11-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Talking blueprints - why construction is ready for a digital upgrade
The tech partner, part of the €3 billion France-based B2B services giant Monnoyeur Group, has recently expanded into Australia, seeing this as the next region ready to take the digital leap.
Australia's construction sector is one of the country's largest industries, employing more than 1.3 million people and contributing nearly 10 per cent of national GDP, according to Infrastructure Australia.
With major infrastructure and housing projects underway across every state - from metro rail upgrades to multi-billion-dollar hospital redevelopments - activity is forecast to hit $300 billion by 2025.
Yet despite its scale, the sector remains one of the least digitised in the economy, making it a prime candidate for transformation.
'More than 100 years ago, Monnoyeur started by helping our customers optimise the site with smarter machines. But real transformation means going upstream - changing how we design, plan, and execute projects right from the start,' says Gregoire Arranz, Global CEO of ARKANCE.
Arranz says after years of operating on thin margins and tight deadlines, the construction sector is confronting a moment of reckoning.
Clients are demanding more sustainable outcomes, skilled labour is in short supply, and the tolerance for delays and cost blowouts is shrinking fast.
At the same time, digital solutions have reached a point of maturity - cloud-based platforms, AI-powered modelling, and real-time data tracking - that make transformation not just possible, but commercially compelling.
'The big shift we've seen,' says Arranz, 'is that companies aren't resisting the idea of digitisation anymore. They're just unsure where to start.'
The problem, he says, isn't awareness - it's fragmentation.
Many firms use sophisticated tools during the design phase, but once the work moves on-site, the data is often flattened into PDFs or lost entirely. Critical information doesn't flow from designers to contractors to facility managers, resulting in duplicated effort, miscommunication, and expensive overruns.
In Europe, ARKANCE has helped firms integrate these phases more tightly, creating what's known as a 'common data environment', where project information remains accessible, dynamic and collaborative across the lifecycle of a build.
Now, with its expansion into Australia, the company is aiming to bring that model to local firms through its reach across 50 countries, covering 32 languages and with more than 500 technical specialists across the globe.
'The leaders in this space - places like Finland or the UK - have already shown what's possible,' says Arranz. 'Australia doesn't need to reinvent the wheel. But it does need to find its own recipe.'
Shaun Butler, executive vice president for Asia-Pacific at ARKANCE, agrees that Australia is not so much behind as it is ripe for a shift in mindset.
'In the design phase, we're world class,' he says. 'But when you move into construction, that's where the gap opens up. You can still walk onto plenty of sites and see reams of paper.'
That disconnect between digital design and physical delivery is where ARKANCE sees opportunity. While large-scale firms have led adoption in other markets, Butler believes Australia's mid-sized players - nimble, under pressure, and increasingly cost-conscious - are starting to drive momentum here.
'Rework, waste, and poor coordination; that's where the gains are,' he says. 'And thanks to SaaS models, it's not a huge capital outlay any more. The tools are more accessible, and the returns are real.'
Butler says a project-by-project approach often works best: demonstrating tangible improvements in one area - quoting, compliance, or coordination - before scaling solutions more widely. In a sector where rising costs and regulatory complexity are biting particularly hard for smaller contractors, quick wins can build confidence.
'We're not saying throw everything out and start again,' he says. 'It's about knitting the right tools together and helping companies use what they've already got more effectively. We're here for the long haul.'
Firms that have made the leap are already seeing the results.
Architecture practice Warren and Mahoney adopted Autodesk's cloud-based construction tools - including Revit and Autodesk Construction Cloud, both key platforms supported by ARKANCE - to improve co-ordination across its studios and partners.
The firm saw immediate and significant gains in efficiency, version control, and risk management.
'Before this shift, we faced challenges with real-time collaboration and ensuring consistency in complex projects,' says Brad Sara, principal and digital services lead at Warren and Mahoney.
'Now, by integrating digital workflows across the practice, we've reduced rework and improved delivery time - without compromising design quality.'
Sara says the biggest barrier for many firms remains the perceived cost and disruption of adopting new systems. But for Warren and Mahoney, the benefits have far outweighed the initial investment and any teething problems.
'We've built a more agile, connected studio - one that's better aligned with client expectations for smarter, more sustainable buildings,' says Sara.
For firms navigating rising costs, tighter deadlines and shifting client expectations, the path forward is rarely clear-cut. But with the right mix of global expertise and local support, companies are starting to build not just better infrastructure but better ways of working.
