The Readiness for

CONSTRUCTION 4.0:

Sharing of Results
Accelerating Construction through Digital
Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Farhan bin Mohd Sadullah
Technologies Universiti Sains Malaysia
1 st Digital Construction Summit
1 4 - 1 5 th M a r c h 2 0 2 3
Matrade (MECC)
 CONTENT The Importance of Construction 4.0

Study on the Readiness of the Malaysian

Construction Industry
Questionnaire Design, Distribution and
Responses
• The Application of Industrial Revolution
4.0 (IR 4.0) in the construction industry
Findings from Study
• It is meant to transform the Malaysian
construction industry to be more effective,
efficient, and safe towards making the
Malaysian construction players to be more
competitive nationally and globally
Recommendations and the Way forward
• Construction 4.0 may also improve the
Malaysian construction scene from the
many negative labels (dirty, labour-
intensive, foreign-worker dependent,
inefficient and poor productivity)
CR 4.0 Technologies
 - Project Duration: Nov 2021 to June 2022
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - Commissioned by CIDB Malaysia
CIDB for sponsoring this project and for positioning - Joint work between:
Construction 4.0 for the benefit of the construction industry in
Malaysia 1. CREAM
Dato’ Dr. Ts Gerald Sundaraj, Director of CIDB KL, who initiated 2. USAINS Holding Sdn Bhd via School of
this study Civil Engineering and School of
Housing, Building and Planning, USM
All participants in our workshops, focus group discussion
sessions, and interview sessions

The respondents to our survey form

The team at CREAM PROJECT

The team at USM and USAINS Holding Sdn. Bhd BACKGROUND
Research on the Readiness of the Malaysian
Contractors towards Adaptation of
Construction 4.0 Technologies

KAJIAN KESEDIAAN KONTRAKTOR

TERHADAP ADAPTASI PENGGUNAAN
TEKNOLOGI PEMBINAAN 4.0
 Ultimate Aim:
To ensure the success of
LARGE
CONSTRUCTION 4.0
through the action of
Define Eco-
players in the construction
SMALL
system (LARGE)
(LARGE) industry
Define
technological
opportunities for Working Aim:
(SMALL) LARGE Eco-
System 1. To identify the state of
readiness of the
Define technological
opportunities for construction players for
SMALL Eco-System CONSTRUCTION 4.0
2. To make
Gaps identified for
(SMALL)
LARGE Eco-system recommendations to
(LARGE) address all existing and
possible gaps
Gaps identified for
SMALL Eco-system
 RESPONSES Contractor
Grade
Total Active
Contractors
Total
Respondents
% response by
Contractor Grade
% Response
over Total
Active
Contractors
G1 28056 266 29.17% 0.95%
G2 13561 165 18.09% 1.22%
G3 10153 149 16.34% 1.47%
G4 4122 90 9.87% 2.18%
• Number of respondents per G5 5173 69 7.57% 1.33%
G6 1845 43 4.71% 2.33%
grade
G7 8593 130 14.25% 1.51%
• Profile according to Small, TOTAL 71503 912 100.00% 1.28%

Medium, Large companies

% Response
Groups of
Total Active Total % response by over Total
Contractor
Contractors Respondents Contractor Grade Active
Grade
Contractors

Small (G1 + G2) 41617 431 47.26% 1.04%

Medium (G3+ G4
19448 308 33.77% 1.58%
+ G5)

Large (G6 + G7) 10438 173 18.97% 1.66%

Total 71503 912 100.00% 1.28%

Comparison of Ranking between state of Knowledge, Relevance and Utilization in Organization
Construction 4.0 Technologies Knowledge Relevance Utilization
Ranking Ranking Ranking 1. There are several mismatches between
(mean value) (mean value) (mean value) knowledge, relevance and utilization
1. Prefabrication & Modular Construction 2 (2.76) 4 (2.93) 4 (2.32) 2. Internet of things continue to be the top
7 (2.43) 10 (2.61) 11 (1.98))
CR 4.0 technology
2. 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing 3. IBS as one of the short-term technology
3. Autonomous Construction 11 (2.38) 11 (2.58) 10 (1.99) is also embraced quite highly
4. However, BIM, despite its importance,
4. Augmented Reality and Virtualisation 12 (2.31) 11 (2.58) 10 (1.99)
are only in the middle ranking
5. Cloud and Realtime Collaboration 4 (2.68) 5 (2.68) 2 (2.39) 5. Cloud and real-time collaboration,
another short-term target is also
6. 3D Scanning and Photogrammetry 10 (2.40) 9 (2.70) 9 (2.06)
recognized relatively high
7. Artificial Intelligence 6 (2.51) 7 (2.77) 7 (2.14) 6. Advanced building materials is also highly
embraced
8. Blockchain 7 (2.43) 8 (2.74) 8 (2.13)
7. Autonomous Construction and 3D-
9. Big Data and Predictive Analytic 7 (2.43) 6 (2.81) 6 (2.19) Scanning and Photogrammetry are lowly-
embraced despite them being placed as
10. Advanced Building Materials 3 (2.73) 2 (3.06) 3 (2.40)
prioritized technologies in the short term
11. Internet of Things 1 (2.84) 1 (3.15) 1 (2.57) by the strategic plan
8. The overall poor performance
12. Building Information Modelling (BIM) 5 (2.63) 3 (3.00) 5 (2.29)
represented by the mean values show
Value used Knowledge Value Used Relevance Value Used Utilization that the gap for Construction 4.0 among
1 None 1 Not relevant 1 Not in use the Malaysian construction industry
2 Limited 2 Slightly relevant 2 Considering to use
3 Basic 3 Moderately relevant 3 Early adoption players is wide
4 Proficient 4 Relevant 4 Have been using for sometime
5 Expert 5 Extremely relevant 5 Frequently used
Section 5
• Current Utilization of
Equipment/ Machinery/
Technology
• Corresponding to CR1.0,
CR2.0, CR3.0. and CR4.0
THE % of USAGE BETWEEN CR1.0, CR2.0, CR3.0 and CR4.0
• Level of usage for all stages of
work is highest at the
Construction 2.0 (CR 2.0) level
and lowest at CR 4.0 level.
• The percentage of usage of level
CR 4.0 technology by all
contractors combined lies in the
range of approximately 25% to
35% of the total number of
respondents.
• In the stage of “Project
Management Coordination”,
close to 50% of the respondents
indicated that they have used
CR 4.0 technology in their
project management work.
• Among the stages of work,
“Land Clearing, Excavation, and
Earthwork” shows the lowest
percentage at about 25%.
 % Response The
Category of Agree/Strongly Overall Challenges:
Challenges # Item of Challenges agree Ranking
Top ten in the
The technology adoption requires new business
Policy/governance 1.4 practices/reengineering 68.20% 1 list and with
Organization 3.6 High salary for staff who have knowledge on digital tools 64.80% 2 more than
Technology 4.4 Rapid technology changes over time and has to be adapted constantly 63.71% 3 50%
Organization 3.4 Lack of financial capabilities to invest on digital technology 60.86% 4 agreement
Policy/governance 1.3 The industry still practices manual/traditional process/procurement 59.10% 5 from
Staff Capability 2.4 Insufficient skill to use new technologies 58.13% 6 respondents
Staff Capability 2.3 The absence of the right training 57.79% 7
Organization 3.5 Return of investment concerns 56.58% 8
Technology 4.3 Unreliable internet connectivity 55.70% 9
Technology 4.5 Lack of IT equipment or computers 54.93% 10
Technology 4.2 Lack of digital standards, norms, and certification 49.56% 11
Staff Capability 2.1 Low awareness 49.45% 12
Organization 3.8 Not relevant to small business 49.12% 13
Staff Capability 2.2 The absence of digital culture 48.14% 14
Unresolved questions around data security and data privacy in
Technology 4.1 connection with the use of external data 47.92% 15
Policy/governance 1.1 Lack of public policies designed to promote Construction 4.0 44.41% 16
Policy/governance 1.2 Inefficient regulatory framework 44.19% 17
Implementation of new technology does not guarantee faster job
Organization 3.7 completion 40.24% 18
Organization 3.2 Reluctance to initiate new workflow 36.29% 19
Organization 3.3 Poor team commitment 34.43% 20
Organization 3.1 Lack of support/leadership from top management 32.68% 21
 4 2 5 1 78%
59% 3
79%
6 7 73% 74%
10
9 8

RECOMMENDATIONS

11
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
• Despite the benefits of technology, key players are still
struggling to adopt the new concepts and new technology.
• The results show that the overall awareness, knowledge, and
utilization of the Construction 4.0 technologies are still very
poor and unsatisfactory.
• The diversity of the situations is also very apparent, and the
degree of embracement and its importance are much
influenced by the project definition, its complexity, the roles
of the players in the project, and whether it's for work
before, during, or post-construction.
• Generalization of the gap and the progress cannot be made
across the industry.
RECOMMENDATIONS : CAPACITY BUILDING RECOMMENDATIONS : INCENTIVES

1. Improve General 3. Improve Skill 9. Create clever and working incentivization

2. Improve Relevant Training
Awareness on CR Enhancement programs
Programs
4.0 Programs
• Outcome: Increase facilitation and reduce roadblocks
- Outcome: to - Outcome: to increase the - Outcome: to help the to encourage and facilitate CR 4.0 technology
improve appreciation knowledge on and competencies skilled workers in the adoption and adaptation
of the relevance of CR in CR 4.0 technologies, including industry to acquire the • Taxation for technology and machinery must be
4.0 technologies the ability to adopt and adapt appropriate levels of
reviewed immediately and regularly by making them
- Should be general the appropriate technologies skills for the
incentives for CR 4.0 technology adoption
enough to cater for that will add value to appropriate CR 4.0
all levels of players construction technologies • Innovation and local manufacturing ability need to be
(management and - The training program should be - Need to prepare a encouraged to populate more machineries,
workers) outcome-based, with comprehensive skill- equipment, and the entire eco-system to support the
- Should also include appropriate learning outcomes enhancement program CR 4.0 technologies
awareness programs - Must include all parties: - Transform Akademi • Establishment of effective collaboration between
for public and all construction players; authorities Binaan Malaysia (ABM) universities and small and medium-size contractors
stakeholders and project owners to include CR 4.0 for innovation towards wider adoption of CR4
- Special attention - Need to be customized for technology associated technology
should be given to different players: contractors skills • Strengthen the role of TVET in supporting the
the buying- in of (management/ workers); - Need to also work with construction industry towards greater and wider
project owners consultants; facility managers; other training adoption of CR4 technology
- Work for more authorities; etc institutions
• Establishment of selected CR4 technology/equipment
success stories - Introduce a contractor
sharing center for easier adoption of CR4 technology
specialization program and
certification for a specific CR 4.0 by small size contractors by lowering the cost of
technology investment: such as leasing, rental, and other
workable mechanisms
RECOMMENDATIONS : INSTITUTIONAL REFORM
4. Re-organize the Prioritization
of technologies • Outcome: To quickly fill in the vacuum that we have in CR 4.0 technology specialists, and
6. Encourage part of capacity building for the industry
- Outcome: to re-position CR 4.0 • Having more specialists service providers will catalyze more wide-spread readiness to adopt
more specialists
strategies that needs to be given more CR 4.0 technologies
priority
CR 4.0 • Need to create more competition to strike the right equilibrium between demand and
- The suggested prioritization of CR 4.0 Technology supply for the relevant CR 4.0 technologies
technologies are as follows: companies • Work towards self-sufficiency in competent work force for the appropriate CR 4.0
Short Term technologies
1. Internet of Things
2. Building Information Modelling
3. Prefabrication and Modular
Construction
• Outcome: to ensure that the authorities do not become the roadblocks for
4. Advance Building Material successful CR4.0 technology implementation
5. Cloud and Realtime Collaboration • All approving and operational activities with the authorities need to be in line
Medium Term 8. Aligning with CR 4.0
6. Big data and Predictive analytics governing • The decision-making process should also facilitate the smooth application of CR
7. Artificial Intelligence issues with CR 4.0 technologies
8. Blockchain • Procurement process must be facilitating for CR 4.0 technology adoption and
Long Term
4.0
adaptation
9. 3D Scanning and Photogrammetry • Revise the existing clauses and all related documents to include the need for
10. Autonomous Construction inclusion of the appropriate technologies
11. 3D printing and Additive
construction
12. Augmented Reality and
Virtualisation
- All training programs should be suited
to this order of priority
RECOMMENDATIONS : POLICY INTERVENTIONS
5. Further enhance &
accelerate BIM’s awareness &
utilization
- Outcome: to leverage on BIM’s
ability to integrate other
technologies, and the potential of
BIM to improve many facades of
construction works
- Need to balance between the
“Carrot-and-cane approach” to
gain more wide-spread
embracement and usage of BIM
- At the interim, more BIM
specialists in the market need to
be encouraged to allow for
smooth transition for many
projects and companies.
- However, the ultimate aim should
be that BIM will be a standard
enabler for all projects and by all
construction project players
• Outcome: to position CR 4.0 technologies as the best way to address long-standing issue of
labor shortage in the construction industry
7. Aligning CR • Need to use the awareness, knowledge and skills programs to entice higher participation from
4.0 to solve the local work-force
labor shortage • Need to also address the appropriateness of wages for those who are competent in CR 4.0
technologies
issues
• The market needs to change the mind set of players that technology is expensive, and need to
position it as a better alternative than employing too many human workers
10. • Outcome: to monitor the progress of adopting and adapting of CR4.0 technologies across the
Continuous construction industry eco-system
• Quick interventions can be introduced to guide and steer successful implementation of CR 4.0
benchmarking
technologies
& critical • Backing of studies and research and development should be encouraged
analysis for CR • Continuously monitoring the attainment of all identified outcomes, including towards the
4.0 successful transformation of the Malaysian construction industry
• Outcome: to assess the implementation level of CR 4.0 technology for both building and
11. Develop an
infrastructure projects
appropriate • The need to verify not only the adoption level of key players across a project lifecycle but also
Rating Tool the ultimate achievement of the Construction 4.0 Strategic Plan in 2025.
MAY WE TOGETHER ASSIST IN THE ATTAINMENT OF THE

CONSTRUCTION 4.0
GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS
Thank you
cefrhn@usm.my