Constructech to host Technology Day Event Aug. 27

Today's technologies have greatly enhanced the ability for teams of designer, contractor, and owner to work cohesively together.

This thought comes from Ken Kaiser, manager, facilities planning and construction for Northwestern Medicine, who is heading up the Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial Hospital project, which provides a total of 894 inpatient beds and encompasses more than 3 million square feet of medical building space.

Here is the catch. On this project, the construction team needed to identify how to use technology to collect and use key asset data and documentation during construction, migrate information more quickly at turnover, and then access this data during building operations.

Kaiser explains that just as 3-D design tools have improved accuracy and reduced errors on construction projects, portable platform and device independent systems can take project detail and visualization from the designer's desk and clash detection in the BIM room to the tradesman in the field and all the way to the maintenance engineer. With the use of technology, the team was able to do this and save roughly 1950 man-hours.

And this is just one example. Contractors all across the country are finding success with technology, saving time on projects and improving profit margins. Technology is helping turn the construction industry around from losing money and making the thinnest of profits to helping local contractors find success.

This type of efficiency and savings can provide benefits to construction, health care, and other industries. And it isn't just BIM that is having an impact. Drones, cloud, mobile, augmented reality, and cybersecurity are having an impact on businesses of all sizes.

This will be the focus of Constructech's Technology Day event, which will be held Thursday, Aug. 27 at Maggiano's Little Italy in Schaumburg, with speakers such as Kaiser talking about how technology helps on construction projects.

Peggy Smedley, editorial director of Constructech, says, "Northwestern Memorial Hospital is a great success story for how data can flow from design to the field and ultimately to the project owner at turnover. As we always say, it is all about the data, and now is the time for construction companies to learn how to best leverage it."

For more information and to register for the Constructech Technology Day event, visit constructech.com/tech-day/.