Digitalization of processes in the construction production phase: A case study from the Norwegian construction industry Navn:

Abstract

The construction industry represents the building blocks of society, crucial for driving economic growth and long term development (Foulkes & Ruddock, 2007; Ofori, 2015). The industry is, however, characterized as being fragmented and complex (Dallasega, 2018). Additionally, a productivity decline has been identified, directing attention to the importance of digitalization in construction (Agarwal et al., 2016). A variety of research can be found regarding digitalization of different phases and levels of a construction project. Through dialogue with the Norwegian construction contractor Veidekke, the need for further investigation into the construction production phase was revealed. Thus, we have identified the research question “How does digitalization influence construction production processes?”. To answer this question, the various processes digitalized in the construction production phase have to be investigated, hence our first sub-question “What type of processes in the construction production phase have been digitalized?”. Furthermore, to understand the influence of digitalization on the identified processes, we have developed our second sub-question “What are the perceived benefits and challenges of digitalization of construction production processes?”. Our research is based on a qualitative case study of Veidekke, as we find this to be a suitable approach to gain valuable in-depth insight to our research question. The case study consists of data collected from two of their large construction projects in Oslo, namely Ulven and Frysja, where we have conducted semi-structured interviews with project participants. Moreover, we have utilized the process of systematic combining, going back and forth between the literature and our empirical evidence to develop the findings. To conclude our thesis, we highlight that there are a wide variety of perceived benefits and challenges to digitalization of construction processes in the production phase. Furthermore, we found that there are intermediary benefits that influence the perceived performance and results of implemented digitalization. The findings of our research further revealed that digitalization efforts have been made at different levels in the production phase, shedding light on how the collective digitalization efforts, both out on site and in the on-site office, should be considered. Indeed, the efforts of the on-site office were found to have an indirect influence on the construction production phase.