ELECTRI International leader on the potential of machine learning in construction

In our latest Trailblazers discussion, we speak with Josh Bone, executive director at ELECTRI International.

In Part I, Bone discusses his career background, his take on the state of innovation in construction, and how leaders can help spark a healthy and innovative work culture that embraces failure as learning opportunities.

In Part II, Bone delves into why he feels machine learning offers the most potential among other emerging technologies in construction. “If we can get the most up-to-date information, and find it quickly, that’ll save us a lot of time and energy and keep us from making mistakes,” Bone says.

Dr. Burcin Kaplanoglu, vice president, Oracle Industries Innovation Lab, led the discussion.

What emerging technologies do you see representing the best opportunities for the industry?

We’re still in the infancy of BIM and 3D modeling. 3D modeling has been overlooked despite the industry embracing it in some ways. 3D modeling, and truly getting BIM as part of the project, is critical to our success. 

Today, BIM is still a contractual obligation for most companies. The field leadership teams do not embrace BIM and overlook the importance of the BIM process when creating their schedules and budgets.

BIM is treated as a third-party activity to those running the job.

There's so much we can do to virtually construct and drive prefab with BIM. There’s also so much we can do toward leveraging the digital twin and how to make BIM part of the job, so the field leadership teams can understand its importance.

We're just at the tip of the iceberg when we talk about VDC and what we can do with the 3D model.

One day I hope we see VDC as our opportunity to virtually construct the project, and everyone understands the value of putting together a plan that ensures we deliver projects on time and within budget.

I am confident we will see significant gains for all project stakeholders when we stop looking at VDC as adding cost to the job and instead regard VDC as an essential part of a project’s success.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation is also going to play a larger role. Most of us in the VDC world realize we have limited amounts of time. We're always looking at ways that we can improve our modeling process and automate certain workflows.

Machine learning is a powerful tool. We can use the information to improve our decision-making process by tracking jobs in real time by using ML to automate processes like data capture and input.

Which use cases do you think has the biggest potential?

Machine learning is a very specific type of artificial intelligence when we think about the data that needs to be captured daily.

If we look at daily reports, we look at our jobsite safety analysis forms (JSAs). Automating and collecting data in a passive way for these JSAs and for the work that we're doing holds so much power and potential.

We're not going to be motivated to capture that data if everything must be done manually. We need to have better opportunities to passively capture data so that we can use it for the digital twin and index the information.

You look at what some data companies are doing—indexing the information and using the machine learning algorithm. That is a perfect situation for us in the construction industry and what we can do around design and construction to improve our communication.

If we can get the most up-to-date information, and find it quickly, that'll save us a lot of time and energy and keep us from making mistakes.

There are a lot of stressful daily activities that are laborious and tedious. We need to make a split-second decision when we're looking for that information. We must move quickly, because every job today is a fast-track project.

"You look at what some data companies are doing—indexing the information and using the machine learning algorithm. That is a perfect situation for us in the construction industry and what we can do around design and construction to improve our communication."

-Josh Bone, Executive Director, ELECTRI International

That stress does more than impact our own personal mental health; it also limits our ability to be innovative and trust our project partners. I am confident when we use integrative technology correctly-- where we put people and process first-- we can improve communciation and build trust across our project teams that leads to more successful projects.

I have seen technology firsthand help us identify problems long before we would have encountered them in the field. It’s hard to put a price on how much time and money that saved everyone.

 See innovation in action at the Oracle Industries Innovation Lab.

Read more Trailblazers articles here.

Oracle Construction and Engineering, the global leader in construction management software and project portfolio management solutions, helps you connect your teams, processes, and data; empower better decision-making; and synchronize activities across the project and asset lifecycle. Drive efficiency and control in project delivery with proven solutions for project controls, construction scheduling, portfolio management, BIM/CDE, construction payment management, and more.