GineersNow Construction Leaders Magazine June 2017 Issue 003, Bechtel

The world’s urban population is increasing by
200,000 people per day; that is according to
‘Shaping the Future of Construction’, a report
published by the World Economic Forum in
May 2016 and while many sectors have been
able to efficiently keep pace with demand, the
engineering and construction sector has struggled.
Representing approximately 6% of global GDP
(and growing), ‘the E&C sector is currently the
largest consumer of raw materials including 50%
of global steel production and more than 3 billion
tonnes of raw materials.’
According to the same report, the WEF cited
eight topical areas which need to be addressed,
specifically technology, materials and tools,
processes and operations, strategy and business
model innovation, people, organisation and culture,
industry collaboration, joint industry marketing,
regulation and policies and public procurement.
Over the past thirty years, Doka has been
focusing on how to support and implement these
changes, both through its corporate philosophy
of understanding the market and secondly
through the development its R&D facilities from its
headquarters in Amstetten, Austria.
Arguably, one of the most important disruptors
across most markets in recent years has been
digitalisation. Defined by Gartner as, “the use of
digital technologies to change a business model
and provide new revenue and value-producing
opportunities”, one of Doka’s most popular
products is Concremote; a proprietary technology
that remotely measures the compressive
strength and age quality parameters of concrete,
providing an alternative to early age laboratory
and field-cured test specimens. Accredited by
international quality assurance agencies including
ASTM, DIN, British Standard, Eurocode and
most recently the Dubai Central Laboratory
Department, Concremote’s benefits cover quality,
safety and economy while helping to reduce the
environmental impact made by cement. According
to in-house research, Concremote can provide a
40% increase in business value by reducing time
and cost by 47% and 32% respectively, while
increasing quality by 55%.
Speaking on behalf of the company, Doka Middle
East and Africa Director Peter Vogel, said; “For