Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1530176
The Facinating Use Case of AI In Construction Procurement e construction industry is on the cusp of a transformative era, with artificial intelligence and large language models playing an increasingly integral role in contractors' daily workflows. One area where contractors can quickly leverage AI to drive quantifiable business gains is materials procurement. Recent advances in LLMs and machine learning can help contractors an- swer some of the core questions that hold them back from mate- rial savings. For example: "How much wire have we purchased so far this year?" "Are we paying more for copper pipe compared to similar-sized companies, and why?" "What did we pay when we bought a similar part from a different manufacturer?" "What is the optimal procure- ment strategy for a bill of ma- terials, optimized for cost and ese questions are hard to answer because good data is so hard to come by in procurement today. Field teams, vendors and manufacturers oen use dif- ferent vocabulary to describe the same parts, and purchasing data might be trapped in paper documents, emails, spreadsheets and PDFs. LLMs can extract and structure this data, while stan- dardizing terminology between field, procurement and suppliers. is will make it much easier to understand procurement vol- umes across the company, which help drive bulk price discounts. Additionally, by collecting procurement data in context, machine learning can be applied to make suggestions that en- hance project management, for instance, predicting the volume of sheet metal that is likely need- ed to complete a project and getting the best bulk price. is procurement "co-pilot" can help contractors source and procure materials to drive the best possi- ble project outcome. Trend continued on page 24 22 IDA Universal November-December 2024