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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.
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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 thrilled to partner with Corscale in revolutionizing the landscape of data center construction, setting a new standard for the industry.
Gainesville, VA – (November, 2023) – Corscale, the exclusive data center platform of the Patrinely Group, has announced that it will be deploying Doxel, the leader in AI automated construction progress tracking to speed the pace of construction and reduce waste on upcoming data center construction.
“Corscale is focused on implementing industry leading construction and sustainability initiatives. We are committed to building efficiently. Doxel will help us accelerate construction schedules and deliver critical data centers faster.” said Nic Bustamante, Chief Technology Officer for Corscale. Prior to his current position, Nic was the Senior Vice President of Development at Corscale and held leadership roles at Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
The rise in artificial intelligence, specifically Natural Language Processing (NLP), computer vision, and machine learning, and robotics, is increasing the already strong demand for data center solutions. Corscale will now harness the power of AI to build the data centers that deliver AI.
“Doxel is thrilled to partner with Corscale in revolutionizing the landscape of data center construction. Corscale’s commitment to industry-leading initiatives aligns with Doxel’s mission to transform construction through the power of AI. We aim to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of constructing data centers, setting a new standard for the industry. This collaboration represents a significant stride toward the future, where AI not only powers data centers but also drives their seamless and sustainable construction.” – Saurabh Ladha, CEO of Doxel.
The partnership with Doxel reflects Corscale’s forward-thinking approach to stay at the forefront of technological advancements. By incorporating AI into the construction process, Corscale not only meets the rising demand for data center solutions but also pioneers a path toward intelligent, sustainable, and swift data center deployment.
Corscale Data Centers is focused on delivering sustainability at scale. As the exclusive data center platform of the Patrinely Group, Corscale, together with its capital partner USAA Real Estate is delivering tomorrow’s data center, today. The company has assembled a top-tier team of industry professionals who bring decades of experience designing, building, and operating sustainable, high-density data centers for some of the largest and most sophisticated hyperscale operators and enterprises. Corscale delivers highly scalable, secure, and energy-efficient build-to-suit powered shells as well as flexible modular deployments. To learn more, please visit Corscale.
Doxel is focused on speeding up construction and reducing waste by using AI to automate progress tracking. Doxel believes in the power of aligned teams and designed Doxel to unlock their full potential. With Doxel, owners have full observability on their site while providing their field teams with powerful tools that prevent delays, over-billing, re-work, and trade stacking. Backed by Insight Partners, Amplo, and Andreessen Horowitz and with a growing team of engineers, scientists and construction veterans, Doxel is driven to help their customers win.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Corscale Media Relations
press@doxel.ai
Doxel Media Relations
press@doxel.ai
Accurate, reliable data allows construction companies to remove subjectivity and replace it with objective accountability.
Communication can make or break a construction project. A report from the Project Management Institute found that ineffective communication was the main contributor to project failure one-third of the time. An even more alarming finding from the research is that 56% of budgets allocated to projects are at risk due to poor communication.
Without objective insights alignment among field and office teams, knowing what’s happening on a project becomes a daunting task—one that could put a project (and its profitability) at risk.
1. Delayed communication
Timely communication (especially between the field and the office) is hard to achieve. Field teams are focused on a hundred different things at once, and relaying project updates typically happens at the end of their day. Because field leaders aren’t able to instantly communicate every facet of a project’s progress as it happens, there is a lag time and gap in each day’s reporting.
2. Inconsistent communication
In addition to being delayed, communication from the field to the office isn’t always consistent. The more variables and people added to the equation, the more potential for confusion and uncertainty. Communication on a project can very quickly turn into a game of telephone—and teams are forced to hold more meetings and conversations to ensure mutual understanding.
3. Missing communication
While delayed and inconsistent communication can hold a project back, missing communication can halt it entirely. If proper communication isn’t happening, neither is profitable building.
All these challenges in communication don’t just create extra stress and work on a project—they can have a deeper impact on the data and tracking, too. Without everyone on the same page, the reporting and insights are left to everyone’s individual perspective. As a result, the project’s insights suffer.
Accurate, reliable data allows construction companies to remove subjectivity and replace it with objective accountability. Insights that are trackable and consistent bring everyone together on the same page to make informed decisions, faster.
Improve communication and progress tracking
Streamline billing and accountability
The key to collecting reliable insights is through automated progress tracking. The right tool can increase team alignment and communication, without adding effort to the project team’s plate.
Doxel brings predictability to construction projects by providing critical insight with objective analytics. The AI-powered computer vision builds a digital twin of the jobsite on a weekly basis—providing true progress reporting and near real-time data. Doxel acts as a digital surveyor to capture and quantify project progress and eliminates the need for teams to manually calculate and report on it. The result is detailed, shared progress tracking from a single source across every project stakeholder and subcontractor.
Strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Doxel CEO Saurabh Ladha is featured on The QTS Experience Podcast with David McCall. David and Saurabh discuss the impact of waste and rework in construction.
Saurabh discusses how Doxel integrates AI with established processes to build faster. Join us for the conversation, on the next QTS Experience. Episode 191; Saurabh Ladha: Intuitive Construction, AI, Doxel, Innovation, Data Center.
Advice for maintaining mental health in the workplace.
Many construction companies are at a crossroads as they think about the future of their business, and who will be a part of it.
More than 40% of the current U.S. construction workforce is expected to retire over the next decade. This generation of seasoned superintendents and project leaders will leave behind big shoes to fill in both skill and knowledge, and the industry’s current skilled labor shortage doesn’t exactly help either.
While many owners, GCs and trade contractors have programs in place to mentor younger generations and train them to step in, it won’t be enough to bridge the gap. That’s why it’s important for companies to ensure they are innovating to attract more workers of a new generation.
The construction industry has made huge strides to change and adopt more technology, but it can’t stop now. The younger generation that’s coming into the workforce over the next ten years was raised in a time where technology was already prevalent and is like second nature to them.
If a company wants to attract and retain a new generation of field leaders, they need to have processes in place that don’t just utilize technology, but are on the forefront of innovation, too.
A project isn’t truly done until it’s done done. And whether or not it gets to done done on time and under budget all comes down to how it’s being tracked during the construction phase. The old way of progress tracking involves a ton of manual effort and even more paper. Field teams would have to document what happened by hand on a regular basis and manually report on the overall progress completed.
Not only was this inefficient and extremely time-consuming, it also made it nearly impossible to try to predict where the project was headed or spot any potential issues fast enough to fix them. Even with the utilization of 3D and BIM models, knowing where a project stands hasn’t been as automated as it should be.
Convincing new, younger workers to take on these outdated processes isn’t an easy sell. Chances are, they’ll feel their time is being wasted since they are so used to the convenience and automation that technology can bring. In order to attract more workers to be on project and field teams, the processes they follow need to be seamless and even a little exciting.
Construction companies that are leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the collection and analysis of project data are already ahead of the game. While the new generation may be more traditionally more technologically savvy, AI is new and exciting to everyone.
Rather than spending hours per week manually inputting and calculating progress and materials, solutions like Doxel use AI alongside 360-degree capture to automatically identify true, objective progress. This ability to bring predictability to projects doesn’t just save field teams time—it provides critical insights that help avoid delays and cost overruns at the overarching project level.
Instead of them feeling like just another cog in the machine there to collect data over and over again, technology of this caliber empowers workers to think critically about the status of projects and seek a deeper understanding of what’s happening each day. Not to mention the sense of fulfillment that comes when a team works together on a project that is able to be completed earlier with increased safety, less expense, and higher quality.
We can help you empower a new generation of field leaders. See how Doxel works in a personalized demo today.
Doxel’s computer vision-based progress tracking leverages AI to act as a digital surveyor that delivers insights and reporting in real time.
Now more than ever, construction companies are looking for ways to stand out from the competition—and that starts with staying on top of the latest technology that helps them build more efficient, profitable projects.
The future of construction technology will be a hybrid of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning working alongside the industry’s workforce.
But what does that mean?
Put more simply, artificial intelligence is the brain of the computer, and machine learning is the part of that brain that learns from data and makes informed decisions based on what it has learned.
Computer scientists have found a way to make the process of designing a building more efficient and accurate. By starting with the goals and parameters of a project, generative design is able to explore every possible iteration of a solution until it comes up with the best option.
This technology and its use has the potential to save architects and designers countless hours upfront—but it doesn’t replace the human touch completely. Once the optimal solution is found for the design of a building, a designer still needs to fine-tune the details and take it from there.
Robots are being utilized on construction projects to perform repetitive tasks (such as bricklaying) using AI to detect changes in conditions and maximize efficiency. While only a few robots have been added to the project ranks so far, it is expected that more of these AI-powered workers will be used as a method of streamlining productivity.
What’s our favorite robot in construction, you ask? Meet Spot: a robot dog created by Boston Dynamics used to carry image-capturing or laser scanning equipment that ventures where humans can’t. Spot’s ability to walk himself autonomously around a jobsite, including on uneven terrain, makes him a project’s best friend. Spot may not have AI infused into his DNA yet, but the future generations of Spot will incorporate AI for predictive and preventative analysis.
Milwaukee Tool first dabbled into the technology space with their wirelessly connected tools, but they’ve since enhanced their capabilities with AI to pinpoint the exact locations of where a tool was last seen. And they didn’t stop there—by adding algorithms and more advanced sensors to their tools, Milwaukee is able to combine the data of a motor drive with motor load information to make decisions on false trips.
It should come as no surprise that these technological concepts are being applied to the most important priority in construction: safety. Companies like NewMetrix have created an AI-powered solution to help predict (and prevent) safety incidents on projects.
By leveraging a construction-specific AI model, their platform can analyze existing data along with their proprietary program to provide actionable incident insights that have the power to keep workers safe.
While BIM has opened the door for 3D modeling of a project, it’s still nearly impossible to tell the progress or quality of a build without a human resource to manually sift through and analyze images. That is, until now.
Doxel’s computer vision-based progress tracking leverages AI to act as a digital surveyor that delivers insights and reporting in real time. It can automatically analyze visual data, measure installed quantities, and inspect quality for more than 75 different construction stages. This not only saves companies time, it also mitigates the risk of errors and delays that could become costly.
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.
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.
A McKinsey report shows stagnant construction productivity for decades. By adopting modern practices, owners can drive a new era of construction productivity.
Better tools for the field and reducing risk on every project!
Long considered the backbone of economic growth, the construction industry continues to face a productivity challenge that cannot be ignored any longer. According to a McKinsey report, construction productivity has remained stagnant for decades, with the sector’s growth rate falling far behind that of the global economy.
For an industry that influences everything from infrastructure to housing, this productivity gap is not just a business problem—it’s a societal one. However, a growing consensus is that construction owners who commission and pay for projects hold the keys to transforming the industry. By leveraging their influence and adopting modern practices, owners can be the driving force behind a new era of construction productivity.
Before exploring solutions, it’s essential to understand the scope of the problem. McKinsey’s analysis highlights that construction productivity has only increased by 1% annually over the past 20 years, compared to 2.8% for the global economy. This productivity gap has resulted in significant cost overruns and delays, with projects exceeding budgets by 80% and timelines by 20 months on average. The industry must adopt new innovative technologies and practices faster to mitigate this trend.
The factors contributing to this stagnation are numerous, including:
Given these challenges, it’s clear that a radical shift is needed. And that shift can start with the owners.
Owners play a pivotal role in the construction ecosystem. They are the ones who set the expectations, define the scope, and ultimately bear the financial risk of projects. Owners can drive change across the industry by taking a more active role in risk mitigation and pushing for productivity improvements. Here’s how:
1. Adopting Performance-Based Contracts
One of the most effective ways for owners to drive productivity is by adopting performance-based contracts. These contracts tie compensation to achieving specific milestones and performance metrics, such as staying within budget or completing a project on time. This approach aligns contractors’ incentives with the project goals, encouraging them to innovate and find more efficient work methods.
2. Embracing Digital Transformation
Digital tools can revolutionize construction, from design to execution to delivery. Owners who prioritize digital transformation can see significant productivity improvements. For example, Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows for more accurate planning and coordination, reducing the likelihood of costly errors and rework. Doxel empowers construction teams with AI-driven project benchmarking and analytics, enabling faster, data-backed decisions that reduce costs and improve on-time delivery.
According to McKinsey, using digital tools could improve overall productivity by 14-15% and reduce project costs by 4-6%. Project management software can also streamline communication and collaboration, ensuring all stakeholders are on the same page.
3. Leveraging Technology for Project Benchmarking
One of the most potent tools that owners can use to enhance productivity and benchmark their projects is Doxel. Doxel is a powerful tool for project owners looking to enhance productivity and benchmark their projects. Its Production Rate tracking simplifies comparing completed work against the schedule, enabling owners to measure progress and manage timelines effectively.
The data collected from the site is analyzed to deliver precise insights into project progress, quality, and potential risks. With Doxel, owners can establish clear benchmarks, compare them against industry standards and past performances, and identify inefficiencies early. This empowers them to make informed decisions that keep projects on track, within budget, and up to the highest quality standards.
By integrating Doxel into their project management practices, owners gain a significant competitive advantage, ensuring precision and efficiency in every project.
4. Fostering Collaboration and Integration
The fragmentation of the construction industry is a significant barrier to productivity. Owners can address this by fostering a more collaborative and integrated approach to project delivery.
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is one such approach, where all parties—owners, contractors, architects, and engineers—work together from the outset, sharing risks and rewards. This collaborative environment encourages innovation and problem-solving, improving outcomes for all involved.
5. Prioritizing Sustainability and Resilience
Sustainability and resilience are increasingly important in construction, not only for environmental reasons but also for long-term cost savings and productivity gains. Owners who prioritize sustainable practices, such as energy-efficient designs or renewable materials, can reduce their projects’ lifecycle costs. Furthermore, resilient designs that withstand extreme weather events or other disruptions can minimize downtime and maintenance costs, ensuring the project remains productive over its lifespan.
A skilled workforce is crucial for enhancing construction productivity, but the industry is currently grappling with a significant labor shortage. With many skilled workers nearing retirement and fewer young people entering the field, construction projects face increasing risks. However, Owners can address these challenges by investing in the right technology, such as Doxel, which offers three key solutions to keep projects on track:
(1) Accelerating the onboarding process due to its ease of use,
(2) Boosting jobsite worker productivity, and
(3) Enabling project leaders to identify when additional skilled trades are urgently needed to meet schedules.
Feedback from our clients highlight that Doxel helps onboard new engineers quickly, bringing them up to the level of experienced superintendents. Moreover, Doxel reduces the time spent manually tracking progress by 95%, freeing up the most skilled team members to focus on higher-value tasks.
While attracting more people to the industry is vital, a long-term perspective is essential. However, Doxel provides an immediate impact by optimizing the available labor on-site. For skilled trades, Doxel’s production rates are particularly valuable. They empower superintendents with hard data, allowing them to demand additional labor from trade partners when it’s clear that the current workforce won’t meet project deadlines. This data-driven approach helps ensure that projects stay on schedule and that trade partners fulfill their commitments, avoiding potential liabilities for delays.
Featured Case Study:
Layton Construction’s experience with Doxel has been transformative, particularly regarding time savings and efficiency. On a recent 82,000 SqFt healthcare facility project, six superintendents and project engineers were initially spending a combined 60 hours per week manually tracking progress. With Doxel’s technology, this time was slashed by 95%, reducing the task to just 3 hours total. This significant reduction in manual labor translates to 57 hours saved weekly, allowing the team to redirect efforts toward safety, quality, and effective coordination with trade partners—resulting in an additional $2.17 per square foot per year being reinvested into these critical areas.
The benefits continued beyond time savings. Doxel enabled a 10% reduction in overbilling by providing precise progress tracking, simplifying billing processes, and eliminating disputes over the percent complete. Additionally, Doxel’s production rate tracking made it easier to secure commitments from trade partners to meet deadlines, ensuring the project stayed on time. As Brandon Bergener, Superintendent at Layton Construction, noted, Doxel has also made it easier to access additional manpower when needed, further enhancing project efficiency and productivity.
When owners lead in driving productivity improvements, the benefits extend beyond individual projects. Here are some of the broader impacts:
While the potential benefits are clear, driving productivity improvements in construction is challenging. Owners may encounter resistance from contractors accustomed to traditional working methods or stakeholders who are wary of the costs associated with new technologies. To overcome these barriers, owners should:
The construction industry is at a crossroads. It must overcome its productivity challenges to remain cost-effective and meet future demands. With their unique influence and authority, owners are in the best position to lead this transformation. Owners can drive the industry forward by adopting performance-based contracts, embracing digital tools, fostering collaboration, prioritizing sustainability, and investing in workforce development. The time for change is now, and the future of construction lies in the hands of those who are willing to push it forward.
Delivering on construction productivity is no longer optional—it’s essential. By taking a proactive role, owners can unlock the full potential of their partners and projects and set a new standard for the industry as a whole.
Citations:
McKinsey & Company. “Delivering on construction productivity is no longer optional.” Retrieved from McKinsey & Company.
For general contractors and owners, AI-powered progress tracking ensures accuracy by providing a single source of truth on percentage completed.
At their core, construction projects rely on cash flow. But it isn’t always simple—considering the complexity of projects and the fact that a company is likely managing multiple of them at once. Some projects take months or years to complete, and payments happen throughout the entire duration.
With so many payments coming and going over the course of a project, it’s crucial for project teams to stay on top of daily progress and constantly evaluate where it stands financially. Otherwise, a project is at risk for being under or overbilled. Billing accuracy is vital for any large scale construction project success.
They may seem self-explanatory, but let’s get a few terms out of the way:
Overbilling occurs when a contractor is ahead of their progress and bills for contracted labor and materials before the work is completed. While this may help offset slow payments, it puts the contractor at risk of spending the extra money on something else if they don’t realize they’ve overbilled.
Underbilling happens when a contractor completes a certain amount of work on a project, but doesn’t bill for the full amount. This is typically the outcome of slow billing practices.
Both under and overbilling can lead to a state of negative cash flow, which can be detrimental to a construction company’s profitability and expected outcome on a project.
So, how does it happen?
Even before the project starts, money matters. If contractors are unable to correctly estimate project costs—or worse, underestimate their costs—it could set them up to be underbilled and out of cash before the project is completed. This deeply impacts their ability to make money (or at the very least break even) on the project, and it may go unnoticed until the very end when it’s too late.
If a contractor isn’t precise about what has been completed thus far, they will likely bill incorrectly. Trying to guess the percentage of completion could quickly cause them to over or underbill, and as a result the project’s entire budget will be at risk.
Construction is like a delicate dance, and poor project management could throw the entire routine off balance. Especially on bigger projects with multiple subcontractors, a disruption in one contractor’s ability to complete work could have a ripple effect on the entire project’s timeline and budget.
Effective project management allows a company to catch and correct any potential problems while holding everyone accountable for their part. If everything is settled at the end of the project, it’s already too late and nearly impossible to course correct.
Subcontractors that accurately measure daily progress have the ability to bill more precisely and maximize profits. For general contractors and owners, AI-powered progress tracking ensures accuracy by providing a single source of truth on percentage completed.
Being able to track and even predict progress is a powerful advantage—the more data you have from one unified source, the less likely over and under billing occur, improving billing accuracy.
The best part? The technology already exists to enable companies to collect better, more accurate data with less manual effort. Leveraging features such as automated estimate at completion (EAC) and earned value analysis can help guarantee a company’s project financials and reporting are spot on.
To learn more about the ways your construction company can maximize profitability and improve billing accuracy, schedule a demo today.
Introduction Establishing a consistent and realistic schedule is a significant challenge in the highly regionalized and variable construction industry. Construction executives overseeing projects across different regions, such as U.S., Europe, and Asia data centers, need a reliable method to benchmark project timelines. Benchmarking in construction is the process of comparing…
Establishing a consistent and realistic schedule is a significant challenge in the highly regionalized and variable construction industry. Construction executives overseeing projects across different regions, such as U.S., Europe, and Asia data centers, need a reliable method to benchmark project timelines.
Benchmarking in construction is the process of comparing a project’s performance, processes, or standards against industry best practices, standards, or the performance of similar projects. It allows you to understand where you stand compared to your expectations and highlights areas for improvement. This process helps set realistic goals, improve resource allocation, and reduce costs. However, traditional approaches based on estimates and past experiences often need to be revised, leading to inaccuracies, delays, and cost overruns.
Data center construction presents unique challenges due to the need for specialized systems like redundant power, rooftop control units, automatic transfer switches, and fire suppression systems. These features are essential for ensuring high operational standards and reliability.
To maintain project success and adhere to stringent timelines, referencing benchmarks in data center construction is critical. Benchmarks provide a reliable framework to keep projects on schedule by aligning construction activities with established standards. For instance, systems like redundant power and climate control must be installed according to precise timelines to avoid disruptions.
Owners can prevent construction delays by utilizing tools like Doxel to track each phase of construction, comparing progress against benchmark data from previous projects. Understanding the time required for each phase is vital, especially since timelines can vary due to regional and environmental factors. Traditional estimates often lead to inaccuracies, resulting in delays and cost overruns. However, leveraging benchmarks based on actual production data reduces these risks, enabling the creation of more realistic and reliable construction schedules.
Large complex construction projects with accelerated schedules often lack production data due to a combination of factors related to the complexity, variability, and traditional practices within the industry. Here are some key reasons:
1. Project Complexity and Variability
2. Fragmented Industry Practices
3. Traditional Work Methods
4. Inconsistent Data Collection Practices
5. Cost and Time Constraints
6. Technological Adoption Barriers
7. Short-Term Focus
The lack of production data in large construction projects is a multifaceted issue rooted in the complexity of projects, traditional industry practices, fragmented data management, and the challenges of technological adoption. Addressing these barriers requires a shift towards more standardized, data-driven approaches and greater investment in tools and processes that facilitate the collection, analysis, and use of production data across the construction industry.
In major construction projects, the ability to plan, execute, and deliver on time and within budget is critical. However, one of the significant challenges many projects face is the lack of access to reliable production rates and the difficulty in creating accurate benchmarks. These data points are essential for informed decision-making, resource allocation, and performance tracking. Without them, project managers and teams often operate in the dark, leading to inefficiencies, cost overruns, and increased risk. The key challenges that arise when production rates are not readily available and benchmarks are insufficient, highlight the importance of overcoming these issues for project success. They include:
1. Inaccurate Project Estimations
2. Inefficient Resource Allocation
3. Poor Performance Tracking
4. Challenges in Continuous Improvement
5. Increased Risk and Uncertainty
Not having access to production rates and benchmarks in major construction projects can lead to a range of challenges, from inaccurate estimations to poor performance tracking and increased risk. Addressing these issues requires a concerted effort to gather, analyze, and utilize data effectively to create reliable benchmarks and optimize project outcomes.
Doxel is an automated progress tracking solution that provides real-time, objective data on construction performance. Unlike traditional methods that rely on manual tracking and subjective reporting, Doxel uses AI and computer vision to deliver frequent, precise, actionable insights. Doxel speeds up construction by automating progress reporting which surfaces hidden issues early, prevents rework, and enhancing collaboration with visual data.
Doxel’s automated progress tracking leverages images from 360 degree cameras for reality capture by converting images into construction elements. This technology provides precise data on production rates, such as linear feet of conduit installed per week across multiple projects. By comparing this data across different trades, sites, and contractors, Doxel enables teams to create more realistic schedules based on actual performance metrics.
Owner’s reps, sometimes considered the Director of Construction, are responsible for fostering collaboration between stakeholders to bring data centers and large projects in on schedule and under budget. Consider a scenario where an owner has built multiple data centers using Doxel and has significant benchmark data on productivity rates for each stage in construction. This collaboration can provide enormous benefits when analyzing bids from the GC. Where project schedules are overly aggressive, project owners can challenge GCs on their ability to commit to accelerated schedules, fostering a sense of alignment. With Doxel’s historical production rate data, the GC can confidently assess the feasibility of the proposed schedule. The added transparency between the owner and GC, facilitated by Doxel, helps deliver projects on schedule using historical benchmark data.
Benchmarking: Use Historical Data to Set Realistic Schedules
Risk Reduction: Avoid Overcommitting and Mitigate the Risk of Delays
Informed Decision-Making: Make Data-Driven Decisions That Clients Trust
Enhanced Reputation: Deliver Projects on Time and Within Budget
In the construction industry, informed scheduling decisions are crucial for project success. Doxel’s production rate data provides insights to optimize schedules, reduce risks, and ensure successful project delivery. By leveraging this data, construction teams can confidently commit to achievable timelines and deliver exceptional results.
Ready to optimize your project schedules with Doxel’s production rate data? Contact us today for a demo and discover how Doxel can help your team achieve faster schedules with confidence and reduced risk.
By incorporating these insights and leveraging cutting-edge tools like Doxel, construction teams can navigate the complexities of project scheduling with greater certainty and efficiency.
With automated tracking, construction teams can ensure that 'almost done' quickly becomes 'completely done.
Let’s face it: Getting stuff done is hard. And getting stuff done in the face of today’s shortages, supply chain issues, and inflation is a daunting task for any construction company. Automated construction progress tracking can help you finish projects faster.
Before we get into that, let’s take a closer look at what’s going on.
Less people from younger generations are choosing a trade or apprenticeship. As a result, the industry is facing a shortage of skilled workers to help complete project milestones. Without knowing how many people can get the work done (and get it done correctly), companies struggle to stay on track.
Those who do choose to go into construction today are still green in their careers and don’t have the experience that seasoned employees do. This creates a learning curve and requires additional time needed to get them up to speed.
Unpredictable factors create unpredictable change—and change requires an added degree of flexibility for the project to adapt to the circumstances. As a result, companies are seeing more design changes come through, and the need to stay on top of assessing and documenting them.
Speaking of unpredictable, the industry ha seen an influx in supply chain issues, causing delays in shipments and—in some cases—a limited supply of the necessary materials available.
Across every industry, prices are going up. Companies must now reconcile their bids and project scopes to maintain profitability.
When the going gets tough, construction stays tougher. The industry is no stranger to uncertainty. Now more than ever, companies need to pinpoint areas of improvement and streamline their processes to maximize efficiency.
With all these factors weighing on a project’s productivity, the margin for error is very low—which means operational excellence is critical for success. Many projects get to a certain stage or near completion, but struggle to accurate assess what’s happening (or not) to get the rest of the way there.
Almost done isn’t done.
If the last 10% of a milestone takes more than 20% of the time—that’s a big, potentially costly, problem.
That’s where automated construction progress tracking comes in. With the right technology in place, companies can save 25% of superintendents’ and field teams time that would otherwise be spent on tracking progress and bringing everyone on the same page. That’s less time in meetings and back-and-forth conversations, more time building.
Real-time automated construction progress tracking gives everyone on a project visibility into the current state, without the need for individual communication. This ensures the project moves as quickly as it can and prevents trade stacking.
Stay on top of milestones with the ability to forecast and predict any slowdowns before they happen—instead of catching them after it’s too late. By automatically capturing more than 75 stages of construction, automated construction progress tracking technology can spot potential issues more efficiently in real time.
By providing accurate and automated cost budget analysis, companies are able to better understand their project and where it stands with the budget. When unforeseen factors or delays hit, you want all the knowledge and numbers you can get to properly adapt and minimize the impact.
In construction, communication can be slow and sparse. Automated construction progress tracking gets everyone on the same page without having to meet to discuss. Having a digital surveyor gives everyone the information and insights they need to collaborate faster—without relying on project resources to collect and report on it.
No matter what gets thrown at the construction industry, a company needs to be resilient and smart to see success on the other side. Companies who invest in the right tools that save time and automate processes have the advantage of receiving data and insights in real time. The faster something is flagged, the faster it can be fixed.
Want to learn how Scripps Health and McCarthy Building Companies are automating construction progress tracking to increase project visibility? Register for our upcoming webinar Almost Done, Isn’t Done.
Streamlining the process for creating detailed reports can free up the project team's focus while enhancing the level of reporting and insights for a company.
In a 2021 Workforce Survey Analysis, AGC found that 88% of companies surveyed were experiencing project delays—that’s nearly nine out of ten. Now more than ever, construction companies are faced with the challenge to do more with less and keep projects on track in the face of unforeseen circumstances.
While certain conditions and factors in the industry can’t be controlled, there are 3 construction workflows that can reduce the margin of error to ensure a project stays resilient. This requires operational excellence in the areas that can be predicted and made more efficient.
What are the three construction workflows a company should prioritize?
Communication among field teams, supervisors, and the office is crucial—and can be cumbersome. With so many moving pieces of a project happening at once, getting the necessary message out to everyone in a timely, effective manner is no easy feat.
Companies need to find a way to remove the barriers to communication. By doing so, they’ll save everyone on the project team valuable time that would otherwise be spent tracking progress, in meetings to get everyone up to speed, or playing telephone.
Quality of construction can make or break a project’s ability to stay on track. Quality issues or mistakes found too late in the process can be the kiss of death for moving onto the next phase—and as a result, teams remain stuck in the final 10 or 20% of completion for too long. This won’t just cost time and manpower, it’ll directly affect a project’s budget and profitability, too.
The only option to streamline and prevent these costly quality issues is to catch them early and address them quickly. Technology that helps companies see progress in real time opens the door for making smarter decisions and adapting faster.
When a project does make it through the final 10%, the work isn’t over yet. Teams must provide an objective, detailed overview of the completion—which again takes time and resources. There’s more information to gather, and no efficient way to compile it using manual efforts alone.
Teams should be focused on projects, not paperwork or reporting. Streamlining the process for creating detailed reports can free up their focus while enhancing the level of reporting and insights for a company.
By implementing a technology that can continuously monitor performance and provide predictive insights, construction companies are able to achieve operational excellence.
Platforms like Doxel act as a digital surveyor to automatically track progress across more than 75 different construction stages in real time, freeing up the project team’s time and resources.
Instead of manually walking the jobsite every day or week to capture exact progress, Doxel works with a 360° video to act as a digital surveyor in minutes. Combining the power of computer vision with BIM means companies have an objective truth of the status of a site—and can understand progress, schedule, and budget better than ever before.
If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t.
Tune in to our webinar Almost Done, Isn’t Done to hear from two successful construction companies on how they’re leveraging real-time progress tracking to automate and achieve more.
