Canvas is a signatory to District Council 16 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, but it doesn't pitch itself as a drywall subcontractor. Instead, the company trains and hires union workers for projects as a subcontractor.
One example was the 73,000-square-foot Newark, California, Civic Center project. Webcor employed Canvas robots to finish drywall in several rooms where the robotic arm, run by workers on site, taped, sprayed and sanded each surface to a Level 5 finish, the highest quality benchmark in the industry.
"It's all computer-generated. It knows how many millimeters to spray on the wall. Nobody is mixing mud, nobody is spraying or holding the nozzle. As a result, the wall looks magnificent," said Derek Stevens, drywall operations manager at Webcor, in a release.
According to a case study emailed to Construction Dive, instead of needing six days to produce a Level 5 finish, Canvas allowed taping and spraying to be completed on the first day, which meant there was only a single drying cycle needed before sanding.
Use of the robot reduced the cycle time for a Level 5 finish by 34% and resulted in 99.9% dust recapture to create a safer worksite during the COVID-19 pandemic while putting workers at less risk, since they didn't have to work on the 17-foot ceilings manually.
Taking humans out of the equation is another benefit of using the robot. According to Canvas, drywall finishing and framing has the highest prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorder cases among such trades, with as many as one in four workers experiencing such effects.
Robert Williams III, business manager for IUPAT's District Council 16, said a tool like Canvas helps mitigate those impacts.
"It is creating meaningful union career opportunities, helping introduce previously untapped communities to the trades and making the work itself safer and reducing the strain on the body," Williams said.
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Topics covered: commercial, infrastructure, design, green, regulation, multifamily construction, and more.
Learn more about how various construction sectors will fair this year.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries indicated that workers took shortcuts when dismantling the crane in April, which made it more susceptible to the wind that toppled it, taking four lives.
Subscribe to Construction Dive for top news, trends & analysis
Topics covered: commercial, infrastructure, design, green, regulation, multifamily construction, and more.
Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts
Topics covered: commercial, infrastructure, design, green, regulation, multifamily construction, and more.
Learn more about how various construction sectors will fair this year.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries indicated that workers took shortcuts when dismantling the crane in April, which made it more susceptible to the wind that toppled it, taking four lives.
The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines
Topics covered: commercial, infrastructure, design, green, regulation, multifamily construction, and more.