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Your company Your company

Your company

Let us know what suits you best. If you are not sure, read our customer stories first.

Customer stories

General Contractor

Unnecessary waste of time within the bid process is a thing of the past.

Subcontractor

We understand the many challenges for subcontractors.

Perhaps you are a
Estimator Project developer Software partner
Procurement solutions Procurement solutions

Our solutions

We have developed a number of solutions to assist your company, as well as the whole construction industry.

Pricing info

Super smooth procurement process

Optimise your procurement process and see exactly what is happening with your project.

Optimal visibility in the market

Connects your company with building partners.

Other solutions
Partners Ecosystem
Resources Resources

Resources

We have gathered important resources to enhance your knowledge of the construction industry.

Want to contact us?

News & Articles

If you want to expand your knowledge or find inspiration, try reading our blogs.

Customer stories

How do our customers use 12Build for their procurement process?

Downloads

Knowledge is something that has to be shared. Here you can find our whitepapers.

About us About us

About us

We speak the language of the construction industry and convert feedback into added value.

Become a partner

Chat with us

Want to speak directly to an expert?

Our story

The name 12Build represents our ambition: we want to build, just like you.

Contact

Whenever you need us, we're here for you.

Careers

Your journey starts here. A great place to work.

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General Contractor

2 minutes reading

Why the construction industry needs to become more digital before it is too late

Digitalization offers a huge opportunity and challenge for the present generation. It is revolutionising the world of work, business structures, value chains, innovation and market structures. Digital companies perform better and are more dynamic: they have higher labour productivity, grow faster and enjoy better management.

Digital acceptance is higher in larger companies than in smaller ones, while older small businesses have often consistently remained analogue. If European policy makers want to close the gap with the United States, they will need to address structural obstacles for investment in digitalization.

Why digitalisation should come fast ENGELS_Tekengebied 1_Tekengebied 1_Tekengebied 1

Construction industry: crisis-proof and yet so unproductive

Research carried out by McKinsey & Company shows that over the past two decades productivity within the sector has seen an average annual increase of only one per cent. A major reason for this is that the construction industry continues to be one of the least digitalized industries in the world. Even traditional sectors, such as government, mining, oil and storage, all have higher productivity figures than construction.

This small increase means the construction industry still needs to make up ground in terms of labour productivity. Compared to the average productivity growth in other economic sectors, the construction industry lags far behind:

indexwaarde Engels_Tekengebied 1 kopie 5

Source: Federaal Bureau voor de Statistiek

Lack of digitalization is the main reason 

In terms of digitalization, developments in the construction industry lag far behind other sectors and this is particularly evident in a sector comparison.

A recently published study carried out by Deutsche Telekom makes the situation clear. As in the previous four years, companies were asked to evaluate their digitalization efforts and the progress of their transformation in the following areas of action:

  • Customer relationship;
  • Business productivity;
  • Digital business models;
  • IT security and data protection.

More than 2,000 SMEs participated in the study. The results for the construction industry fall well below average when compared to the industrial sector.

So why should this lack of digitalization be a problem? It would appear that not enough companies in the construction industry are aware of the long-term trend and benefits of digitalization. If you do not digitalize, you will be overlooking the possibility of a stronger competitive position, improved labour productivity and your innovative capacity. Digital leaders in the construction industry stand out from the rest of their colleagues in the sector. The leading digitalizers (the 10 per cent of companies with the highest level of digitalization) are not only more satisfied with their work rate, but also with their speed of response to customer enquiries and the number of invitations to tender they can send out in a short time.

Are you already digitalizing?

The construction industry needs to position itself better in terms of digitalization, so that it can improve on the decline in labour productivity compared to other industries. A lack of digitalization has a negative impact on long-term competitiveness. Construction companies miss out on the many opportunities and benefits that digital transformation brings. The coronavirus has given the construction industry a digital boost, but this incentive needs to continue. Cloud technologies are considered one of the major trends for the coming years and should not be ignored by construction companies.

Progress is the real challenge. Ultimately, solving the productivity crisis in the construction industry depends on the creation of a collaborative, digitalized workflow with connected technology. It is not isolated to just one phase of the construction process. It needs to encompass the entire cycle of a project. From design and planning to on-site and beyond.

12Build is the solution for the lack of productivity. Over the past 13 years, we have implemented 12Build for more than 800 general contractors. They confirm an immediate efficiency increase of over 30 per cent. Would you like more information about digitalizing your tender process? Just fill in your details below and we can look together into the possibilities for your company.

Why construction software has become essential

Learn how the construction industry can leverage digitization for greater efficiency and keep pace with other industries.
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2 minutes reading time