WALNUT CREEK, Calif.,
Jan. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ARC
Document Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: ARC) ("ARC"), a leading document
and information management solutions provider for the architecture,
engineering and construction (AEC) industry, today announced the
results of an industry survey that reveal participants' views on
emerging technologies, including Big Data, drones and the so-called
"Internet of Things" (IoT). The top prediction, named by 65.3
percent of respondents, is that virtual reality applications will
be used much more in the future to experience a building's design
before it is built.
Virtual reality in the construction industry is characterized by
the creation and use of three-dimensional computerized modeling.
Such models are used to facilitate project management, detect
problems before actual construction occurs, design workflow
sequencing, and to improve client interactions. The top benefits of
virtual reality cited were:
- Projects will be easier to visualize (51.9%)
- Projects will be completed faster (48.3%)
- Projects will require fewer workers (42.2%)
- Projects will require less material (40.8%)
Another top technology trend, identified by 61.9 percent of the
respondents, is the growing use of drones for surveying and for
photo and video documentation. More than 60 percent (60.5 percent,
specifically) recognized drones' ability to help with mapping and
surveying, inspection, and creating image-based records as their
primary benefits. Close to half (49.7 percent) of the participants
named improved surveillance and safety as the top benefit of drone
use by AEC professionals.
Most AEC professionals predicted that the adoption of these new
virtual reality and drone technologies will occur in the near
future, with 64 percent stating that they are likely to be in
common use within the next five to ten years.
According to survey findings, the future of the AEC industry
will also be characterized by the absence of paper (38.1 percent)
and the use of virtual technology to address not only
two-dimensional drawing and three-dimensional modeling but also for
project sequencing, cost estimating, sustainability, and facilities
management, often referred to as a "7D" building process. While
technology clearly has a dominant role in industry trends, only 4.8
percent of participants predicted that robots will replace workers
in the future.
Over half (57.8 percent) predicted that design and development
will become paperless in the next two to five years. Asked to
identify the main reason behind the elimination of paper in the AEC
industry, respondents named these factors:
- Mobile/tablet technologies have replaced printed sets of
drawings (43.5%)
- The Building Information Model (BIM) helps design and
construction teams resolve building problems without having to
print numerous drawings (27.2%)
- Project teams are more environmentally conscious (25.2%)
It is widely believed that removing paper in the industry will
help diminish project over-runs. This was confirmed by survey
respondents, who noted several beneficial results of reducing paper
use, including:
- Better communication between workers (58.5%)
- Outdated data will no longer be shared (55.8%)
- Changes will be easier to see as they are made (54.4%)
The AEC industry will also see increased use of IoT. According
to ARC's survey, the top benefit of IoT (defined as a network of
physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software,
sensors and network connectivity) will be to enable the collection
and exchange of data on a job site. It will help industry
professionals by:
- Improving onsite / offsite equipment management (68.8%)
- Pinpointing the reason behind a delay (50%)
- Giving clear indicators of a project delay (31.3%)
Big Data is also very prominent on the AEC industry's radar. The
top advantages of Big Data, according to the respondents, are to
help improve planning and decision-making by providing granular,
real-time data about utilization and usage patterns, enabling
project leaders and owners to improve demand forecasts as well as
their future project progress monitoring. Top Big Data benefits
mentioned by survey participants are the potential to:
- Facilitate well-informed decision-making on a consistent basis
(62.5%)
- Improve urban planning decisions (50.0%)
- Create reports on construction operations frequently and in
real time (43.85%)
"The survey results confirm what we're already seeing across
this enormous and influential industry. Transformative
technological change is well under way, and its adoption will only
accelerate in the future," said K. "Suri" Suriyakumar, Chairman,
President and CEO of ARC Document Solutions. "These technologies
will bring unprecedented collaboration, coordination and
connectivity in the AEC industry, increasing efficiency, bringing
down costs, and making the industry more competitive."
About the AEC Future of Technology Study
The ARC
Document Solutions AEC Future of Technology Study was conducted by
research marketing company Newlio (www.newlio.com) among a random
sampling of 147 architecture, engineering and construction
management professionals, using an email invitation and online
survey. Executives were from both large enterprises of 1,000 people
or more and small boutique firms of ten people or less.
About ARC Document Solutions
ARC Document Solutions
(NYSE: ARC) is a leading document solutions company serving
businesses of all types, with an emphasis on the non-residential
segment of the architecture, engineering and construction
industries. The company helps more than 90,000 customers reduce
costs and increase efficiency in the use of their documents and
improve document access and control and offers a wide variety of
ways to print, produce and store documents. ARC provides its
solutions onsite in more than 8,000 of its customers' offices,
offsite in service centers around the world, and digitally in the
form of proprietary software and web applications. Please follow
and engage with ARC on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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SOURCE ARC Document Solutions