IoT lays the foundations for productivity in the building trade.
As the cost of adopting Internet of Things technology continues to fall, the business case for doing so keeps getting stronger. For the construction sector, it’s reaching a tipping point where the relatively low investment needed to implement IoT has an exponentially greater return. By using IoT, building firms can ensure their people and assets are as productive as possible, while safeguarding workers and meeting all compliance requirements.
Construction companies have heavy machinery like generators, cranes, concrete mixers, pounders, excavators or earth movers. Each asset can represent many thousands worth of investment, so naturally, construction companies want to be able to use that equipment as efficiently as possible. IoT can help to optimise resources and prevent project delays, while staying on the right side of regulations. In this blog, we’ll look at these benefits in more detail.
Some companies put basic tracking devices into their assets today, but that’s mainly to prevent theft. IoT, on the other hand, offers so much more than just traceability. By installing sensors on an excavator or generator and connecting it to the company’s planning and workflow systems, companies can ensure their assets are at the right building site for the right job. Having the right assets where they’re needed increases productivity. If a company has a new job that’s about to start groundwork, it can schedule an excavator to be there for a set number of days to dig the foundations.
IoT can also relay details about the health of a company’s heavy machinery. Fitting an IoT sensor for condition-based monitoring means the company gets a warning if their machines have a part that needs repair, or if it’s in danger of breaking down. This feature means the company can arrange preventative maintenance, avoiding a situation where equipment stops working in the middle of an important project. The knock-on effect would mean delays as the company has to source replacement machinery from somewhere else, along with the time and expense needed to transport it from one site to another.
A construction company’s profit is tied up in how close or better it comes to completing a job on schedule; time is money in a very real sense. Handing over a job ahead of deadline usually means a bonus for the builder, whereas any delay to finishing a project the agreed timeframe could incur penalties.
