The Editors and the publisher welcome you, the reader to our new journal. This journal is aimed at those who lead and cause change in one of the major value added endeavors of mankind. This journal will provide insight into innovative happenings world wide. To inaugurate this premier issue we have set forth our beliefs in what counts, what is important and vital to our constituency--the building industry.
The building industry is a very important segment of the world economy. It creates those structures which we all rely on: dams, highways, factories, schools, hospitals, and buildings. Unfortunately, despite the size and importance of the building industry, it suffers from dangerous working conditions, nonuniform standards of performance and timeliness, and dismal productivity trends in effectiveness of labor utilization. Moreover the industry has been a late and slow adopter of modern technology such as computers and robotics, that have swept other business segments. The greatest strength of the industry, its vibrant risk taking project approach to field work, is counterbalanced by conservative management methods and practices in the "home office".
We feel that the building industry is on the verge of a major opportunity to utilize technology. There is much to do. The building industry is asked to provide the facilities to house, feed and care for mankind, to modernize and expand industry, and to create new capabilities. For our contribution, this new journal is intended to assist in this endeavor.
The building industry is composed of three identifiable functional areas: Architecture and Engineering, Construction Technologies and Maintenance and Management. The first represents the formation and creative area; the second the implementation area; and the third the service or developmental and follow-up part of the life cycle of a project. It is our aim to represent the new and exciting possibilities of information technologies in this journal comprehensively for each of these stages in the life cycle of a construction project. The distinction of these stages is reflected in our editorial structure. Important to all these functional areas we believe are characteristics vital to the well being of clients, and workers alike. These are Safety, Quality, and Productivity. We believe Safety, both of the construction site, and of the completed project is paramount. Automation of design and construction should play a role in assuring that a defect-free design is implemented in an effective way without injury or risk to the workers. Quality of project execution and facility features, likewise can be enhanced by good design and execution. These in turn are augmented by automated techniques that systemize planning, design, and implementation. Productivity is enhanced by learning, training and innovation. Here again automation can streamline task structure, reduce waste, and substitute improved methods.
It is our vision that automation can improve the performance of the building industry and make a difference in those areas that count most. We aim, then to provide our readers with the content they need to meet the challenge of creating the new building infrastructure and projects so important to mankind.
The Editors and the publisher invite your comments and suggestions. We welcome the submission of papers for review on topics related to the topics of Automation in Construction. Thank you.