Colombia. The construction sector continues to be very important in the generation of employment and contribution to the GDP of this country, which represents good news for the economic recovery as it is a solid industry despite the context of volatility that exists globally.
However, there are challenges to face. One of them is the increase in the demand for materials. The good news is that the country increased its production levels; in the last ten years, the consumption of materials doubled and it is estimated that by 2023 the demand will be more or less 36 billion pesos (about US $ 7 million). Housing leads the demand, followed by infrastructure and non-residential.
Given the increase in demand, you have to be very strategic so that it does not exceed supply; That is one of the challenges where the players in the sector must be very smart. On the subject, Juan Saldarriaga, CEO of BIMBAU explained: "Without a doubt, the best way to prepare for greater demand is with good supply chain planning. There are leading countries in the use of BIM methodology that are generating a culture where buyers connect to define future demand and thus suppliers are prepared at the level of production, marketing, sales and logistics to have the availability of materials with more assertive prices and with less volatility in the short and medium term. In Colombia, Conconcreto has been the biggest promoter of this technology."
Building Information Modeling (BIM), is a methodology that not only helps improve the design, construction and operation of assets, but also provides solutions to activities associated with construction such as the supply chain as its own planning.
Tools such as BIMBAU provide a solution and initiative to begin to cut distance with leading countries such as England with the NBS and Denmark with BIMObject, so that this supply planning begins to bear fruit in the productivity of construction, managing to generate value to all the actors involved and -finally- give orientation to the future demand of the projects in Colombia.
This will be elementary. According to Saldarriaga, there is a high demand in terms of materials such as concrete, steel, paints, glass, ceramics, prefabricated and metallic, which define much of the behavior of construction materials, an increase that has become more evident in recent months, where prices have also gone up. However, a normalization of prices of some of the construction materials such as steel is beginning to be perceived. However, the tendency is to maintain prices higher than those of previous years, impacting the final prices of projects in execution.
Using technology such as BIM and BIMBAU will help counteract risks such as the historical one in the construction supply chain associated with the poor planning of negotiations and purchases. The disarticulation of the actors (designers, suppliers, builders) means that the designs are not easy to materialize on site due to lack of materials available in Colombia, at the last minute, that meet the technical specifications.
The process of homologation of brands or substitute products at the time of execution, brings with it delays in the execution of the works, cost overruns and, in some cases, poor quality that impacts the after-sales and the reputation of the construction companies.
