Innovative, efficient, forward-looking - Vanillaplan at the conference on digitalisation in building services

Last week we had the pleasure of attending the conference on digitalisation in building services held by the building services association suissetec at the Kosmos in Zurich. Through interesting talks, in a relaxed cinema atmosphere complete with popcorn, we were able to gain wide-ranging insights into the possibilities for digitalisation in the various areas of building services. From digital sales through planning with the help of simulation to the use of VR technology in training, a broad range of subject areas was on offer.

With regard to the possibilities for digitalisation in sales, we found the focus on advice that can largely be given from home particularly interesting - in the first step even with algorithm-based, automatic price determination. With the help of a configurator, individual product combinations can be put together, for example as part of a bathroom refurbishment, and the approximate costs determined immediately and from anywhere. Also very interesting for us was what possibilities simulation offers in digital planning. Different options can be compared with one another on the basis of selected criteria and in this way the most effective variant found, or the existing one optimised accordingly. And not least we were impressed by the field of application of virtual reality in building services training. Using the examples of pipe pressing and bitumen welding, it was demonstrated what potential VR technology brings to training: beginning with resource consumption and material costs, through the risk of injury, to educational advantages such as being able to repeat things as often as you like or to determine at which point the execution was still faulty.

After this input-rich afternoon we had the opportunity to put a few questions about the day's event to Lars Kunath, head of digital building services solutions at suissetec, and Stefan Wüst, member of the central executive board, over a generous apéro.

What interested us above all was how digitalisation is implemented and promoted at suissetec.
We have heard that today's conference on digitalisation is a premiere, that is, the first event on the subject of digitalisation. What role does digitalisation play for suissetec?

Lars Kunath tells us:
Digitalisation plays a very large role for suissetec. Various megatrends can be observed, such as the skills shortage or material scarcity, with regard to which no easing is in sight but for which digitalisation represents one approach to a solution. For this reason it is our aim to take away our partners' fear of digitalisation. We want to show how and where every single firm can take part. We would particularly like to show smaller companies ways and means of becoming more effective. Today's conference should be seen in this context too - we wanted to get out of the digital for once and towards a personal meeting. Primarily we wanted to get the message across today: it does not have to be giant steps towards digitalisation, the main thing is that you start somewhere.

Stefan Wüst adds:
Two years ago a dedicated staff unit for digitalisation was set up at suissetec in order to place the focus specifically on it and to do justice to the importance of this topic. On the one hand suissetec offers products, but on the other our task also consists in changing our members' mindset and, as an association, in offering exciting solutions in order to stay current and interesting.

Both of them tell us the specific reason for the event:

We are gradually getting the capacity to run something like this. Despite our activity on social media, our members often do not know everything we do and offer in relation to digitalisation. Our first idea for today's conference was actually to invite firms that are not yet all that well set up digitally. But the companies that registered were doing very well digitally; that is why we changed the concept to present them more in a role-model function. We want to set off a whole avalanche and really get something moving. This event was effectively the test run - and we met with great interest, which delighted us.

Finally we were interested to know in which area of building services the two experts see the greatest need to catch up on digitalisation processes.

Lars and Stefan tell us:
In my opinion the greatest need to catch up lies in working methods on the construction site. That concerns, on the one hand, the way work is done on site; there you often do not have the feeling that digitalisation has arrived yet. On the other hand there is a lot of idle time, waiting time and therefore inefficiency; that relates more to the planning side, such as resource planning and calculation. I see clear potential for digitalisation in both areas.

We are delighted to have been able to attend this wide-ranging event and would like to thank Lars Kunath and Stefan Wüst in particular for the interview afterwards.