HP Robot Accelerates Construction Industry During Productivity Crisis

Launched today, HP's first ‘State of Construction Productivity’ study shows the construction industry is struggling with productivity and human resourcing challenges, despite accounting for nearly 10% of global GDP.¹ The construction sector has lagged behind other industries with a mere 1% annual growth over the past two decades, according to McKinsey. For comparison, the manufacturing industry has delivered an average annual growth of 3.6% over the same period.²

The new HP study of construction professionals in the US, UK and Germany also found that nearly two-thirds of workers feel the sector is not close to solving this productivity conundrum. Meanwhile, 30% of respondents see productivity as the biggest issue facing the sector. But while 71% of respondents believe technology can solve the productivity crisis, only 3% of construction CIOs said productivity-boosting, on-site technology had been introduced at their firms in the last 12 months. 

HP SitePrint Designed To Boost Layout Productivity

HP SitePrint, a robotic solution designed to bring the construction industry into the modern era, prints complex construction site layouts with pinpoint accuracy, increasing productivity by up to ten times compared to manual layout techniques.³ And today at HP Imagine, after successful rollouts in North America and the UK - including Skanska’s re-development of Penn Station in New York - HP is announcing SitePrint availability in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) beginning November first.

This is good news for the construction industry as 59% of respondents have seen little improvement in productivity across their whole career. A greater focus on harnessing technology and automating certain tasks is key to helping construction revolutionize processes and improve productivity and Site Print is making a difference.

“On our first day with the device, we did a competition between SitePrint and a manual layout team of four people. The HP solution laid out seven or eight rooms in the time it took the manual team to do two or three, recalls Gerardo Rivera, COO, L5 Drywall Inc. With HP SitePrint, we’ve been able to eliminate mistakes and move weeks ahead in our schedule.”

Technology Is Key But Remains Under Utilized

Layout, a crucial aspect of construction involving the physical mapping of a building plan, is notorious for productivity issues. Construction workers report that 18% of projects have major layout errors, resulting in re-works, delays of over 15 days, and additional costs amounting to 9% of the project budget, on average. The survey indicates that 64% of respondents believe technology could improve layout methods, while 66% want layout tasks automated.

As the results of HP’s State of Construction Productivity survey show, the sector is crying out for technological innovation. By digitizing what has long been a manual and time-consuming task, SitePrint makes it faster and easier for construction professionals to bring an idea to life on site, while reducing costs and side-stepping labor shortages. 

Based on workers’ responses in HP’s new study:

• 64% believe boosting productivity will improve housing shortages

• 66% suggest productivity gains would help attract the next generation of talent 

• 71% feel it would reduce criticism of projects in the public eye

By harnessing innovative technologies and deploying them effectively, the construction sector can make fast progress and solve the productivity conundrum that has plagued it for far too long.

For more information on HP Imagine, visit our newsroom.

About the HP State of Construction Productivity Survey

HP commissioned an online survey, managed by Censuswide, among a sample of 903 respondents, aged 18+, across the UK, USA and Germany  – consisting of CEOs, CIOs, site managers, contracts managers, construction foremen, superintendents, and leadmen, construction dryliners, surveyors and fixers, setting-out/layout engineers and surveyors, BIM managers, as well as field operation managers and field engineers. The data was collected between 11.09.2023 - 14.09.2023. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct which is based on the ESOMAR principles.