Trust in Robotics and Automation in the Construction Industry: The Case of Malaysia

The construction industry in Malaysia faces numerous challenges, resulting in lower productivity compared with other sectors. The industry has been slow to embrace digitalization, relying heavily on manual work and outdated project management practices. This has led to complex and time-consuming projects, hindering Malaysia’s progress as a developed country and causing issues such as high housing prices and traffic congestion. Furthermore, the industry’s resistance to change and the fear of job loss impedes the adoption of robotics and automation. This study aims to identify strategies to build trust and promote the use of robotics and automation in the Malaysian construction industry. An in-depth interview survey was done with 14 respondents from different backgrounds in the industries including clients, contractors, and consultants. The approach for physical in-depth interviews begins with contacting respondents who meet the requirements, and an in-depth interview date that is judged acceptable is then set up. In connection with the digital revolution, another approach of contacting more significant respondents is to provide the in-depth interview questions by building an interview form online for respondents who are unable to meet physically. A thematic analysis review from the interview was analyzed to identify the issues and strategies to build trust in robotics and automation in the construction industry. The study findings show that there are three main issues in the matter which are economy, promotion, and enforcement while the strategies to countermeasure the issues are economy, enforcement, and training. The study finding can assist in helping to understand the need of raising trust in the matter and implementing suitable strategies to utilize robotics and automation to the fullest, as well as to serve as a guideline for industry practitioners to integrate new technology into design and construction to reduce time-consumption, cost, and increase quality of work that aligns with Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) number 11 which is to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.