Blueprint for Construction 4.0 Technologies: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

To survive in an increasingly complex environment, the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry needs a game-changing innovation. As, the industrial sector has provided compelling evidence that Industry 4.0 gives the opportunity to gain competitive advantages, the construction industry started embracing what is now acknowledged as Construction 4.0. While Building Information modeling (BIM) has been extensively discussed and is perceived as a core enabler of Construction 4.0, this next revolution in the AEC industry goes beyond BIM. As Construction 4.0 is gaining momentum in the construction body of knowledge, there is still no consensus on what Construction 4.0 really means and what technologies it encompasses. Building on insights collected from the extant research corpus through a systematic literature review of the published scientific research in the last ten years, this paper proposes a blueprint for Construction 4.0. Bibliometric analysis was employed to map the currently discussed Construction 4.0 technologies, group them into clusters based on their occurrences, and determine the least researched ones. This blueprint sheds light on how well-defined the concept of Construction 4.0 is, detects the least researched technologies, and provides AEC stakeholders with a reference to better understand this transformation and where it stands today.