Adopting new construction technology into your company’s tech stack is no easy feat. It can be met with challenges - both internally and externally - but by aligning people, process, and technology from the start, you can achieve successful outcomes.
That’s where choosing a technology partner vs. vendor comes into play. By building a partnership, you can customize your technology solutions to support individual workflows. In our upcoming June 23rd webinar, “Leveraging Tech: Evaluation, Adoption, and Success with Miller-Davis,” we discuss the value a company can find by working with a technology partner to get started on their technology adoption journey and will hear how the Miller-Davis project team is using Pype and Autodesk Build to deliver a high-end Montessori School project.
We sat down with our two webinar speakers, Pete Hill, Project Executive, and Ariel Castillo, Strategic Process and VDC Specialist at Miller-Davis Company, to discuss their experience using connected technology to align teams.
Check out the Q&A for a preview of the webinar covering important topics, such as how they selected their team to evaluate and adopt new technologies on a pilot project and how technology fits in with their goal of winning work while retaining and attracting talent.
Pete: A technology partner is someone that is invested in our long-term growth strategy and works closely with our team to create pathways to success. As a 112-year-old general contractor and construction manager, we’re looking to invest in a technology partner that will listen to our needs and develop solutions that help us achieve our business goals and objectives.
We also have insight into the product roadmap with a partner and can beta test features and functionality to assess how the tools can scale to support our project needs. It’s all about cultivating a relationship built on trust and open lines of communication.
Ariel: We analyze multiple platforms but adopting technology is not a one-and-done approach. It’s a continuous process. With a technology partner, we can work closely to apply and customize technology to support our workflows. We want to establish a relationship to get the most value from our technology investment and align with a partner that understands our vision of success through a connected platform.
Pete: It’s important to have the right people to create a standardized program that drives consistency across the company. That’s the first step. You can’t just throw technology over the fence and expect it to be adopted. It’s about customizing the solution to fit your workflows, creating standardized operating procedures, and holding training sessions to ensure that teams are comfortable using the tool and using it correctly to ensure project success.
Ariel: With any construction company, evaluating and adopting new technology can be a challenge. We take a unique approach by aligning people, process, and technology to ensure success. And while there are many solutions on the market, it is about understanding what technology will best support our team and creating a committee that’s excited about the adoption and sees the benefit of using technology to make their job easier and more impactful.
Pete: There are many exciting opportunities across the AEC industry, but hiring has always presented challenges. We want to adopt cutting-edge technology to optimize the way we work and use it as a selling point to retain, attract, and onboard new talent in the industry. Adopting and integrating connected solutions will not only differentiate our team from the competition but help us achieve our goals by providing high-quality deliverables to our clients.
Ariel: As a general contractor and construction manager, we must have strong relationships with subcontractors. We created a technology committee that meets to address specific issues that we may have as a company and then evaluate solutions to solve those pain points. And while we assess how implementing a tool will benefit our organization, we also consider what value it brings to our subcontractors. Knowledge-sharing is incredibly important across the industry and will create better relationships with subcontractors, leading to an increased likelihood of accepting and submitting a bid for our projects.
Learn more about how Miller-Davis Company is introducing Pype and Autodesk Build to their projects, starting with a ground-up Montessori School in Traverse City, Michigan.
