FOCUS
36
FORTUNE.COM // DECEMBER 2019
TECH
ALONG THE BANKS of Lake
Michigan, 20 masons lay
bricks for a huge dorm, as big as
three football fields, at the Naval
Station Great Lakes in Illinois.
Compared with those in years past,
these workers are doing far less
laying and “buttering” and,
instead, are focused on quality and
on cleaning up mortar joints.
A robot named SAM handles
the real grunt work.
SAM, a clawlike metal arm
extending from a cage, moves back
and forth along the walls, butter-
ing and layering a brick every eight
to 12 seconds. Nearby, another
robot called MULE uses a burly
12-foot arm to lift heavy cement
blocks for workers, who then guide
them into place.
Neither bot takes sick days or
gets sore muscles, and both can
work around the clock. “It’s all
about reliability and certainty that
the job will get done,” says Tyler
Shawcross, senior project manager
at Clark Construction, the general
contracting giant co-overseeing
the Navy project.
These days, reliability is a big
issue in the construction industry,
responsible for nearly $10 trillion
in global spending annually. The
vast majority of large construction
projects go over budget and take
20% longer than expected, accord-
ing to consulting firm McKinsey.
The problem is partly owing
to a labor shortage. In August,
7.1 million construction jobs went
unfilled, and 80% of construction
companies say they struggle to re-
cruit and hire people, according to
a survey by software firm Autodesk
and Associated General Contrac-
tors of America.
Construction work—whether
A robot called MULE, from
Construction Robotics, lifts
heavy concrete blocks.
BOTS START BUILDING
Contractors are increasingly using automation for the
hard labor that goes into construction. Some workers see it as
labor-saving—others, as a threat. By Jennifer Alsever
CO
UR
TE
SY
OF
CL
AR
K^ C
ON
ST
RU
CT
IO
N
