Page 21 - IEC Insights Sept-Oct19

ince the rise of the ‘Internet management to field productivity to Entrusting this information to digitization
of Things’ (IoT), consumers equipment GPS/telematics. With each gets your crew and equipment on the
have craved seamless solution a custom system, the monthly same page. At Milwaukee®, we first
experiences. Courtesy of our license fees start to quickly stack up. launched One-Key as a centralized asset
TM
Ssmartphones—the catalyst to management system. You can locate
connectivity—we’ve been able to monitor When objectively approaching the assets and automate your inventory
and control everything from our smart problem, we can see that there is a way deployment from one central, paperless
thermostats to our home security systems. to thread the needle of profitability portal. This means, no more ripping
without over-committing on every point through binders trying to find the most
Unsurprisingly, this same desire for solution or turtling back to what worked up-to-date records on who has what.
digitization at home has spilled into in the past. The demand in the market
every industry, with media organizations changes at an increasingly rapid pace, Often, it’s not the cost of replacement that
churning out digital content and so the solutions that make the most hurts the most, but the cost of waiting for
manufacturers automating their sense are those that offer unified focus. the replacement to show up. Integrating
production processes in support of community Bluetooth® tracking and now
improved consistency and efficiency. geofence technology, we’re equipping
Smarter Inventory One-Key™ to be the solution that
Meanwhile, the construction industry, on Management Systems makes it easier for tradesmen to get full
the whole, has been reluctant to adopt visibility to their jobs and equipment,
digitization. Despite the challenges for Increasing Efficiency to better manage their inventories so
involved in digitizing the construction and Productivity tools end up where they’re needed, and
industry, its importance is undeniable. Reported in Digitalist magazine, 63% of ensure the job gets done on time.
With that in mind, answers are needed direct labor time on big projects is spent
for the most important question: How waiting for materials and equipment,
can construction managers seamlessly traveling to the worksite, taking breaks, Finding Missing and
adopt digitization to efficiently and planning work (Leeds, 2016). The Stolen Tools without
regulate how work gets done on the waiting—in particular—is the worst, with
jobsite to achieve more with less? the average contractor spending 80 Mobile Hotspots
minutes a day unable to work because Contractors estimate 5-10% inventory
they don’t have what they need. churn due to theft. That’s lost profits
The Challenges of Digitizing from shrinkage that can be prevented.
the Construction Industry Just like collaboration in an office Being able to track your tools is
requires open communication and important, especially as bigger jobs
As a contractor, digitization is a hard require costly heavy equipment to be
dilemma to face. Typical profit margins efficient processes for filesharing to efficiently deployed and accounted for.
get everybody on the same page,
for a job run razor-thin, at 2-8%. Those
who can operate within these constraints driving productivity on the jobsite What’s more, over 75% of contractors are
involves effective project management.
still need to find the time and budget looking for newer, better technologies
to innovate, adding extra risk to any Being able to increase visibility to in equipment tracking. 5G wireless
all your jobs—to know where your
project that becomes a test site. connectivity looks to revolutionize the
equipment is, confirm it arrived as
deployed and is working at capacity— way that data is shared, and many in the
In addition, while the need for digitization industry are at the forefront of actually
is abundantly clear, for most companies can be the difference between a building America’s 5G infrastructure.
the budget for putting it into effect is job well-done and a wasted day. While the benefits of 5G remain several
nonexistent. As summarized in Digitalist Attempts to eliminate this problem years out, laying the groundwork for
magazine, “…Companies find themselves of wasted time on the site has led viable alternatives is warranted.
trapped between shrinking profit margins contractors to employ whatever solution
and stagnant productivity, unable to they can, usually taking the form of Tremendous work has been done in BLE
generate the profit necessary to invest tedious spreadsheets or cumbersome tracking to allow smartphones to locate
in critical technology” (Leeds, 2016). misplaced items, like misplaced keys,
folders. Once “tried and true,” these
Help is on the way, but with it comes processes are disjointed, and can easily nearby, and paired with the devices
of friends and loved ones to find your
a new problem: new tech startups are result in missing or undocumented phone if you leave it somewhere while
popping up faster than budgets can equipment. Time spent looking for out. The same technology can be applied
afford, offering point solutions in every equipment is wasted, impacting to tool tracking when paired with users
conceivable niche of the industry—from labor costs and your bottom line. on the job, creating a lost and found
design management to document

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