Mission critical construction: An unforgiving world

27 April 2023

In the world of mission critical construction, where accuracy and quality control are crucial, contractors face high stakes and huge challenges. Eoin Manning, Head of Project Delivery at XYZ Reality, explores how cutting-edge technology is transforming the way mission critical construction projects are delivered.

Mission critical construction is a high-wire act, loaded with great and particular risk. Contractors must work with uncompromising accuracy and perfect team unity to prevent incorrect installations or face the costly fallout of mistakes, rework and blown budgets.

Ensuring that the completed asset remains operational without interruption requires an emphasis on maintaining high quality standards during the construction process. In the case of data centers, once the asset is up and running, experts at Gartner put the average ​​cost of downtime at US $5,600 per minute – the facility’s size certainly impacts the calculation, but the figure is alarming.

With the precision demanded by mission critical environments, contractors need a new level of accuracy and efficiency to deliver projects on time and within budget.

The state of mission critical construction

In spite of current economic challenges, mission critical construction is thriving, with the data center construction market alone expected to exceed ​​US$ 369.6 billion by 2030.

The pharmaceutical sector shows similar robustness with multiple build projects in the works by major industry players: Agilent Technologies, for example, recently selected​​ Turner Construction to build its ​$725 million manufacturing facility expansion in Colorado, US.

As the demand for accuracy, quality control, and efficiency in mission critical projects grows, so too does the need for teams to adopt modern, cutting-edge processes, to strip away complexity.

So it seems strange that PDFs and 2D drawings still dominate mission critical construction sites. Highlighted and redlined papers are the norm – and with countless crews in mission critical situations, they’re the source of immense confusion and inaccuracies. It becomes nearly impossible to keep track of the latest iteration and stay on top of design changes.

Despite this, these outdated techniques are an accepted part of doing business in construction. Could you imagine the same for any other field that requires such accuracy?

The key to increased control: Engineering Grade Augmented Reality (AR)

In the past, the construction industry has been hesitant to embrace new technologies. One ongoing challenge has been that the available technology has often lacked the required accuracy for effective use on construction sites.

If it’s not purpose-built, if it can’t work within millimeter tolerances, it simply isn’t good enough.

The Atom™, the world’s most accurate​ ​Engineering Grade AR™ headset purpose-built for construction, however, achieves this demanding accuracy; it gives general contractors, asset owners and subcontractors the ability to view and position holograms of 3D BIM models onsite with millimeter precision.

When you have control over the construction process, you can have peace of mind knowing things are done right.

XYZ enables quality control every time

“The headset [the Atom] takes us to the next level. Total game-changer.” – Gary Marshall, Civil Engineering Partner, Cundall.

The Atom eliminates reliance on heaps of imprecise 2D drawings. With its seamless BIM integration, it prevents information silos by ensuring a consistent data flow between field and office teams – especially useful in complex mission critical situations with their large number of stakeholders and array of teams. It allows proactive validation, identifying mistakes before they turn into disastrous rework.

The Atom gives contractors the highest possible level of quality control and the maximum chance of a successful mission critical project.

At handover, imagine the confidence in knowing that what you’re delivering is exactly what was specified.

To visualize exactly what needs to be done 1:1 onsite, and to be able to show stakeholders exactly what is to be built, that’s quality control.

As the demand for mission critical construction soars, contractors find themselves facing vast opportunities.

Ready your team with the power to build it right, first time with the Atom.

To learn more about how the Atom delivered 8x ROI on a US $150 million mission critical pharmaceutical project and 9x ROI on a US $400 million data center project, please download our new whitepaper ​​Investing in Innovation: ROI of AR in Construction.