This unique and deeply embedded culture and practise of transferring risk downstream is of serious concern for Project Managers such as myself who are contracted to deliver projects on time; on budget and on scope. A few who I conferred with in my network in the AEC Industry clear understand the benefits of changing this process which results in transparency and accountability in the industry. I will be implementing these changes on my next project in the New Year and will report back on the benefits of the changed- Changed Thinking leading to a Changed Outcome.
Very few business leaders nor education instructions and associations related to the AEC Industry have seen the writing on the wall but for the majority life goes on as they are caught up in the cycle of boom and bust, feast or famine not realizing this digital globalized economy will disrupt the all traditional industry. This is especially true for AEC industry that have not learned to adjust itself to the digital, globalised economy where society and technology are progressing at a faster rate than institutions and organisations. It is obvious the AEC industry must disrupt as in this disruptive, digital global economy, the AEC industry will find its environment of operation will have to change quickly to survive.
With a shrinking and connected planet we will see more projects designed; engineered to allow for modules to be fabricated/manufactured miles away; in another continent and in some case across the world. This will be further fuelled as labor cost rise in remote sites with severe weather constraints; together with limited availability of regional skilled labor in North America the supply chain logistic landscape will change dramatically in the next few years to enable EPCMs and their clients meet their shareholders expectations.
In Project Management Scope; Time; Cost are the three main constraint of a project delivery, Wherein each constraint forms the vertices, with quality as the central theme. This implies projects must be delivered within cost;, on time and meet the agreed scope no more or less. Each of these constraint has a direct impact on the other.
The traditional stick and build method to implement design and engineering solution used in our cities and towns are inheritably inefficient and consistently producing varying quality of work. The future lies: in design; engineering of building designed to evolve & built to last.
The key here is to design Build like Lego- build blocks from kit of parts which can be used in any required combination and can be conveniently assembled providing flexibility in manufacture; assembly; disassembly; relocation and reissue or recycle in its entirety.
We live in a world of digital Darwinism where through Disruptive Selection it is reported that, 70% of the companies on the Fortune 1000 list 10 years ago have vanished and in an environment where no business is too big to fail or too small to succeed, where technology and society are growing at a faster pace than organisation and corporation can catch. The AEC is an industry waiting to disrupt and requires re-tooling and needs long-term structural change through the participation of stakeholders across the industry.
The AEC industry needs to transform its traditional model of delivery to design, build and maintain facilities– workplaces – the crucible that assist our clients to complete the digital transformation in “flexible, fast and functional facilities that mutate and evolve to adapt the constantly changing business environment to bring to market new services or new products keep pace with a rapidly changing disruptive business environment.
It is obvious the AEC industry must disrupt as in this disruptive, digital global economy, the AEC industry will find its environment of operation will have to change quickly to survive. It will have to change the game internally to accelerating speed-of-execution and become agile to seize new opportunities while disrupting to gain critical competitive advantage. In short it will have to Out-Execute and Out-Innovate
The AEC industry will be disrupted very shortly as the business environment which the industry is based is being disrupted. Our age old assumptions in business are no more relevant and the metrics of success are being redefined and where the clarity of words we use to discuss business, standbys like marketplace and competitive advantage, are redefined and rendered almost meaningless, makes it imperative that the industry will be disrupted. In the globalized knowledge economy where the goal is not efficiency but is adaptability or innovation or unleashing human potential where a whole new management system and tools is being reinvented, it is only a matter of time.
