An Investigation into the Barriers to Implementation of Automation on Construction Site

Automation in construction captures the processes, methods, equipments and tools that use automated workflows to build buildings and infrastructure. It is the creation and use of technologies to produce and deliver goods and services with reduced human assistance. Implementing automation techniques can help in increasing the quality, reliability and speed of the work that was previously performed by humans. Automation is being used in a number of areas such as manufacturing, transport, utilities, defense, facilities, operations, IT, construction industry etc. There is a paradox of automation that it replaces humans but it cannot completely take the place of humans because humans are still needed for handling, supervising and monitoring of work done by the machines. Robotics can help in optimizing equipment operation and improving safety of workers by working in hazardous and dangerous conditions where there is risk for workers. There should be more and more use of machines as well as equipment in the construction industry for rapid construction with less risk and good quality. As India has second largest man – power in the world, automation is not replacements of the human-power but is an important supplement that caters to the need of mega-construction and fast-track construction. Automation increases the productivity of the construction project, reduces the duration and laborious work, and increases the construction safety, increases the quality of work as compared to unskilled workers. Some examples of automation in construction include Robotic brick layer, Automatic brick making machine, drones that help foe preparing topographic mapping and land surveys, equipment tracking, report monitoring and progress report, Autonomous machines e.t.c.

This study first explains the term automation and how it is used in the construction industry. Further it elaborates the need of automation in the construction industry and its advantages.

1) To study about how much Automation is utilized in current construction industry. 2) To study the need of construction automation and its benefits. 3) To learn about the application and impact of automation in construction industry. 4) To investigate into the barriers to the implementation of automation on construction site.

Literature review has been done from the previously published research papers based on automation in construction. The data collection chapter deals with how the data or information required for the study is accessed from the respondents i.e. the means of data collection and the type of data. The data is collected by distributing questionnaires to construction professionals like engineers, contractors, quantity surveyors, architects and others. The questionnaire was distributed in the form of Google-form so as to reach to maximum number of feedbacks.

The questionnaire is prepared by taking reference from similar kinds of research paper related to automation. The questions involved in the survey covered about the details of the respondents like their name, designation etc., the further part covered about the awareness of automation in the construction industry and the rest part involved questions based on different aspects of automation in construction industry like area of usage, barriers in implementation of automation in construction work, overcome statement to minimize the mentioned barriers and benefits of automation technology to implementation on project performance. Following is the list of questions mentioned in the questionnaire prepared. 1) Name of the respondent 2) Designation 3) Are you aware about the concept of Automation in construction? 4) Have you seen/implemented Automation on your site or other construction sites? 5) According to you in which area of construction, automation and robotics technology is mostly used? 7) Barriers in implementation of Automation in construction work. 8) Overcome statement to minimize barriers in implementation of automation in construction work. 9) Rate different benefits of Automation technology to implementation on project performance.

► Area of construction where automation and robotics technology is mostly used: a) Design b) Costing and Scheduling c) Planning d) Project Management e) Tendering ► Area of usage of automation for on-site work a) Earthwork b) Concrete work c) Steel work d) Painting work e) Building assembly and lifting f) Flooring work ► Barriers in implementation of Automation in Construction work a) High cost b) Technology is expensive to update and maintain c) Low technology literacy d) Locally unavailability of automation technologies e) Technology difficult to use f) Project Magnitude i.e- size, location, project period etc. implementation of automation in construction work a) Reducing the cost of technology and robots b) Developing technologies that are easier to use and understand c) Automation system will be more easily locally available d) Training program for workers and employees e) Developing technologies that are user friendly ► Benefits of automation technology to implementation on project performance a) Finance Saving b) Less human labour c) Less human error d) High productivity e) Safety improvement f) Less material wastage g) Work quality increased h) Time saving

The rating scale helps in positioning the given alternatives in order of their rankings. It is used to compare among different alternatives that are present. The rating scale adopted in this paper ranges from 1 to 5. The following table gives idea about the rating scale –

1 Very low 2 Low 3 Moderate 4 High 5 Very high

In total 60 questionnaires were distributed to the constructional professionals. Out of which 50 number of people responded which means that 83.33% is the by the respondents. Total number of questionnaire distributed - 60 Number of responses received - 50 Percentage rate of response - 83.33%

From the responses collected in the survey the following results can be seen : The questionnaires were distributed to construction professionals like contractors, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors, architects and construction managers. Purposive sampling was adopted by ensuring that the respondents have adequate knowledge of the construction industry. Out of 50 number of people who responded it was found that 68% were engineers, 8% were contractors, 2% were project managers, 6% were quantity surveyors, architects included 12% and 4% were from other background.

The awareness percentage was such that 90% of the respondents were aware about the concept of automation in construction while the rest 10% were unfamiliar with this concept.

30% have seen/implemented it on the site and 70% didn't.

The area of construction where automation is mostly used is for project management with a mean of 4 and minimum rating is given for tendering.

Design 50 3.9 2 Costing & Scheduling 50 3.47 3 Planning 50 2.34 4 Project Management 50 4 1 Tendering 50 1.97 5

The high percentage of automation in on-site construction is used for concrete work with a mean of 4.45 and also for earthwork with a mean rank of 2 and lowest for painting work.

Earthwork 50 4.34 2 Concrete work 50 4.45 1 Steel work 50 3.19 4 Painting work 50 2.46 6 Building assembly and Lifting

50 3.9 3

Flooring work 50 2.48 5

The biggest barrier in the implementation of automation in construction work is high cost with a mean of 4.31. The second most barrier is that its implementation depends on the project magnitude i.e.- size, location, project period etc. with a mean of 4.18 and technology is expensive to update and maintain being the third barrier. Locally unavailability of automation technologies ranks fourth in the list.

High Cost 50 4.31 1 Technology is expensive to update and maintain

50 3.72 3

Low technology literacy

50 3.09 5

Locally unavailability of automation technologies

50 3.17 4

Technology difficult to use

50 2.24 6

Project Magnitude i.e- size, location, project period e.t.c

50 4.18 2

The above barriers can be overcome by the following overstatement in which developing technologies that are easier to use and understand ranks first with a mean of 4.08 and developing technologies that are user friendly ranks second with a mean of 3.66.

Reducing the cost of technology and robots

50 3.23 4

Developing technologies that are easier to use and understand

50 4.08 1

Automation system will be more easily locally available

50 3.13 5

Training program for workers and employees

50 3.34 3

Developing technologies that are user friendly

50 3.66 2

The top 5 benefits of automation are time saving, work quality increased, less human labour, high productivity and safety improvement.

Finance Saving 50 3.08 7 Less human labour 50 2.98 3 Less human error 50 3.35 6 High productivity 50 3.94 4 Safety improvement 50 3.88 5 Less material wastage

50 3.03 8

Work quality increased 50 4.38 2 Time saving 50 4.59 1

CONCLUSION

The researcher has studied about the concept of automation, need of automation in the construction industry and its advantages and disadvantages. The questionnaire survey was prepared to investigate into the barriers for implementation of automation on construction site. The questionnaire was distributed to construction professionals like contractors, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors, architects and construction managers. Purposive sampling was adopted by ensuring that the respondents have adequate knowledge of the construction industry. In the data analysis it was found that 90% of the respondents were aware about the concept of automation. The area of construction where maximum automation technology is used is project management with a mean of 4 and tendering being the lowest in the list. Similarly area of usage for on-site work in terms of use of automation, concrete work ranks first, earthwork ranks second and painting work with a lowest of 2.46 mean. There are several barriers in implementation of automation in construction with most rating for high cost, project magnitude ranks second and technology is expensive to use with a mean rank of 3. These barriers can also be overcome by solutions like developing technologies that are easier to use and understand, developing

REFERENCES

Bock, T. (2015), " The future of Construction Automation: Technological Disruption and The Upcoming Ubiquity of Robotics ". Automation in Construction, vol. 59. https://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/255907/255907.pdf https://www.magnanimitas.cz/ADALTA/0202/papers/J_strukova.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319199428_Effects_of_Automation_on_Construction_Industry_Performance

Student of Final Year M. E. (Construction Management) at TSSM's Padmabhooshan Vasantdada Patil Institute of Technology, Bavdhan, Pune