Join Doxel at DCAC Austin 2025 to explore the dawn of the data center gold rush and how AI-powered progress tracking helps deliver certainty at speed and scale.
Austin, Texas | September 16–18, 2025 | Hyatt Place Austin Downtown
The data center market is entering a new era of unprecedented demand, and nowhere is that more evident than at DCAC Austin 2025. Known as one of the most forward-looking data center conferences in the U.S., DCAC brings together visionaries, builders, and operators to explore how this gold rush moment is reshaping the digital economy.
This year’s theme, “The Dawn of the Data Center Gold Rush,” highlights the wave of new opportunities driven by AI, hyperscale growth, and global infrastructure investment. Developers, contractors, and owners are under pressure to deliver projects at speed and scale while navigating power, land, and supply chain constraints.
Austin and the broader Central Texas region are witnessing explosive growth in data center development:
As a sponsor of DCAC Austin 2025, Doxel is proud to support the industry at this pivotal moment. Our AI-powered progress tracking platform provides owners and contractors with real-time visibility into construction performance, helping teams avoid delays, manage costs, and deliver certainty when it matters most.
In a gold‑rush environment where land, labor, and timelines are stretched thin, Doxel helps building teams deliver on time.
We’re excited to connect with owners, developers, and general contractors at DCAC Austin 2025. This is your chance to see firsthand how technology and innovation are redefining data center construction.
📍 Event: DCAC Austin 2025
📅 Date: September 16–18, 2025
📍 Location: Hyatt Place Austin Downtown
Whether you’re exploring new projects or scaling delivery capacity, Doxel is here to help you capture the opportunities of this historic moment for the data center industry.
Learn more about the event and register here.
Doxel now supports the Insta360 X5, a rugged, jobsite-ready camera with long battery life and heat resilience, delivering sharper captures and stronger AI progress tracking.
At Doxel, we know construction doesn’t happen in perfect conditions. That’s why we’re excited to announce full support for the integration of the Insta360 X5 camera with Doxel’s autonomous progress-tracking platform.
The X5 isn’t just a sharper video, it’s a jobsite-ready tool engineered to capture in tough conditions and keep projects on track. And when paired with Doxel, it transforms field capture into reliable, AI-driven progress data you can trust.
The Insta360 X5 elevates what’s possible in jobsite documentation:
With X5 integrated into Doxel’s AI platform, contractors gain:
Every missed capture or overheated camera adds risk. With Doxel + Insta360 X5, project teams gain a durable, data-reliable workflow designed to perform where construction actually happens: in the field, in the dust, in the heat and the cold.
Ready to see the X5 in action? Explore how Doxel and Insta360 X5 keep projects on schedule and under control.
Learn more about the Insta360 X5
See how Doxel powers AI progress tracking
The collaboration will use Doxel computer vision to automatically track construction progress to keep projects on schedule and on budget.
[Menlo Park, California] – [8/12/25] – Doxel, the leader in AI-powered progress tracking for construction, is proud to announce an enterprise agreement with Stream Data Centers, a leader in premium, hyperscale-ready colocation and build-to-suit data center development. This partnership reflects Stream Data Centers’ unwavering commitment to collaborating with customers and communities, empowering teams to deliver secure, reliable, and sustainable data center solutions.
By integrating Doxel's industry-leading computer vision technology into its workflows, Stream gains real-time, objective insights into project progress. “Doxel’s AI-powered progress tracking is an innovative solution to our team’s need for near real-time data on our construction sites. Doxel helps paint an objective picture for our entire project team, so we can all work together to identify and address challenges quickly, before they grow into material impacts to budget or schedule,” said Tejo Pydipati, SVP Design & Construction at Stream.
Doxel's AI-powered progress tracking captures, analyzes, and visualizes construction progress, turning photos into insights. This data-driven approach:
Doxel CEO and Founder, Saurabh Ladha, stated, "We are thrilled to partner with Stream Data Centers in helping them deliver projects on time and on budget. With Stream’s enterprise-wide adoption of Doxel, we are setting a new standard for project speed and performance. This rapid construction is critical in supporting global investment in Artificial Intelligence."
About Doxel | Doxel.ai is transforming construction management with AI-powered progress tracking. By providing real-time, data-driven insights, Doxel speeds up construction by empowering construction firms to deliver projects with greater efficiency, accuracy, and control.
About Stream Data Centers | Stream Data Centers (streamdatacenters.com) is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and is the technical real estate affiliate of Stream Realty Partners, a full service commercial real estate investment, development and services company with 1,550+ professionals in 20 core markets, and $8.9 billion in annual transactions.
Media Contact:
Shankar Bellam
Doxel
shankar@doxel.ai
Doxel is excited to be part of the conversation, joining top industry experts to discuss how better project execution and early visibility reduce change orders and accelerate speed to market. Visit us at Booth #37.
📅 March 17–19, 2025 | 📍 Salt Lake City, Utah
The Advancing Data Center Construction (ADCC) West conference is where data center leaders, contractors, and technology providers come together to address the most pressing challenges in mission-critical construction. This highly focused event delivers actionable strategies, industry insights, and opportunities to engage with key decision-makers in the field.
Doxel is excited to be part of the conversation, joining top industry experts to discuss how better project execution and early visibility reduce change orders and accelerate speed to market. Visit us at Booth #37.
ADCC West is designed specifically for mission-critical construction teams, covering topics such as supply chain constraints, scheduling challenges, and client-driven expectations. The conference’s new dual-track format allows attendees to focus on emerging industry trends or practical solutions to improve project delivery.
The industry’s most pressing concerns—labor shortages, budget overruns, and misalignment between stakeholders—require strategic solutions. Sessions will cover:
With three full days of interactive audience breakouts, speed networking, and expert panels, ADCC West is the perfect setting to connect with top professionals from the data center construction ecosystem.
📅 Tuesday, March 18, 2025 | ⏰ 10:30 AM
🎤 Panel: Setting Projects Up for Success
Doxel joins top industry leaders in a discussion on reducing change orders, managing scope, and ensuring seamless project execution.
ADCC West provides exclusive insights, actionable takeaways, and the opportunity to connect with key decision-makers in data center construction. Doxel’s panel will help you:
✔ Reduce project risks by aligning execution with client expectations.
✔ Improve collaboration with AI-driven project tracking.
✔ Gain real-world strategies for minimizing scope changes and delays.
📍 Join us in Salt Lake City to learn how Doxel is transforming data center construction.
🔗 Learn more about the event here
This collaboration marks a significant step forward in Lean Construction, merging Doxel’s cutting-edge progress tracking technology with Touchplan’s proven production planning capabilities to enable an optimized construction workflow that bridges the gap between planning and execution.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA & BOSTON, MA – January 14, 2025 – Doxel, an industry leader in AI-driven construction progress tracking, and MOCA Systems, Inc. (MSI), the provider of the leading production planning platform, Touchplan, are excited to announce a new partnership. This collaboration marks a significant step forward in Lean Construction, merging Doxel’s cutting-edge progress tracking technology with Touchplan’s proven production planning capabilities to enable an optimized construction workflow that bridges the gap between planning and execution.
With construction project costs rising and schedules shrinking, forward-thinking owners and contractors alike look to advanced technologies to help ensure on-time, on-budget project completion. But they struggle to effectively integrate diverse, individual technologies into their project workflows.
Doxel and Touchplan working together offer a powerful solution that helps construction teams achieve project deadlines with greater predictability, efficiency, and profitability. The Touchplan Lean planning platform enables easy, accurate sequencing and scheduling of all construction workflow tasks, enhancing trade coordination and eliminating waste on the jobsite, while Doxel’s progress tracking solutions provide real-time feedback on actual project progress.
"If teams use Touchplan alongside Doxel, it will provide excellent confirmation that what we have done is what we said we were going to do,” said Adam Nelson, Project Controls Manager at CRB. “It also allows us to look forward in the progress charts and ensure our forecasts for activities align."
"Strong planning meets strong execution when Touchplan and Doxel are used together,” said Saurabh Ladha, CEO and Founder of Doxel. “This collaboration embodies Lean Construction values, creating a dynamic real-time feedback loop between planning and on-site execution. Construction teams can stay nimble, informed, and aligned every step of the way.”
“Customers using Doxel’s AI progress tracking and Touchplan’s planning platform gain a powerful advantage in Lean Construction. Touchplan’s planning capabilities, combined with Doxel’s visual tracking and predictive analytics, help teams proactively manage workflows and stay on track, reducing rework and costly errors. For contractors and owners, the combined use of Touchplan and Doxel enhances transparency, project predictability, and the quality of the final deliverable,” said Brett Adamczyk, President, MSI Software.
The partnership between MSI and Doxel marks a transformative step in the tech-laggard construction industry, bringing a new ability to bridge the historic gap between planning and execution. By combining Touchplan’s digital Lean planning with Doxel’s AI-driven progress tracking, project teams gain the clarity, visibility, and real-time insights needed to achieve exceptional results and ensure project success.
For more information, visit website.
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Media Contact:
Julie Blackley
Marketing Communications Manager
MOCA Systems, Inc.
press@mocasystems.com
Exploring Trends Around Building at Scale, Designing for Artificial Intelligence, and Supporting Energy Infrastructure
Exploring Trends Around Building at Scale, Designing for Artificial Intelligence, and Supporting Energy Infrastructure
DATE: FEB. 20. 2025 @ 9:00 AM EST / Virginia
FEATURED SESSION: 2:45 PM – 3:30 PM EST
Redefining the Status Quo: Best Tools, Approaches, and Techniques to Build the Most Efficient and Innovative Data Centers
With AI and its power demands at the forefront of stakeholders' minds, examining how to push the boundaries of standard design and practices and reduce inefficiencies will be critical to the bottom line. How are developers and their partners working to reduce the carbon footprint and rethink standard practices as more data centers with larger footprints come online?
Moderator
Join industry leaders to explore the evolving trends and challenges shaping data center construction and design in East Coast markets. Learn how developers and stakeholders are navigating critical topics, including:
Connect with decision-makers in commercial real estate, including owners, investors, engineers, designers, and industry executives.
Stay ahead of industry trends, uncover opportunities, and strengthen your network in a rapidly growing sector.
For speaking or sponsorship inquiries, contact Adam Knobloch at adam.knobloch@bisnow.com.
"The Future of Smart Hospitals and Healthcare Industry" event is Oracle's premier gathering for owners, healthcare stakeholders, and technology innovators.
📅 Date: February 4, 2025
📍 Location: Oracle Industry Lab, Deerfield, IL.
"The Future of Smart Hospitals and Healthcare Industry" event is Oracle's premier gathering for owners, healthcare stakeholders, and technology innovators. Hosted at the renowned Oracle Innovation Center, this venue provides a dynamic space for showcasing cutting-edge solutions in healthcare construction. Known for hosting unique events like reality capture demonstrations and indoor drone races, the Innovation Center sets the stage for forward-thinking collaboration.
This year, Oracle emphasizes owner attendance and healthcare-focused content, making it a prime opportunity to engage with key decision-makers shaping the industry's future.
Doxel will participate in Oracle's interactive Hands-on Innovation Experiences, delivering 15-minute sessions demonstrating how our technology revolutionizes project tracking and execution for healthcare construction projects.
With a focus on owners and healthcare decision-makers, this event provides unparalleled access to industry leaders.
It's an excellent opportunity to foster strong relationships with Oracle's product team and other innovators in the healthcare construction space.
Through the Hands-on Innovation Experience, we'll highlight how Doxel's capabilities drive better outcomes and more innovative processes for healthcare construction.
We're excited to be part of this visionary event and look forward to sharing highlights and insights from "The Future of Smart Hospitals and Healthcare Industry." One of our top product leaders will represent Doxel at the event, ensuring insightful engagement with attendees and Oracle's team.
Learn more about the event here.
Understand how every system contributes to trade-level progress with clearer visibility into on-site activities.
In the fast-paced construction of data center, life sciences, manufacturing, and hospital projects, keeping up with construction progress is both challenging and essential. Increasing project complexity requires greater emphasis to coordinate work and understand risk on the project.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce Systems View within Doxel’s Work In Place (WIP) view. This new capability offers a deeper, system-level visualized breakdown of construction progress, giving teams clearer visibility into on-site activities and enabling a more precise understanding of the project's status.
Systems View is an advanced feature in the WIP view that allows teams to go beyond trade-level tracking, providing a detailed 3D view of construction progress for specific systems within each trade, such as hot water and chilled water within plumbing. Systems view is particularly useful for complex mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. This added layer of granularity offers project teams deeper insights into the progress of each system, empowering them to monitor and manage intricate project details.
In complex projects, traditional tracking did provide valuable trade-level insights but often lacked the detail needed to align each system with Takt times, leading to inefficiencies. With Systems View, project teams will gain real-time, system-specific insights that empower them to monitor each system’s adherence to Takt schedules, catching issues before they become bottlenecks.
With this added visibility, teams can identify delays early and reallocate resources as needed to maintain steady progress. Ultimately, Systems View reinforces Takt Planning and the Last Planner System, driving projects toward efficient milestone completion.
Imagine a typical Monday coordination meeting for a data center project. The Project Manager or Supervisor is focused on the progress of the mechanical system in Data Hall 1, where multiple subcontractors are working concurrently. The meeting kicks off with questions about the status of supply ducts and whether the HVAC team has completed their work.
With Doxel's Systems View, the project engineer can instantly access progress data for HVAC ducts, filtering by both system and zone. In just moments, the team discovers that only 80% of the supports are installed, with delays caused by mechanical piping in the same area. Using the system filter, they isolate the data and confirm that the piping crew is scheduled to finish by day’s end, clearing the path for the HVAC team to complete their work.
This level of real-time, system-specific insight enables more effective coordination, allowing the supervisor or project manager to make informed decisions on the spot. The result? No wasted time, better workflow sequencing, and a more streamlined project timeline.
Data center construction is highly sophisticated, involving multiple systems that must be meticulously coordinated. Before the introduction of Systems View, project managers relied on trade-level data, making it challenging to understand system-specific delays or progress. With Systems View, project managers can:
For example, in one data center project, the HVAC system installation was delayed due to incomplete electrical work in the same zone. Using Systems View, the project engineer quickly identified the bottleneck, reallocated resources, and adjusted schedules. This proactive management helped the team finish the system installation on time, preventing downstream delays and additional costs.
Industries like life sciences, manufacturing, and healthcare demand strict timelines, compliance, Strict timelines, compliance requirements, and intricate system interdependencies drive construction projects in industries like life sciences, battery manufacturing, and hospitals. Systems View empowers project managers to:
Systems View helps teams deliver complex facilities efficiently and predictably, whether managing cleanroom infrastructure, advanced manufacturing lines, or hospital surgical suites. By providing granular tracking, it enables earlier inspections, faster system sign-offs, and mitigates risks that could impact schedules or budgets.
Stay tuned as we continue to enhance Doxel's capabilities, bringing more tools to help you deliver projects on time and within budget.
Construction projects have long struggled with inefficiencies, fragmented workflows, and unmet expectations from technology. Using Doxel and Touchplan together offers a unified workflow for continuous improvement. Together, these platforms empower teams to reduce waste, enhance collaboration, and achieve outstanding project results.
"If teams use Touchplan alongside Doxel, it would provide excellent confirmation that what we have done is what we said we were going to do. It would also allow us to look forward in the progress charts and ensure our forecasts for activities align." said Project Controls Manager, CRB.
Transform your weekly planning from a manual, time-intensive process into a dynamic, digital workflow. Touchplan’s digital pull planning and Look-Ahead Planning tools enable real-time collaboration, helping teams anticipate roadblocks and ensure efficient planning at every project phase.
Doxel uses AI-driven progress tracking to provide live updates on project execution. By automating activity monitoring and delivering visualized progress insights, Doxel keeps site performance aligned with plans, ensuring accountability and maximizing productivity.
Touchplan and Doxel combine advanced technology with proven Lean Construction methods to create a unified workflow for continuous improvement. Teams can analyze progress trends, address inefficiencies, and refine workflows, driving success both today and on future projects.
Leaders like CRB are already experiencing measurable success, setting a new benchmark for construction excellence
Doxel is excited to partner with DCAC, the people’s conference designed to inspire and evolve the data center industry.
Doxel is excited to announce its participation in the groundbreaking Data Centre Automation Conference (DCAC) Live Europe 2024 conference, which will be held in Dublin, Ireland, from October 15 to 16, 2024.
Doxel is excited to partner with DCAC, the people’s conference designed to inspire and evolve the data center industry. Aligned with DCAC’s mission to disrupt, challenge, and foster collaboration, Doxel looks forward to contributing to the meaningful conversations and connections that propel visionaries, builders, and manufacturers forward in this fast-growing sector.
DCAC Live Europe 2024 will gather top industry professionals from the world of data center automation and focus on how cutting-edge technology can enhance critical infrastructure efficiency, scalability, and automation.
Doxel accelerates construction by automating progress reporting, identifying hidden issues early, preventing rework, and improving collaboration through visual data. Attendees will be able to see advanced Doxel features, including:
Doxel’s platform automatically leverages AI to track project progress, providing real-time insights into productivity, cost, and quality. This allows teams to make data-driven decisions, reducing delays and keeping projects on budget.
Doxel uses predictive analytics to spot potential risks before they turn into problems. This proactive approach helps teams avoid costly overruns and delays in projects, keeping them running smoothly and on time.
With Doxel, data is collected automatically throughout the project lifecycle. This allows for continuous progress monitoring and ensures stakeholders have visibility into every aspect of the construction process.
Doxel’s simple dashboards make complex data easy to understand and help teams make quick, informed decisions for better project results.
Visit Doxel’s table for live demonstrations of its AI-driven platform. See how automated progress tracking helps monitor, manage, and control every stage of your data center project. Meet with the Doxel team to discuss challenges and explore custom solutions tailored to your needs.
As the demand for data centers grows, effective and automated construction progress tracking is more critical than ever. DCAC Live Europe 2024 is a great opportunity for data center professionals to learn about the latest in automation and technology. With expert-led discussions, technical workshops, and solution showcases, attendees will stay ahead in the evolving data center landscape.
DCAC Live Europe:
Website: DCAC Live Europe 2024
Insights from DCAC 2024 with Doxel CEO Saurabh Ladha and Joseph Pinzon, CRO of Overwatch.
In the latest episode of the Data Center Revolution Podcast from DCAC 2024, Saurabh Ladha, CEO of Doxel and Joseph Pinzon, CRO of Overwatch deliver an insightful conversation on the cutting-edge advancements in data center construction. Here are some of the topics covered during the podcast:
Catch the full conversation below and explore how technology is reshaping data center construction:
– Joseph Pinzon, CFO, Overwatch.
Putting the model in the hands of field teams every step of the way gives them immediate access to see where their efforts line up (or don’t) for the project.
Ever since the pandemic, QR codes have had a resurgence in society. When the world turned contactless, restaurants and businesses began leveraging QR codes for menus and signage. These small codes have since become a go-to for pulling up web pages quickly and conveniently.
As QR codes continue to become more prevalent, other industries have taken note and discovered ways to leverage them—and construction is no exception.
But before we get into that, let’s cover some basics.
The ‘QR’ in QR codes stands for Quick Response, which makes sense when you think about the way they work. By pointing a device’s camera at the code, a destination link is pulled up and can be accessed instantaneously.
While they may have become most popular after 2020, these codes are not a new technology. QR codes were first created in 1994 by the Japanese company and Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave as a more accurate way to track vehicles and parts during the manufacturing process. The original intention behind QR codes was to reinvent the barcode by making something that was easy to scan and could hold more data than the average barcode.
In a time where businesses needed to (and continue to) adapt, QR codes and smartphones have become a powerful duo to further streamline access to information.
It’s no secret the construction industry is facing some challenges. From labor shortages to supply chain, the circumstances have further shown the importance of operational excellence on a project. To help combat these challenges, maintain a high standard of execution, and minimize risks of mistakes, many construction companies have found technology to be the answer.
Can QR codes play a part in this? In our webinar Almost Done Isn’t Done, one Doxel customer shared his team’s innovative way of incorporating QR codes around the job site to bring everyone on the same page, faster.
By strategically placing QR codes around key points of the job site, all the contractors for the project are able to instantly access the corresponding models and plans needed. That way, when the contractor is getting ready for the install or build, they can simply scan the QR code to confirm what they need to accomplish.
Putting the model in the hands of field teams every step of the way gives them immediate access to see where their efforts line up (or don’t) for the project. This makes it easy to ensure accuracy while progress is being made versus waiting until it’s too late.
How do companies make their own custom QR codes? Here’s a handful of solutions to consider:
While this technology is helpful enough on its own, the destination of the QR code is what can really make the difference on a project’s path to operational excellence.
Let’s talk about what happens when laser scanning and real-time progress tracking join the party.
Doxel’s AI-powered tool automatically maps and overlays 360-degree video to the BIM and 3D models. The split view allows teams to quickly understand what’s in progress and what’s done, along with the quality of installed systems.
Site progress is automatically quantified and visualized and can be differentiated by trade to compare what’s there to what should be—and as a result everyone is objectively aligned on true progress.
Imagine all this at the touch of a button, a scan of a code. With the convenient access of QR codes connected directly to Doxel, field teams can better (and more instantly) answer two of a project’s biggest questions:
Are things where they are supposed to be?
Are we on schedule?
By having the color-coded, easy to understand analysis of progress just a QR code scan away, project teams can be more proactive and accurate in their work.
If you’re ready to take your project models to another level, schedule a demo of Doxel today.
Work In Progress reports provide accurate progress data that project teams can trust across the entire site.
Construction is a unique industry in many ways, one of which being the flow of cash and accounting process for projects. Whereas many industries have straightforward transactions and payments, construction costs tend to be more complex and nuanced—which makes it more difficult to stay on top of a budget with money constantly going out and coming in.
From estimation and bidding to delays and change orders, there are many stages and factors that go into determining the cost (and profits) of a project.
How can companies know if they’re on schedule and under budget before the project closes? Work in progress is the answer.
A work in progress (or, WIP) schedule is a detailed report that shows the percentage of progress completed on a project—and takes into account any work that’s in progress in relation to budget and profitability. Below are four reasons WIP Reporting is essential on every project!
When it comes to a project’s progress, communication is critical. Without clear, real-time communication, project teams waste valuable time meeting to discuss and determine where a project stands. Progress can also be misrepresented or miscalculated, which directly impacts the budget and schedule of a project. With so many moving parts to balance, construction companies can’t afford to make mistakes due to miscommunication.
WIP reports provide accurate progress data that project teams can trust across the entire site. This reduces any subjectivity throughout the building process and gives everyone one source of truth to work from.
Many contractors choose to implement progress payments, which means the project is billed based on certain percentages of completion as they’re reached instead of waiting until the end of a job. Combine progress payments with inaccurate progress reporting, and the project can very quickly become overbilled (revenue billed exceeds the work completed) or underbilled (work completed exceeds what’s been billed).
WIP tracking provides the exact progress percentage of work completed to create a shared understanding and accountability for project costs accrued so far—and can help shed light on any discrepancies in the budget to prevent future cash-flow problems. This is especially helpful for those project managers who like to ‘guesstimate’ based on a gut feeling, then try to do the math later to even it out.
Hindsight may be 20/20, but it won’t keep your project profitable. A problem is much harder to fix after it’s already happened. While discussing what went wrong at the end may help your next project, the power to be able to notice and act in real time is invaluable. Project teams need to be able to spot potential problems as early as humanly possible to minimize the impact and keep everything on track.
That’s where work in progress tracking comes in—it’s in the name. Using technology that quantifies progress all the way down to the subcomponent level allows stakeholders to catch an issue and course correct as soon as (if not before) it happens. This prevents mistakes from becoming costly and provides insight for better business decisions in the future.
While catching issues early on is one thing, being able to predict a project’s future is another. With the right AI-powered progress tracking, companies can track project performance for deviations from plan and forecast a more accurate estimate at completion.
Knowing where your project is heading before you get there means you can plan accordingly and get ahead of costly trends. WIP tracking data gives project teams the ability to confidently manage the schedule and predict delays.
At the end of the day, work in progress reports give a true and accurate view of the financial health of a project. However, they require accurate project progress data to be effective.
Companies that leverage technology with AI-powered progress tracking can truly reap the benefits of WIP reports—and ultimately keep their projects on track and profitable.
By letting the AI automatically analyze visual data, construction companies are able to measure installed quantities and inspect quality—without having to sift through data or manually record the entire jobsite.
Construction—an industry that’s been around for nearly as long as civilization—is long overdue for a change in the tools used to build the world. While technology has become more and more common on a jobsite, most of it has been focused on taking companies from pen and paper to digital data and drawings. This is a step forward, but still requires a significant amount of manual effort and calculations to be effective. One tool alone may not completely transform an industry, but the right technology in combination could unlock the secret to more profitable and productive projects. That’s where machine learning comes in.
When you hear the term “machine learning” or “AI” (artificial intelligence), your mind probably goes straight to what you’ve seen in movies and television. While there isn’t a terminator on a jobsite (yet), construction companies are beginning to leverage an entirely new generation of technology to further reduce manual effort and increase visibility and insights.
A lot of the existing construction technology leverages visualization software to overlay captured data onto a 3D design. While this helps add an extra layer of visibility, it won’t tell you much more about true progress without someone having to look through every photo and laser scan. When given the choice, most jobsite managers would rather walk around and measure progress manually than spend even more hours doing it on the computer.
Computer vision-based progress tracking takes it one step further. By letting the AI automatically analyze visual data, construction companies are able to measure installed quantities and inspect quality—without having to sift through data or manually record the entire jobsite. What used to take someone hours is now an automated, real-time progress and quality report they can access anytime.
Imagine being able to automatically track more than 75 different construction stages and generate progress, down to the materials installed, and all it takes is a 360° camera, BIM, and AI-powered platform.
This automated progress tracking isn’t just for the project teams. Traditionally, if an owner wants a project update, they either have to physically come to the jobsite or rely on the reporting of project managers and subcontractors. This reporting takes valuable time, and is often incomplete and delayed (or missing entirely) depending on how busy the team is.
AI platforms take the burden off of project teams by enabling them to capture more detailed data, faster. Artificial intelligence can essentially act as a digital surveyor to capture hundreds of thousands of square feet on a project every week—freeing field crews up to focus on making progress, not reporting on it. Those uncomfortable OAC and weekly trade coordination meetings where progress isn’t clearly measured or communicated can quickly become a thing of the past.
Real-time project visibility allows companies to spot potential issues or overruns faster, and gives them enough time to make changes before it’s too late.
In construction, the four biggest factors to a project’s success are time, money, quality, and productivity. The right balance of these factors could mean the difference between coming in on time, under budget and losing money on a project. The increased visibility and reporting that AI-based software gives managers can directly translate to real-time feedback on schedule, budget, and quality.
Machine learning provides companies objective schedule and cost budget analysis to ensure everything is progressing to plan, and can prevent costly rework or delays. It isn’t enough to be able to see what’s happening as it happens—companies need to be able to look into the future of a project using predictive forecasts, too (another AI specialty).
Real-time feedback and insights have the power to take construction companies to a new level of project success. Machine learning isn’t about replacing people with machines. It’s about leveraging automated, artificial intelligence to increase productivity and visibility so teams can make better business decisions, faster.
Achieving success in healthcare construction projects requires a focus on transparency, risk management, and benchmarking. By leveraging near real-time data and advanced technology, stakeholders can ensure project efficiency, mitigate risks, and deliver high-quality outcomes within expected timelines.
Healthcare projects are not typical commercial construction. Aside from the complexity and cost, healthcare carries a higher level of risk and liability with patient care depending on the outcome of the project. With more at stake, accuracy and predictable outcomes are paramount to the success of the project.
At the foundation, there are three pillars to success for any healthcare project: transparency, risk management, and benchmarking.
Let’s take a look at each of these pillars—and at how automated progress tracking can help companies meet these requirements to help teams complete projects on time and under budget.
Transparency between owners, general contractors, and subcontractors is critical in hospital construction because it ensures every step of the way that the project is following the schedule, budget, and required quality standards.
Clear communication and the sharing of real-time information makes it easier to identify and resolve any issues that may arise during the construction process, which can prevent delays and cost overruns.
Additionally, proper transparency makes sure all parties are working towards the same goals and that everyone is aware of the project’s progress and any necessary changes. In the case of hospital construction, it’s important that transparency is maintained to ensure the safety and well-being of the patients, staff, and visitors—both during construction and after it’s completed.
How can construction companies improve transparency among all stakeholders? Here are five processes that can help.
Due to the costs and complexity of healthcare projects, it is crucial to mitigate risk to ensure safety, quality, and compliance. Risk is inevitable in construction, but there are steps you can take to reduce and ensure better outcomes for your projects.
By following these steps, healthcare construction projects can manage risk and improve outcomes. Even better, there’s technology that alleviates the manual component to many (if not all) of the steps needed to mitigate risk.
By pairing 360-degree video capture with AI-powered progress tracking, teams are able to objectively measure progress of work in place with every data capture, every week. This provides healthcare construction projects with real-time information on the progress and quality of what’s been completed.
Automated progress tracking is the best way to bridge everything together to keep project teams on the same page and catch potential issues faster with enough time to fix them—ultimately preventing delays and unnecessary overruns. This greater degree of transparency and accountability helps to ensure that all parties are meeting their obligations and building to the required standard of the project.
Benchmarking in healthcare construction provides a way to measure and compare the performance of different projects. Leveraging benchmarks helps to identify best practices and areas for improvement, which can be used to set goals and targets for future projects. Benchmarking can also reveal trends and patterns across projects to identify any potential risks and opportunities earlier on.
Healthcare construction benchmarking can inform decision making and contribute to the success or failure of a project. For benchmarking to be most impactful, project progress should be collected in a standardized and repeatable way. Implementing an automated way to analyze project progress in real time helps save time and ensure meaningful insights—ultimately leading to more predictable outcomes, as well as improved quality, cost, and schedule performance.
Automated progress tracking works to streamline the three pillars for project success by providing objective information and greater visibility into the project’s progress. Between project teams and stakeholders, everyone is able to be more closely involved to make more informed decisions faster.
With all parties working towards the same goals, everyone is aware of the objective progress metrics as well as any changes needed. With the right solution in place, teams can increase efficiency, decrease risk, and save valuable time and resources.
Not sure where to get started? Click here to learn more about Doxel’s digital surveyor and analytic tools for healthcare construction today.
Ezra Klein rings the alarm that the $1.6 trillion U.S. construction industry has not shared the productivity gains of other industries. After two decades into a career focused on bringing productivity gains to construction, Reid Senescu, Vice President of Product at Doxel.ai has an idea that can alter this trend.
In his February 5, 2023 opinion piece in the New York Times, Ezra Klein rings the alarm that the $1.6 trillion U.S. construction industry has not shared the productivity gains of other industries. He cites Goolsbee and Syverson’s paper “The Strange and Awful Path of Productivity in the US Construction Sector,” which explains that construction productivity has decreased since 1950 while manufacturing productivity, for example, has increased ninefold. I appreciate Mr. Klein’s alarm as well as his humility in admitting he has no idea how we get construction productivity rising again. Two decades into a career focused on bringing productivity gains to construction, I do have an idea.
But before I get to my idea, let’s consider Mr. Klein’s prime culprit – regulatory “paperwork, and paperwork, and more paperwork.” No doubt regulation impacts construction productivity; regulation impacts most industries. While Syverson’s paper does not provide data connecting productivity declines to increased regulation, it does note that the construction industry invested 46 percent less in R&D and software purchases compared to the broader economy in 2020. And, a separate paper by Syverson, “The Slowdown in Manufacturing Productivity Growth,” (my fellow construction colleagues will take solace in knowing we are not alone in facing Syverson’s economic scrutiny) explains that information technologies (IT) were the main driver for productivity gains in manufacturing from 1994 to 2005.
Why did IT so dramatically impact manufacturing, but not construction? In both construction and manufacturing, IT can improve productivity once information about the real world is transformed into data. Consider an assembly line producing widgets. The assembly line has sensors that send data to machines to respond in real time and to plant managers who learn of bottlenecks and continuously improve the assembly line. This investment in sensors produces the data that powers IT and drives productivity increases.
Applying IT to construction is not so easy. While a factory produces millions of widgets, a construction project is the assembly of millions of different components to produce only a single facility. A single sensor cannot automatically monitor the installation of thousands of square feet of walls or linear feet of ductwork. And that limitation means that IT is starved of data that would help construction workers and managers gain insights to continuously improve their processes. Thus, until recently, investment in IT has been limited to the design phase and certain aspects of construction administration. Yet, labor is the greatest cost on any project in the U.S. And, IT has had virtually no impact on the productivity of that skilled craftworker laying a brick or welding a beam to a column.
But, that reality is changing. With artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision, leading builders are transforming 360 video into near real-time measurements of construction processes. This near real-time reality capture of the construction site acts like sensors in a factory, feeding IT with data that empowers project teams to increase productivity. For example, a construction superintendent constructing a retirement community recently used this automated progress tracking technology to identify that a certain duct installation activity was not yet complete on the 3rd floor. Ceilings were set to be installed the next day. Without this insight from technology, the unfinished ductwork would have been covered up by the ceiling trade partner. And, when they later discovered the oversight, they would have had to rip open the ceiling. That rework would have put a big dent in their productivity. Instead, the AI-powered IT indicated the ductwork was not 100% complete. Augmented with this information, the superintendent applied his expertise in coordinating trades to get the ducts installed right away to avoid the rework. And, the general contractor and retirement community owner no longer had to explain to residents why they were going to be moving in two weeks late.
This technology is new; we only began building it in 2015. But we’re seeing results. At Doxel, we’ve created automated progress tracking for construction that reduces time spent manually tracking progress by 95%. This automation creates data that is now fueling productivity gains from IT just like in manufacturing. And, it gets data to decision makers 5x – 10x faster, which gives 5x – 10x the opportunities to unlock the full potential of construction teams to accelerate schedules and deliver projects under budget. We’re not alone in augmenting construction team expertise with AI; companies such as Procore, Autodesk, Oracle, Dusty, Rhumbix and dozens of others have built technology that makes construction easier for millions of workers every day. And, forward looking facility owners are hungry to adopt solutions that reduce their risk and make the job easier for superintendents and trade partners, because they know the investment will translate to projects that are on time and on budget.
Of course, an industry’s health depends on more than a single metric. Construction provides nearly 11 million jobs in the U.S., including many high paying roles that do not require a college degree. They are rewarding jobs that contribute to society. But, the work is not easy. It frequently requires complex problem solving or complex physical skills. These are great jobs, partially because they can’t be easily automated to increase productivity. Still, productivity is an important metric not just for economists, but because it tends to correlate with the industry’s per capita income. According to Syverson, construction pay could be 10% higher if the industry’s productivity gains tracked the economy as a whole. Society needs construction to be easier, too. As we face challenges supplying healthcare, delivering energy, and investing in infrastructure, construction will either be a bottleneck to change or it will be a catalyst to change. AI augments the experience and skills of construction teams, so they have better data and tools and owners have the confidence to invest in projects that solve society’s 21st Century challenges.
Written by Reid Senescu, California Licensed Professional Engineer and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. He is the Vice President of Product at Doxel.ai in Menlo Park, California. His research focused on how technology can improve construction team collaboration. At Doxel.ai, his products use computer vision to help teams collaborate and deliver projects on time and on budget.
Doxel’s AI technology enables Oracle’s customers to have real-time, objective visibility into their schedule performance
Doxel, an AI-based construction technology solution that enables proactive risk mitigation of projects and portfolios, announced its integration with Oracle’s Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM), the solution for globally prioritizing, planning, managing, and executing projects, programs, and portfolios.
The Doxel and Oracle integration will enable customers to track construction progress continuously and automatically against their Oracle Primavera P6 schedules. Unlike manual methods of progress reporting that can be subjective or delayed, Doxel’s AI technology enables Oracle’s customers always to have real-time, objective visibility into their schedule performance.
Proactive mitigation of delays and identification of opportunities to accelerate construction—enabling customers to deliver their projects faster while collecting valuable benchmark data for future planning in Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM.
“This integration with Primavera P6 is by popular demand from our mutual customers, and we couldn’t be more excited,” says Saurabh Ladha, chief executive officer of Doxel. “Nearly 100% of our customers use Primavera P6 for scheduling, and this unification of workflows will supercharge our customers’ abilities to manage their projects and portfolios proactively.”
Doxel, based in Menlo Park, California, has built a widely adopted platform that applies AI and computer vision technology to 360-degree video of construction sites and measures progress in a granular, real-time, and automated fashion, and then contextualizes actual progress against Primavera P6 EPPM plans.
Through Doxel’s cloud-based dashboard, customers can instantly see where they’re ahead and behind, informing their decisions with data that can always be trusted and delivered in time for proactive actions that ultimately land projects on schedule and budget.
“We see project teams use Doxel AI and Primavera P6 side by side in construction trailers. P6 is an amazingly powerful scheduling and planning tool and requires information from the field that can accurately, objectively, and with higher frequency measure and constantly update progress. Because if you don’t have high-quality data feeding into it, its value diminishes exponentially,” says Garrick Ballantine, Doxel’s chief revenue officer.
He adds, “General contractors and owners use the combination of P6 and Doxel to objectively partner with their trade partners on a week-to-week basis, bringing the field and office on the same page with our cloud-based visual dashboard and to make payment decisions on billions of dollars’ worth of construction nationally. This integration has happened because the industry demanded it.”
Frank Malangone, Oracle’s executive director of innovation and industry strategy, said, “Our customers continue to look for ways to objectively and accurately measure progress to update the schedule for reliable insights. This connection between Primavera P6 and Doxel speeds up this process without constantly having to be at the job site and improves communication and coordination between the office and the field.”
This article original appeared on Oracle’s blog.
By providing accurate and automated cost budget analysis, companies are able to better understand their project and where it stands against the budget.
With inflation and rising cost of materials, it’s critical for healthcare companies to keep construction projects on schedule and within budget. Here are 4 ways to help verify your construction billing and keep your project on budget.
Automated construction progress tracking provides an objective view into exactly where the project stands, which can help mitigate contractors overbilling for a higher percentage of completion. Companies that use a single source of truth for progress tracking (like Doxel) can reduce monthly bills by up to 10%.
With money still left on the table, contractors will be more motivated to finish the job so they can get paid.
Change orders are inevitable—but transparency around them should be, too. Before a major healthcare provider started working with Doxel, they estimated 4% of their total spend was caused by inaccurate progress tracking. These additional COs are passed onto the healthcare company, and are avoidable with the right solution in place.
Leveraging AI-powered progress tracking takes the mystery out of CO estimates. While using Doxel, one healthcare company found their typical change order estimates were inflated by at least 10%. That money is going out the door, and eventually it will add up. With more accurate project tracking, companies can more accurately pinpoint where change orders should be and reduce unnecessary spend.
Due to the unpredictability of material requirements, HealthTrust Contracts run the risk of being underutilized, and healthcare companies miss out on potential rebates and discounts offered. Doxel helps drive 100% contract utilization with more accurate, objective, and standardized measurement of materials installed across projects—which in turn allows more materials purchased through HealthTrust and greater financial savings.
For one Doxel healthcare customer, that meant the ability to purchase 10% more through HealthTrust, and the savings added up to a whopping $18.56M annually through discounts and rebates on materials.
Time is money. When a project’s progress is manually tracked, the process itself to collect and report on the data takes valuable time away from contractors and field teams. What used to take 60+ hours of manpower a week to manually assess progress now takes a mere 3 hours per week using an automated solution like Doxel. All that time can now be focused on safety, quality control, and coordination of trade partners.
See why healthcare companies (and contractors) choose Doxel
Doxel’s image recognition gives healthcare facilities objective progress data and real-time insight into materials installed. With automated project tracking, everyone wins—contractors spend less time counting and reporting, and healthcare companies have better control over project costs and governance.
Healthcare facilities using Doxel are delivered earlier with increased safety, less expense, and higher quality. To learn more about how they do it, schedule a demo today.
Finding remaining work can feel like finding a needle in a haystack, but Doxel makes it straightforward.
Identifying what’s still pending can feel like finding a needle in a haystack, especially when less than 10% of a particular trade’s work remains. Doxel has updated the Work In Place visualization to make it easier to find remaining work.
Managing a large construction project involves ensuring that millions of components are installed correctly, in the correct sequence, across many trade partners. Put simply, it’s easy to see what is there, it’s hard to find something missing. As more trades begin their installations, the not installed scope gets occluded, making it hard to visually see what’s left. This leads to a common problem in construction: unfinished in-wall MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) being covered up by drywall teams, leading to costly and demoralizing rework.
Choosing “Not Complete” in Doxel’s Work in Place visualization is a straightforward approach to solving the challenge of finding remaining work. By isolating the components that are yet to be completed, Doxel enables teams to have focused conversations with trade partners and other responsible parties. This feature empowers site teams to:
The Work In Place visualization helps site teams easily manage and track work installed by providing an automated, color coded 3D model of the structure, broken down by trade, zones, and stages of construction. Now you can select a trade, sort by “Not Complete” and see what is yet to be installed for that trade. This powerful tool answers the critical questions: “What is installed?’, “What is pending?” and “What is not done?” so that construction teams can appropriately manage labor, sequence trades, and hit project milestones.
Traditional construction progress tracking methods rely heavily on manual inspections and subjective reporting, often leading to errors and oversights. With the size and complexity of construction, it is simply too time-consuming and error-prone to accurately count each hanger, pipe, or panel.
Visualizing work in place allows teams to quickly identify remaining work and understand the reasons behind any delays. By sorting by “Not Complete,” superintendents and trades can better coordinate with each other, quickly identifying where they should be working next or identifying missing work. This improved clarity helps teams verify that all tasks are completed, understand their next steps, and ensure that all work is done in the correct sequence.
Additionally, knowing what is left to do is crucial for commissioning and inspection sign-offs. Failing to identify unfinished work can delay these critical milestones, impacting the overall project timeline. By using Doxel’s Work In Place visualization, teams can ensure that all necessary work is completed and ready for inspection, preventing delays and ensuring a smooth progression towards project completion.
Construction is complex and details matter. Doxel’s Work In Place visualization helps teams find the right information quickly. By providing a clear and accurate view of unfinished work, Doxel empowers teams to prevent costly oversights, improve efficiency, and enhance collaboration.