IoT is now facilitating what are known as connected jobsites. With IoT, all personnel can have access to relevant data wherever they happen to be across the site.
Thanks to IoT, connected jobsites become possible, and the cool thing is, most of the involved tech is already in use. Granted, you can consolidate on-site tech equipment of the IoT variety, but a lot of the issue has to do with associated software.
It will depend on the contracting business, some will have more work to do than others if they want a connected site. At any rate, regardless of whether you work with tech professionals or set up your own IoT application internally, when it’s functioning properly, you should expect the following:
Monitoring of Staff in Real Time
When everyone on staff is working on the same network, it’s easy to keep tabs on them. When you know where they are at all times, you can more efficiently manage personnel to ensure directives or goals are being met.
Additionally, you’ve got a plethora of new data collection opportunities. You can determine who is performing well, and who isn’t. There’s a lot of potential here in terms of security and optimization toward expanded productivity overall.
Expanded Integration and Communication
Communication is a lot easier through connected jobsites. When everybody’s got some sort of device either on their person, or monitoring their equipment, it’s a lot easier to get in touch with necessary staff from a remote location. Essentially, IoT enables integration and integration is communication.
Timesheet filing and analysis is facilitated via IoT. More up-to-date information is available in one location that is easy to reference. Basically, IoT puts everybody on the same page instantaneously, and any updates or changes necessary during production can be disseminated across productive “ranks” immediately.
Continuous and Instantaneous Documentation
Connected jobsites are going to simplify documentation. Technologically speaking, everything done over IT hardware is recorded in IT software. So even if you haven’t put together a solid infrastructure for documenting operations, the information is available should it become necessary.
If you’re setting up a connected jobsite, it can be worthwhile to have tech professionals help you determine what means of documentation are most appropriate for your team. Ideally, you have a simple interface that allows you to review the day’s events organized by varying applicable categories. You should have the ability regardless of interface initiation, but it can be helpful to have someone set things up for ease of operation.
With digital documentation, it becomes easier to determine where mistakes have been made or where improvements are possible. You can explore one means of putting together part of the project, as opposed to a different method. You can measure involved time, energy, and resources, both physical and personnel-based. Accordingly, you can optimize productivity with statistically vetted best practices. But this is just the tip of the iceberg; the future of connected construction still holds an abundance of as yet unrealized potential.
Exploring IoT Solutions and Getting Your Jobsite Connected
With connected jobsites, documentation becomes instantaneous, communication is better, integration is improved, real-time monitoring becomes possible, and the list goes on. In a nutshell, IoT tech on the jobsite significantly improves the utilization of resources and productivity to ensure projects are completed on time and under budget.
After 25 years in engineering, Johannes Beekman founded IoT Marketing with the goal of helping companies bring wide-scale awareness to their inventions. He received a Master of Science in Physics degree from the Eindhoven University of Technology, and a Master in Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and started his career in the semiconductor field. Johannes pioneered two successful wafer fab startups for Philips Electronics; one in Europe and the second one in Asia. And served as Senior Program Manager for Sematech, where he provided solutions for semiconductor industry-wide product improvement and cost reduction challenges. Johannes has also published articles on several trade-focused websites.
