In an innovate-or-die era, automation is good for business and the bottom line

Companies that lead with innovation rank among the fastest growing in the world. For the sectors of design and manufacturing (D&M) and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), “finding new ways to reduce the resources needed to design, engineer, and build something—whether it’s a scooter or a skyscraper—gives businesses a clear competitive advantage,” according to Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Automation for Return on Investment in Innovation, a new report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services in association with Autodesk. (Get the report for the AEC sector and the D&M sector.)

At the same time, customer and competitive demands, sustainability goals and mandates, and the need to engage a new generation of digital-native workers can increase the pressure for businesses to innovate.

How can firms overcome cultural resistance, entrenched business practices, and uncertainty toward embracing innovation-enabling processes? They can start by rethinking the role technology plays.

In a data-driven world, firms accelerate to success by tapping technology that propels innovation. Forrester Research calls this strategy “mission critical,” concluding that businesses that prioritize tech-driven innovation grow 2.6 times faster than those that don’t.

AEC and D&M organizations are using digital-forward processes such as automation, artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins, generative design, and design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) to scale innovation while streamlining processes. Data analysis from these technologies provides operational insights that aid decision making.

For example, data-backed decision making can benefit a businesses’ sustainability goals. As the need for more sustainable (PDF, p. 11) methods and materials gains urgency, “AEC and D&M organizations are turning to technology to break through traditional limitations and enable new ways of working that remove waste, reduce costs, and lead to more cohesive, integrated processes,” according to the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report.

AI is poised to bring a big boost to businesses’ bottom line. In its 2018 paper “Notes from the AI frontier: Modeling the impact of AI on the world economy,” McKinsey found that firms that adopt AI now could double their cashflow by 2030.

AI fosters innovation in a broad range of design and production processes, from running simulations to interpreting data to preserving institutional knowledge. AI, digital twins, generative design, and DfMA can facilitate creativity and advance innovative pursuits beyond niche projects.

Digital twins’ ability to provide dynamic real-world data from a virtual model connects physical and virtual environments in a feedback loop, helping everyone from designers to owners make better decisions about assets and operations.

Hyundai’s New Horizons Studio puts digital twins of concept utility vehicles into digitally simulated worlds. Eventually, the system will evaluate vehicle performance in various environments. While it develops advanced simulations, Hyundai can demonstrate vehicle performance in various scenarios that simplify vehicle performance. This helps potential customers understand products’ future capabilities while letting them provide feedback that engineers can use to iterate designs without spending time and materials building a physical prototype.

Meanwhile, Leighton Asia is pioneering the use of digital twins in construction. In the report, group manager Francesco Tizzani explains that Leighton starts with a dynamic BIM model, integrating workflows and data as construction gets underway. The team can then use the model to collaborate on changes and then apply simulation and machine learning to improve decision making and cut down on rework. Once the project is complete, building owners have a digital twin to reference for ongoing operations and maintenance.

The need to innovate is accelerating the adoption of generative design—an iterative process that factors in design goals, parameters, and constraints to quickly generate and test design alternatives—and DfMA, which allows designers/architects, engineers, fabricators, contractors, and subcontractors to collaborate throughout the design process and work toward common goals such as reducing project time and costs.

Since London-based architecture, engineering, and design company Bryden Wood began automating processes and implementing DfMA, it’s reduced capital costs by up to 30% and trimmed schedules by 20% in many projects. Additionally, the team can now complete designs that would have taken 15 months using traditional processes in just two days.

The company took its generative design strategies to the next level, using automated design to develop a rapid-assembly, highly accurate set of parts for The Forge, a net-zero-carbon office project in South London. Because the superstructure was built to precise specifications, the electrical contractor could create components in a factory and then quickly raise each one into place. Essentially, the contractor could design for both manufacturing and assembly, with the resulting install time reduced to minutes instead of hours.

By embracing generative design and DfMA, AEC and D&M businesses develop innovative new work approaches while increasing efficiency and minimizing costs, bringing better collaboration and cohesion to the entire process cycle.

The AEC and D&M industries have always faced challenges. But a perfect storm of market pressures, sustainability initiatives, and workforce challenges is fueling an urgency to adapt. Technology-enabled innovation is essential to unlock the methods and materials necessary to meet this moment—and firms that conquer hurdles now are poised to reap the rewards.