How Rider Levett Bucknall Embraces Digital Transformation to Stay at the Forefront of Industry

Singapore’s Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) is embracing the latest in digital technology. With Autodesk Construction Cloud as a common platform, RLB has reaffirmed its position as leaders in the market, boosted competitive advantage, improved project efficiency and productivity, and fostered greater collaboration. 

RLB in Singapore is Leading the Way with its Deep Dive into Digital Technology 

RLB, a leading global property and construction consultancy, with a history dating back to the 18th century, boasts over 120 offices worldwide. Notable projects include the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the refurbishment of the renowned Raffles Hotel, and the Changi Airport Terminal 2 Expansion. Established in 1972, the Singapore office has over 50 years of history. 

Reflecting its global reach, RLB’s areas of expertise are broad and comprehensive. 

“Being one of the leading construction and consultancy firms, our business doesn’t just focus on cost management. We also do project management, advisory, and more. It's incredibly diversified,” says Lai Sun Mei, Director of RLB in Singapore.  

As an industry leader, RLB recognizes the importance of embracing technology and digital tools to maintain its position at the forefront of the industry. 

The company’s adoption of various technologies, spearheaded by Autodesk Construction Cloud, is helping them achieve these goals, while invigorating the business.   

And this adoption came with the assistance of Autodesk’s strategic partner, Innocom Technologies Singapore, who was key in helping RLB accelerate the successful implementation and adoption of the platform. 

The technology has had a large impact in their quantity surveying arm.  

“It's really exciting to see a platform that can help us to automate workflows, track tasks more efficiently and effectively, and provide remote access. We can truly start to have a single source of truth,” says Lai Sun Mei 

With this single source of truth, RLB  can streamline cost management by making information instantly accessible. This shift enhances efficiency and significantly reduces errors, resulting in more precise financial oversight.  

These steps in digital transformation are revolutionizing RLB’s methodologies and transforming their output. With these changes, they’re producing higher-quality work at greater speed, leading to a transformation in how its work is performed.  

Finding Solutions to the Challenges of an Outmoded Way of Working 

One of the biggest challenges RLB faced was its reliance on manual processes. 

“The way we have been doing things in the past has been manual,” says Lai Sun Mei. 

This approach required extensive use of spreadsheets, manual tracking, and constant team communication to keep projects on track. 

“We used Excel, filtered data through databases, and tracked tasks by calling people and sending emails. At times, these things could get lost.” says Lai Sun Mei. 

This manual method also extended to cost and document control, presenting similar challenges. 

Without a live cost control platform like Autodesk Construction Cloud, Lai Sun Mei notes, “There's a lot of manual work that we have been doing.” 

“We want to provide accurate information, and document control is crucial. If you rely on the human to manually set up and diligently do it, I think that's a challenge,” adds Lai Sun Mei.  

The manual nature of the work was inefficient, and RLB had a strong appetite for improvement, including better document management and a single source of truth. There was a strong desire to enhance project reporting and foster greater collaboration with stakeholders, including managing variations.  

A common platform has made a big difference. 

Autodesk Construction Cloud Makes an Impact at RLB  

 Since adopting Autodesk Construction Cloud, RLB has quickly seen benefits. The business is revelling in the power of the live dashboard’s comprehensive point-of-view, especially useful for RLB’s mega projects. 

“It actually saves us a lot of trouble manually tracking the status of many small moving parts. When these small things are multiplied by hundreds and thousands, it does mean something to us,” says Lai Sun Mei.

Automating workflows has been a great advantage. This allows the team to track the status of variations, reduces multiple handling, and allows for multi-level approval, vastly improving productivity. 

 “I am very excited to work with a platform that automates workflows. For example, if someone triggers a ‘command reject’, the workflow stops and engages the right people to follow up. It saves us a lot of trouble,” says Lai Sun Mei. 

Live cost reporting in a customised dashboard format has similarly been beneficial. It enables RLB to track progress and share updates with stakeholders and customers, providing a competitive advantage. 

“From the moment that you click in, you have the live status of the project’s financial health. I think many of our competitors can’t state that they offer this. So it gives us that competitive edge,” says Lai Sun Mei. 
 
Improved document control and the platform's role as a single source of truth that is remotely accessible has also had a positive influence. 

“With the single source of truth, it's very important. It boils down to traceability. We need remote access. We need a single source of truth. We have to make sure that it's accurate information,” says Lai Sun Mei. 

And, improved workflows and the free flow of accurate information has fostered greater collaboration within its own internal team and even external stakeholders. 

“It's very powerful because we need to cater for the mobility of people. Our staff can collaborate better with stakeholders. The sharing of information is seamless,” says Lai Sun Mei. 

The Future for RLB is Bright and Even More Digital 

As the old adage goes, the only constant is change.  

For RLB, this change has led to leaps of improvement in efficiency, effective communication through a live and reliable platform, enhanced collaboration, and minimized disputes via a single source of truth. 

“It fosters collaborations, increases productivity, and ultimately, increases productivity to the point where we can think in a more efficient, effective way. It benefits the firm,” says Lai Sun Mei. 

Technology is also having a broader impact at RLB – it’s helping attract and retain bright, young talent. “The younger generation of the workforce seeks diversified experience and a sense of achievement, but the nature of quantity surveying work can often be dry and repetitive, which may not attract young talent,” says Lai. “By digitising the work, quantity surveying leaders can manage tasks more effectively and create a more conducive working environment to attract and retain young talents in the construction industry.” 

So, what’s next for RLB? The company plans to review its current practices, and expand its adoption of Autodesk Construction Cloud and continue to learn, to share that knowledge with their partners across its 120 offices around the world.  

The future's looking bright. 

“We see a lot of opportunities, and it’s something we’re very excited about,” says Lai Sun Mei.