Reality capture technology is helping small and medium-sized businesses to stay ahead of much larger competitors
It’s no secret that in 2025 big companies, whether in construction or otherwise, command big headlines.
Some of the biggest generate upward of €6 bn in annual revenue, boast over 12,000 employees and have global footprints with more than 100 locations, often with regional headquarters right here in the UK in some of our largest cities. Germany’s Goldbeck, for instance, generates €6.4bn in annual revenue, boasts some 12,500 employees and has over 100 global locations, four of them in the United Kingdom alone: London, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff.
But the reality is, for all those show-stopping stats, in the UK, as in many countries, small and medium-sized businesses, those with up to 250 employees, form the backbone of a healthy, diversified economy.
In fact, according to the Federation of Small Businesses, a non-profit advocating for small businesses and the self-employed, SMEs account for 99.8% of the nation’s business population.
Even more impressive is that SMEs employ about 60% of the workforce and generate over half of the UK’s private sector turnover at 52%, or £2.8 trillion.
Sixteen per cent of all SMEs work in construction, the largest subgroup. Not surprisingly, London and the South East boast the greatest concentration of SMEs at 34%.
Staying ahead of big business behemoths
So how is it that these so-called “little guys” measure up? Even with data points like those catalogued above, how does a small construction company with 50 employees or fewer compete against a corporate Goliath with 25,000% more personnel? The answer is varied.
For starters, SMEs tend to be more agile and flexible to local economic demands. These companies know the communities they serve and are trusted partners in their future development.
Additionally, there’s often less bureaucracy. In smaller organisations with reduced corporate weight, there tends to be less time from project scouting to ideation, to completion.
The lack of bottlenecks also means less intellectual drag. Creativity flourishes in places where it’s encouraged to flourish. All this freeing of mental resources means more time to dedicate to increased personal customer service, new project research and, perhaps most importantly, new technologies like modern reality capture tech.
This is especially true from a hardware, software and cloud-based platform perspective. Together, these technologies help construction companies better map, measure and visualise a job site, compare a project’s as-built condition with CAD drawings, identify any deviations from the two, and share that digital data with project stakeholders anywhere they reside.
From FARO’s perspective, the FARO® Focus range, the FARO® Orbis Premium Mobile Laser Scanner and the FARO Sphere® XG Digital Reality Platform are just three solutions best suited for these interrelated tasks.
Getting more done with less
Image courtesy of FARO
As noted, small and medium-sized enterprises are often more agile than their bigger corporate brothers.
Often that agility can be enhanced with reality capture tech. With a tool like the FARO Focus, construction companies can capture 3D data to create accurate, complete datasets for various applications such as as-built documentation, Building Information Modelling (BIM) , – industrial facility management and infrastructure projects. These datasets form a strong foundation for conversions, extensions, space optimisation, structural analysis and maintenance.
The technology also enables improved construction quality control. Consistent and regular laser scanning during the construction process ensures that the final structure aligns with design intent, reducing the risk of errors, delays and cost overruns.
Calculating large volumes and inspecting free-form shape elements and facade components is also straightforward, while the scan data is ideal for project supervision and collaboration across different trades.
Speaking of multi-trade coordination, the FARO® Orbis Premium is also a unique mobile scanning solution that can be used in conjunction with the Focus range or as standalone tool.
Designed for engineering and construction applications, the fast, mobile, lightweight device is well suited for repeatable and sharable measurements.
It offers a fast and accurate method of data capture, making it possible to analyse progress on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis without disrupting jobsite activities and ensuring work progress remains on track.
Integrated with FARO’s Flash Technology, Orbis can take stationary scans in as little as 15 seconds, offering better quality and denser point clouds in specific areas. These are exactly the kind of incremental time-saving gains and level of detail small construction companies rely on to stay ahead of the larger competition.
Additionally, Orbis Premium’s 360-degree camera offers AEC professionals a new way to visualise data through high quality colourised data and clear imagery.
Sphere XG, FARO’s cloud-based digital reality platform, provides users a centralised, collaborative experience across the company’s reality capture applications. With Sphere XG, point clouds and 360-degree photo documentation can be viewed and shared all in one place.
For small and medium enterprises, this type of “everywhere, anywhere” project line-of-sight, is critical. Centralised, focused and efficient collaboration helps project managers do more with fewer personnel and eliminate productivity obstacles that might otherwise trip up a larger, less agile, less reality capture-enabled competitor.
Sizing up
To be sure, when it comes to adopting reality capture technology, the size of the construction company in question is secondary to having the budget to purchase such hardware, software, and cloud-based solutions, along with the desire to make (or further) a company’s digital transition.
While exact ROI is difficult to calculate (as no two construction companies are alike), there is no denying the broad-spectrum efficiency multiplier effect these tools provide.
Bigger players might always have a size, funding and staffing advantage. But as the backbone of the British economy, it’s the small and medium enterprises that are punching above their weight.
And modern reality capture technology is helping score those hometown wins.
Visit FARO.com to learn more about how reality capture solutions can help your small to medium-sized construction business stay ahead of the competition.
*Please note that this is a commercial profile.
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