FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN THE SINGAPORE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: CHALLENGES, STRATEGIES AND IMPACT ON THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution encompasses a number of technologies to allow the creation of the digitized value chains and an automated manufacturing environment for the construction industry. This has brought advancements in the quality of construction products, a reduction of time-to-market and an increase in enterprise administration work. In Singapore, the government is constantly pushing the application of technological tools in managing construction projects, however, the Singapore construction industry is lagging in technological adoption. The application of 4IR technologies in construction projects is expected to impact the ten Project Management Body of Knowledge areas. Hence, project managers need to accept and comprehend the impacts and application of the 4IR technologies in the ten PMBOK areas. To encourage the adoption of 4IR technologies, it is important to study the application and benefits of 4IR technologies, the challenges, perception of the professionals in the construction industry and the impact of 4IR technologies on the PMBOK areas. Hence, this study aims to examine the challenges and strategies in adopting 4IR technologies among the different construction roles and organizations types and its impact on the PMBOK areas. A survey questionnaire was formulated to collect data for statistical analysis and 73 surveys responds were received. The data analysis methods that were used to determine the significance and differences among the respondent’s roles and organization’s types are Mean Rank Analysis, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, Kruskal Wallis Test, Mann-Whitney U Test and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. After the survey results were analyzed, a post-interview was conducted with professionals to further validate the data analysis. The results from the data analysis demonstrate that firstly, the top three challenges are Data and Information Sharing, Data Ownership and Regulatory Compliance. Next, the top three challenges that are likely to occur are Regulatory Compliance, Data and Information Sharing and Data Ownership. Lastly, the top three critical challenges to overcome are Data and Information Sharing, Regulatory Compliance and Data Ownership. The analysis also showed that there were significant differences among the various respondent’s roles and organization’s types on some of the challenges.

Furthermore, the top three strategies to overcome the challenges and promote 4IR technologies adoption are Training of Skilled Construction Workforce, Government Incentives and Communication and Change Management. This study strongly suggests both government and organization to adopt the potential strategies and work together to encourage 4IR technologies adoption in the construction industry. Both government and organization need to acknowledge the different challenges faced by the different organization’s type and implement a set of solution to tackle the challenges faced by each organization’s type. As for the impact of 4IR technologies on PMBOK areas, the top three impacts for each technology were identified. The top three impacts for Cloud Computing, Cyber-Physical System and Internet of Things, Big data and Blockchain on the PMBOK areas are Communication, Stakeholders and Integration. The top three impacts for Artificial Intelligence/ Automation/ Robotics and Additive Manufacturing on the PMBOK areas are Quality, Time and Cost. Next, the top three impacts for Augmented/Virtual Reality on the PMBOK areas are Integration, Risk and Communication. Lastly, the top three impacts for Laser Scanning on the PMBOK areas are Scope, Integration and Risk. This study strongly suggests that 4IR technologies have a significant impact on the PMBOK areas and that each technology has a different significant impact on the PMBOK areas. The findings from this study provide valuable information for organizations and project managers that plans to adopt 4IR technologies in the Singapore construction industry through the analysis results on the challenges of adopting 4IR technologies, strategies to tackle the challenges faced during the adoption of 4IR technologies and the impacts of 4IR technologies on the PMBOK areas to further drive the implementation of 4IR technologies in the construction industry.