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The vision will be one based on international comparisons, comparisons with other industries and the changes in operating practices enabled by technology and digitalisation.

The vision will be developed through research projects: the group of managing directors will determine the targets with the help of an international comparative study and the megatrends in technology. At the same time, concrete research projects search for solutions for tackling the most important problems in the industry immediately.

Following the example of the productivity leap in shipbuilding

The managing directors’ work on creating the vision is supported by an international comparative study and familiarisation with the productivity leap in shipbuilding. The aim is to investigate the construction industry globally to find usable innovations that have not yet been widely introduced in Finland, but have been proven useful elsewhere. The comparative study contains surveys and interviews concerning the strengths of the country in which they are carried out (e.g. the United States, China, Japan, Germany, Sweden and Singapore), an extensive literature survey related to shipbuilding innovations, and detailed familiarisation with process development in shipbuilding and the ongoing productivity leap. Based on the information obtained in the study, the group of managing directors will perform an applicability analysis regarding construction in Finland and define the targets for 2030.

Managing the design processes

Lean design management is one of the two focus areas. The companies in the consortium feel that a lot could be improved in design management. The international interview survey conducted by Aalto University revealed that the industry struggles with the same problem globally: the contractor does not receive the plans early enough or the information in the plans is not sufficient for procurement or construction, while the designer is unsure about what the contractor needs and what the priority orderis. This typically results in ‘rushing’ all plans, in which case none of them is more critical than the other.

The international interview survey discovered several methods that have enabled better control of the design process by combining both the contractors’ and designers’ points of view. These methods will be tested during 2017 in case projects in the consortium’s companies.

Informing stakeholders about changes through appropriate communication

The development of cooperation and communication was chosen as the other critical topic in the study. Trust and creating and managing trust during the life cycle of the project was revealed to be the key to better collaboration. As for communication, the study focuses particularly on communicating about changes, which means informing all stakeholders of any changes in the project in real time as much as possible. A large number of professionals from the construction industry from both Finland and abroad were interviewed in the study.

It is still possible to join the consortium!

Members of the consortium's steering group:

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Haahtela
Rakennusliike U. Lipsanen
Skanska
YIT

Other members of the consortium

Fira
Granlund
Lemminkäinen Infra
Lujatalo
Parma
Ramboll
SRV
Tocoman
Trimble

Further information:

Olli Seppänen, Professor of Practice
Tel. +358 50 368 0412
olli.seppanen@aalto.fi