5 ms·

taylorism, but with artificial intelligence! $13 million series A

ggm 6y ago
wanted to say this. "fall behind" is the deadline some quantity surveyor and job-quote expert expressed. The actual on-the-job work rate is a function of weather, concrete mix, unforseen post-design issues, pour quality.. Yes, this is hugely informative in a $million cost space, but it is also basically "work harder: we said you could"
- Spooky23 6y ago
  Try managing a construction project sometime.
  - zorpner 6y ago
    You're a DBA.
  - ggm 6y ago
    All the work done on my previous timber home, the delay came from uncovering the unexpected. I had mentally allowed 10% overrun on cost and time. We blew both. Estimation is hard. I only do peripheral work in s/w estimation but my life-long experience is that its just hard, and even on million dollar projects, cost blowouts are common. I'm amazed how the london tube expansion, or the new sewerage went, all things considered. Brisbane's cross-river rail project is 2x price and late btw.
    - Spooky23 6y ago
      Usually in my experience it's like any other jobbed out project -- all about the contractor and subs being overcommitted and unable to react. I've had the good fortune to participate in projects where stuff really had to get done and cash was flowing. So a mixture of well-defined scopes, significant performance bonuses and non-performance penalties were implemented, and somehow the downstream contractors were magically able to respond to the unexpected.
zaneriley 6y ago
Absolutely. Adding a "stopwatch" to make humans more efficient is having negative effects on it's employees. The article is quick to say people won't lose their job, but that's not the only fear about automation. Employees hated taylorism because of the reduced autonomy, unrealistic expectations of consistency, pseudo-scientific increased workloads and sometimes mind-numbing boredom.
JimTheMan 6y ago
From my experience in construction, the works are usually divied up into packages or 'claim cards'. Then each supervisors are supposed to report how complete each package under their control is. Problem is, this can sometimes be a little tricky and the supervisors often fudge the numbers to smooth out how their works look. Ie, they may have done 50% of the work, but will only claim 20% because they know that the last 50% worth of the claim card will actually take way longer. They don't want to look bad at the end of each week cause the estimators did a shit job. So they'll take their gains and average them out. A system that was more automatic and had way more compliance built in would be cool to see. I doubt however, that an algorithm could solve what is predominately an issue of people and estimation.
- ISL 6y ago
  If 50% takes longer than another 50%, the metric by which estimation is performed is, at least regarding time, flawed. If a subcontractor were to report, "hey boss, we've gotten 8/10 items done this week, but the remaining two are going to take two weeks because $REASONS. The estimates appear to be flawed, perhaps because $X and $Y.", I suspect the entire project's management would benefit.
  - discreteevent 6y ago
    I suspect the opposite. The managers will start to panic and then micromanage everything, have crisis meetings etc. This will slow it down even further. The only real solution to this problem is better long term estimates! The thing is that all estimates are partly BS because we haven't figured out how to predict the future yet. So the solution above is that the supervisor got a BS estimate and they are pushing back with BS progress. There probably is no other way.
    - ISL 6y ago
      Good managers will take the opportunity to learn more. Either there is a way to aid those who made the estimates, a way to help the people doing the work to get the job done, a need to relax the schedule, or some combination of them. The goal is to get the work done on time and with the resources at hand. Micromanagement is often a hindrance to the goal, so good managers avoid it.

ggm 6y ago

wanted to say this. "fall behind" is the deadline some quantity surveyor and job-quote expert expressed. The actual on-the-job work rate is a function of weather, concrete mix, unforseen post-design issues, pour quality.. Yes, this is hugely informative in a $million cost space, but it is also basically "work harder: we said you could"

Spooky23 6y ago
Try managing a construction project sometime.
- zorpner 6y ago
  You're a DBA.
- ggm 6y ago
  All the work done on my previous timber home, the delay came from uncovering the unexpected. I had mentally allowed 10% overrun on cost and time. We blew both. Estimation is hard. I only do peripheral work in s/w estimation but my life-long experience is that its just hard, and even on million dollar projects, cost blowouts are common. I'm amazed how the london tube expansion, or the new sewerage went, all things considered. Brisbane's cross-river rail project is 2x price and late btw.
  - Spooky23 6y ago
    Usually in my experience it's like any other jobbed out project -- all about the contractor and subs being overcommitted and unable to react. I've had the good fortune to participate in projects where stuff really had to get done and cash was flowing. So a mixture of well-defined scopes, significant performance bonuses and non-performance penalties were implemented, and somehow the downstream contractors were magically able to respond to the unexpected.

zaneriley 6y ago

Absolutely. Adding a "stopwatch" to make humans more efficient is having negative effects on it's employees. The article is quick to say people won't lose their job, but that's not the only fear about automation. Employees hated taylorism because of the reduced autonomy, unrealistic expectations of consistency, pseudo-scientific increased workloads and sometimes mind-numbing boredom.

JimTheMan 6y ago

From my experience in construction, the works are usually divied up into packages or 'claim cards'. Then each supervisors are supposed to report how complete each package under their control is. Problem is, this can sometimes be a little tricky and the supervisors often fudge the numbers to smooth out how their works look. Ie, they may have done 50% of the work, but will only claim 20% because they know that the last 50% worth of the claim card will actually take way longer. They don't want to look bad at the end of each week cause the estimators did a shit job. So they'll take their gains and average them out. A system that was more automatic and had way more compliance built in would be cool to see. I doubt however, that an algorithm could solve what is predominately an issue of people and estimation.

ISL 6y ago
If 50% takes longer than another 50%, the metric by which estimation is performed is, at least regarding time, flawed. If a subcontractor were to report, "hey boss, we've gotten 8/10 items done this week, but the remaining two are going to take two weeks because $REASONS. The estimates appear to be flawed, perhaps because $X and $Y.", I suspect the entire project's management would benefit.
- discreteevent 6y ago
  I suspect the opposite. The managers will start to panic and then micromanage everything, have crisis meetings etc. This will slow it down even further. The only real solution to this problem is better long term estimates! The thing is that all estimates are partly BS because we haven't figured out how to predict the future yet. So the solution above is that the supervisor got a BS estimate and they are pushing back with BS progress. There probably is no other way.
  - ISL 6y ago
    Good managers will take the opportunity to learn more. Either there is a way to aid those who made the estimates, a way to help the people doing the work to get the job done, a need to relax the schedule, or some combination of them. The goal is to get the work done on time and with the resources at hand. Micromanagement is often a hindrance to the goal, so good managers avoid it.