Sumitomo talks about AI, PH’s booming construction industry
Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. managing director Ichiro Shimada hinted at the possibility of fully adopting artificial intelligence and introducing computer-assisted machineries soon.
In a recent interview, Shimada noted that the use of artificial intelligence in buildings and infrastructure is on the rise. “Take a look at the advanced countries like Japan, the United States, and those in Europe. In these countries, there is now what is called a machinecontrolled system which is becoming more popular. It assists machine operators who may not even be highly skilled,” said Shimada.
The Sumitomo executive explained that the system has become urgently necessary. “It has become difficult to find skilled operators for the construction industry,” citing Japan, “where we are facing lack of laborers. That will be an area where all players need to develop responsive systems to provide more efficient work process. We’re gearing for less human control systems,” he further said.
Shimada shared that in the United States, the company has just started marketing computer-operated excavators. “Once you set it -- or if you have a three-dimensional drawing into the machine -- the machine can operate automatically. That’s going to be one of the features in the future,” he added.
In spite of being a latecomer in the Philippine construction industry, Sumitomo is all set to seize the opportunities presented by the robustly growing local industry.
“We haven’t concentrated on the Philippine market. We have businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc. but the Philippines is a very new market for us, so I still haven’t actually figured out what our strengths and weaknesses are, relative to our competitors, given that we haven’t been here for a long time,” he said.
“Generally speaking, the Philippine market is a very viable and high-potential one, you have a huge population. There are many things to do; you need a lot of work for infrastructure improvement. Along with the growth of this industry, you need efficiency to build infrastructures,” he added.
He noted that with the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build Program”, there is a rising need for construction machineries and supplies in the country. He sees a bright future for the infrastructure industry in the Philippines.