RSC Level 2 Module 3: Innovation & Continuous Improvement
Step1) Overview: Business leaders in every sector of the economy pay attention to innovation and continuous improvements that offer opportunities to create new products, services, and value propositions. Between November 2022 when the launch of Chat GPT attracted 100 million users in 60days and April 2023 when Microsoft integrated GPT-4 in its Office suite, Artificial Intelligence (AI) moved from a technology that was considered “transformational in the distant future” to a powerful business tool in the “here and now”. What is AI? What are the benefits and challenges of AI that every business leader must understand. What are the specific applications of AI that are linked with competitive advantage in the construction business? This module explores innovation and continuous improvement through the lens of AI. It gives you the opportunity to ask the question, “What should we do today to prepare for a world in which AI is an essential feature of business processes.
A bonus feature of this module is the introduction to modular design in construction. Some projects benefit both in quality and in speed from breaking the design into modules, some of which are constructed at the field site while others are constructed in a controlled factory setting and transported to the field site where they connect with the rest of the project.
Step 2) Action Learning: Please watch the three videos in this Module.
Video A (below) is a 10-minute summary of Google’s internal course “AI for beginners” that is designed to introduce AI to the non-technical business audience. In simple terms, with lots of examples, we discover that AI is a field of learning that includes Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Generative Models, and Large Language Models. If this summary catches your interest, Google’s 4-hour AI Course is available free of cost on the worldwide web.
Video B (below) is an 11-minute segment that introduces AI in the construction industry. AI has the potential to revolutionize construction because it supports both efficiency and effectiveness in the design, planning, estimation, and monitoring of a construction project. In the design phase AI complements Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to visualize a project before it is built. AI also enables and supports predictive maintenance of key construction equipment to reduce or even eliminate costs and delays related to equipment malfunctions and breakdowns.
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Video C (below)is a 9-minute segment that explores the emerging role of modular design in construction. In September-October 2024 HBH teams in Kansas City will complete the Panasonic Module for a battery manufacturing plant. The essential idea behind modular construction is to break the project into separate modules that are built in a controlled manufacturing setting and then transported for final assembly to the field site of the construction project. This requires careful design of the connections and rigorous analysis of the transportation and logistics that are needed to get the modules to the field site. Site preparation and timing of delivery are critical components of modular design. Careful consideration is required to make sure that modular portions of the design integrate perfectly with traditional portions of the design that are made at the field site..
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Step 3) Points to Ponder:
1) The construction industry is, along with healthcare, historically one of the slowest to adopt and integrate new technology. In 2022-23 hospitals and construction site were still working with pencil and paper for many business processes that transitioned to digital technology in most all other industries. Discuss the challenges you face in embracing and adopting AI in your business.
2) AI requires large datasets for training. In your part of HBH, do we have large datasets describing our previous projects in digital format? What does it take, in your part of HBH, to create large reliable datasets that are accurate reflections of completed projects?
3) By now, you have heard internal discussions of the Panasonic Module. Analyze your business for opportunities to use a modular approach to design and execute a project. Have you seen or heard of a competitor completing a modular project
Step 4) Interactive Discussion: After viewing Videos A, B & C and exploring the Points to Ponder check your calendar for the Interactive Discussion scheduled for this Module. Go to the session prepared to discuss the lessons learned with others in your Rising Star cohort. If you have any questions or need more information please send a message to dr.kamath@artesiaa.com
Step 5) Next Level (Optional): Read the Reference: “Competing in the Age of AI” by M. Iansiti and K.R. Lakhani published by Harvard Business Review Press (2020) ISBN-13: 978-1633697621.