From Norm to Swarm: development of a balanced scorecard for evaluating automation in construction

Abstract

Industry 4.0 technologies in construction (e.g. Building Information Modelling (BIM), robotics or 3D printing) offer radically different ways of planning and constructing the built environment. As a result, construction organisations expect an increase of productivity, efficiency, quality and safety, as well as a reduction of costs, emissions and waste. Yet a lack of management tools and standards to evaluate automation and set business strategic improvement drivers is hindering wider adoption in the construction industry. The aim of the project is to deliver a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) to support the adoption of automation in in the UK building industry by delivering a framework to evaluate automated construction processes from a holistic perspective (i.e. financial, social, and environmental). The BSC is co-created with industry and focuses on assessing performance indicators such as productivity, resource consumption, and GHG emissions, helping construction organisations to set improvement targets to achieve their long-term strategy. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) included in the BSC are tested using data from a case study of 3D printing with aerial robotics. Access to the EPSRC-funded project Aerial Additive Building Manufacturing will provide the principal dataset, supplemented by data provided by industry partners during two workshops.