When we engage with precast and prestressed concrete manufacturers, we always start the conversation by asking where they find the greatest inefficiencies in their business. Invariably, they respond that there is too much time spent on completing paperwork, retrieving information and looking for products in the yard. Every time. It shouldn't be surprising, therefore, that there is remarkable consistency in the features they want to see from information technology. Here are the top three we see over and over again.
1. Inventory reporting and GPS tracking
The #1 inefficiency reported to us is time wasted looking for inventory in the yard. A close second is the cost of the wrong products being shipped to the job site. The industry wants more efficient and accurate inventory management from its information technology. It wants a solution that will record inventory status in real-time and allow the user to find products to be shipped for a job on a map like this:
2. Consolidated QC report matching products with concrete test results
Quality control records for products are maintained and concrete test results for each pour are recorded. Correlating them can be very difficult and time consuming when the inspector asks for records of products manufactured months ago. Since project owners are now seeking more transparency, manufacturers want easy access to a report that will associate every product made from a pour with the concrete tests and cylinder break information recorded for the pour. Something like this:
3. Automated repair reports
A piece gets nicked and needs repair so it is set aside in the yard. A month later, when it's time for the piece to be shipped according to the job schedule, it is found that the piece was never repaired because no one remembered to mention that it needed repair. Producers want to have a report produced on a daily basis with regular updates of pieces needing repair...
... and they want it automatically emailed to the person responsible for repairs.
We are interested in hearing your thoughts. What do you demand of information technology to make your company more productive.
About Idencia
Our purpose at Idencia is to offer asset tracking solutions that improve productivity throughout the construction value chain. Our subscription offering applies RFID and bar code tracking to products from the time of manufacture through end-of-life. As a cloud-hosted product tracking system that is seamless between manufacturers, contractors and asset managers, Idencia adds information value to all, eliminates redundancy and saves time. If you would like to learn more, click below.
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