
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