The Post-COVID New Normal Is Accelerating Changes to the Construction Ecosystem, Changes That Are Impacting the Building Materials Space.

The building materials industry has always been slow to adopt new technology and digitization trends. Complex industry dynamics and external market forces found in the construction ecosystem are key factors in the pace of adoption.

In a recent survey from McKinsey, two thirds of construction industry professionals agreed that COVID-19 has accelerated a transformation and adoption of new technology and digitization. Half of those surveyed report they have already increased their investment in digitization.  

Digitization will begin to move the construction industry away from fragmented and counterproductive construction processes to those that are more standardized, consolidated, integrated, and…digital.  

As the construction industry moves to adopt the use of new technologies and follows natural digitization trends of the 21st century, so do building materials manufacturers.  

Moving forward, a construction industry with more integration will mean newer and greater opportunities for building materials manufacturers to add more value in the design and construction process. On the contrary, slow adoption of digitization will create tangible gaps that will negatively impact manufacturers stability in their respective categories.  

Historically, unless design-build or integrated project delivery contract methods were used, building materials manufacturers were viewed by the AEC community solely as vendors. They were perceived to be less of an as active, contributing members of the project team that could provide insight and support from the early stages of design through construction.  

When digitization is factored into the building design and construction process, building materials manufacturers will have to deliver significantly higher levels of technological integration, data sets, and tools that provide more product information delivered digitally. As a result, it can be shared amongst project teams allowing them to collaborate and integrate the information at all stages in the process.  

Digitization will drive entirely new levels and methods of product development. The use of product data will be used to quantify a building material’s impact on building performance. As digitization drives more integration, building materials manufacturers will have more and better insights into the value chain, providing a much more robust and collaborative platform for developing new products.  

For building material manufacturers delivering products to market through channel partnerships and distribution, digitization trends now require higher levels of interconnectivity between manufacturer and distributor. Luckily, adopting digital practices can help to deliver this level of interconnectivity. 

Gaps that exist between building materials manufacturers and their distribution channels today will need to be closed. More succinct connection points between the building material manufacturer and distributor marketing, sales, and channel initiatives will become a requirement.  

Have you adopted digital business practices, or is your company lagging behind?  

CNVRT provides a full suite of C-level, sales, and channel consulting services to building materials companies: both manufacturers and distributors. CNVRT can help you research, assess, and develop and executable plan to digitize your business and leverage the industries latest technologies to create short-term and long-term stability for your business.