Construction & Automation at CSIC
Topics:
January 2018
Claire MacLean, Marketing Executive at SP Technology joined managing director Roy Henderson and Matt Stevenson, applications manager, at Tuesday’s Construction Scottish Innovation Centre (CSIC) workshop in Hamilton.
Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at SP Technology, so my recent visit to the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) was a real treat.
The modern building was filled with industry experts and academics sharing experiences from the workshop and the classroom. Trudie McCormick, regional director at Keepmoat Homes, introduced the event and shared some of the challenges faced by the construction industry, namely the lack of houses to meet demand and developments in the industry across the UK and elsewhere in Europe. When compared with other industries, it’s clear that the construction sector is lagging behind. The gap in success is a result of other sectors embracing automation and robotics, whereas the construction industry remains traditional in its approach.
The day progressed with exploring this theme further, and a panel of industry leaders explained the recent advances in automation and robotics and how these have positively impacted a number of industries. Who’d have thought robots could build houses on Mars but not in Newcastle? Dr Michael Mistry, a specialist at the Centre of Robotics at Edinburgh University, shared a video of current robot prototypes working on Mars and reiterated how other sectors could benefit by adapting their process and production to incorporate automation and robotics.
Henk Leerink, robot sales specialist at KUKA Robotics, explored the evolution of Industry 4: the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Its key advances include not only automation and robotics but also how data storage, cyber-physical systems and cloud computing work together to build Smart Factories. Mr Leerink reminded us that collaboration is key to success and that companies must combine expertise in order to become more productive.
We then addressed the elephant in the room: Robots are going to steal human jobs. Nick Shields, director at the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service, hit the nail on the head, stating that not only will employees be upskilled to new and more rewarding jobs, but also do jobs that do not yet exist. He used the example of a web developer and compared the construction industry with agriculture. Construction techniques must incorporate automation in order to become more productive and innovative to reduce waste, thereby allowing factories to become more efficient. This echoes Henk Leerink’s comment, “automate or evaporate”, reflected by the CSIC encouraging academics to work with schools to ensure the next generation has the skills for job roles that are yet to exist. Think back to your school days: was training to become an app developer an option, or was a cyber security specialist considered a career? Both well paid and sought-after skills nowadays.
The expert speakers and real-life examples had charged the room with energy ready for the practical element of the day – the impressive innovation factor that housed a collaborative robot, pilot insulation line and an industrial robot cell, to name a few. Attendees were encouraged to collaborate, regardless of company and industry experience, to create solutions for the previously identified challenges in the construction industry. As an applications manager for a bespoke automation company, this was right up my street! At SP Technology, I’m faced with challenges every day from across all sectors of industry and design concepts that solve problems, using my process and automation expertise and engaging with industry experts.
The group I was working with discussed if the construction industry is ready for these changes; “technology push” or “market pull”. Technology push is where we (as manufacturers) develop the machinery and processes first, then push them into the construction industry, whether they want them or not. Without adequate market research of where the problems lie (areas where there are shortfalls in skills, repetitive, time-consuming tasks, risks of injury, etc.), what the financial constraints are (payback periods, expectations of cost) and how new technology will be accepted, this approach is doomed to fail.
As engineers within the automation industry, we need to collaborate with housebuilders to understand their challenges, thus developing a “pull” approach. As Nick Shields suggested, it’s not about de-skilling or replacing the manual workforce and replacing bricklayers, joiners or ground workers with robots and operators. It’s about giving that one available tradesman on-site help to produce the volume of work of two or three people, also addressing the shortage of skilled labour that Trudie McCormick mentioned.
The Construction Scotland Innovation Centre was well worth the visit. My main takeaway is a commitment to collaboration. The day highlighted the need to leave the company badge at the door to collaborate with each other across all sectors to develop truly innovative solutions. Industry experts need to act now. By collaborating with automation and robotics, the construction industry can reduce waste, meet increasing demand for housing and keep pace with advances in other industry sectors in the UK and across Europe.
After a great day at CSIC, it’s back to SP Technology to see our automated solutions advance. When the phone rings, we never know what challenges we will help our customers solve – I hope the next call will be from the construction industry.
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