As the construction eco-system leans into change and innovation, we’ll foster dramatic improvements to productivity, quality, safety and sustainability, creating a better built environment for ourselves and future generations.
Amazon is of course the most famous digital marketplace, and the one most people are familiar with (except Alibaba perhaps, depending on where you are reading this).But it is not necessarily the best example to learn from.
For one thing, the product range is far bigger and more diverse than construction would need.More importantly, Amazon is not a neutral broker, a place where the price is set by the market.Amazon is itself a participant in the market and therefore sets or influences pricing.
A digital marketplace for construction should be as neutral as possible, providing a space for buyers and sellers to find each other, without influencing the transaction.. Xometry.This US-based ‘manufacturing on demand’ company links customers wanting components (including BMW, General Electric, NASA, Dell and Bosch), to a network of 5,000 suppliers across the USA, Europe and Asia.
Typically, a client uploads a request for a proposal via 3D models or technical drawings and specifications.
This is distributed to pre-qualified suppliers who have the capability and capacity to respond.In principle, upon graduation that new workforce is just as available to the construction industry as to any other sector, but we need to attract them into construction at the right time, or they’ll go elsewhere.
Similarly, while it is certainly important to maintain a focus on bringing apprentices and young people into the industry, we also need to prioritise graduates and master’s degree students.These are the people with the higher level skills who can land straight into management roles of organisations and really make significant shifts in how things are done.
Moreover, organisations need to create space for people with these skills, because this isn’t always the case at the moment.. It’s also important to acknowledge the work that is already being done in this area.Bryden Wood’s digital configurator apps are deliberately aimed at lowering the barrier to entry, while Professor Glass notes that at UCL there’s a part of the faculty entirely composed of data scientists looking at the built environment.