How to Look Smarter by Leveraging Your Data

The term “data intelligence” includes the analytical means and methods companies use to collect information they need to improve their business. Data intelligence helps companies answer questions and develop insights into the who, what, when, where, and why of the origins and destination of project information.  

Construction data sets can be enormous and might include the information in a BIM model, the status of building material supply chain deliveries, jobsite photos, worker and equipment tracking, budgets, safety statistics, compliance, quality, payroll, and more. 

Fortunately, both the information companies need and the method of tracking it are now available to even the most modest business. A business owner/manager can now make smart decisions about business operations by leveraging insights and data intelligence.

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Learn about Autodesk Construction Cloud in the free Applied Software, Graitec Group eBook: “The Importance of a Common Data Environment.”

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New Tools

You could think of data gathering and analytics as new kinds of tools to use on a project. They involve information on quality and quantity and might include:

• Predictions
• Simple side-by-side comparisons
• Data mining
• Diagnostics
• Complex digital twins
• Simulations
• Artificial intelligence
• Machine learning

The goal is to put the data into a format you can use to intelligently communicate your plans, strategies and outcomes. Using project data the right way can also give you and your staff confidence that together you can reach your business goals.

To use data analytics effectively, you need to learn the language of data intelligence. Equipped with that, you can look smarter by leveraging the vast amount of information that already exists on your jobs. The result can be improved safety, greater efficiency and productivity, higher quality, more profits, and the insights you need to win more bids.

Leveraging Feedback

With the increasing number of digital tools that gather construction-related data, it can be a challenge to leverage the right ones, maximize the data, and get the needed insights at the right time. However, when it all comes together properly, a complex project can be simplified and help your company’s growth and profitability.

A smart construction platform – for instance, Autodesk Construction Cloud – can aggregate a variety of data sets from office and field teams to give productivity and quality advantages, including:

• real-time equipment and machinery monitoring,
• workforce tracking,
• progress/output,
• material delivery details,
• jobsite climate conditions. 

The information gathered can be used to improve models for jobsites. It can also be included in a BIM digital twin to preserve job information and leverage it after the job is complete. Not only does this elevate the service provided to customers, the feedback can help improve your company’s image and output over time.

Overcoming Hurdles

There are hurdles for using data in construction today. One is the learning curve. Data intelligence can provide unwieldy data sets. Processing them to make the information usable requires artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytic software.

Efforts are underway to standardize construction data globally. This should help speed up and broaden adoption of data intelligence tools and disciplines. As companies discover that access to complete datasets saves time and money, more will inevitably implement BIM processes. The growing appetite for data intelligence involves all project stakeholders. Innovation and digital technology for leveraging data will enable companies to adapt to the industry’s changing data needs.

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