It’s been 10 years since the Idencia Tracking Infrastructure blog was launched. We figured it was a good time to go down memory lane and revisit some of our most notable blog articles throughout this past decade. Our goal has always been and will continue to be sharing knowledge to the precast concrete industry and being a platform where we help inform people about relevant topics.
Will Precast Concrete Manufacturers Be Ready for Smart Bridges?
Explore the preparedness of precast concrete manufacturers for the integration of smart bridge technology. This blog delves into the potential benefits and challenges associated with this innovative advancement in infrastructure. Through critical analysis, we provide an assessment of the industry's readiness to adapt to the demands of modern smart infrastructure. Read more...
Create Happier Customers With Lean Practices
”Contrary to what the term implies, lean manufacturing is not simply a system of reducing expenses or "trimming fat". The central goal of lean practice is the elimination of muda, activities that do not add value to the customer. By extension, this means that investments in activities that provide more value to the customer are valuable contributions and should be prioritized. These investments provide excellent returns through improved profitability and result in customers that are more inclined to stay with you.” Read more...
The Cost of NOT Investing in Technology for Precast
”There is a popular meme circulating in social media where a CFO asks the CEO of a company: “Have you considered the cost to the company if we invest in improving the skills of our employees and they leave?” To which the CEO replies: “Have you considered the cost if we don't and they stay?” The same logic applies to investing in technology. Our conversations with GMs of precast manufacturing companies reveal that they have a strong intuitive sense that investing in technology will save money... but they are often surprised by how much.” Read more...
Innovation and Precast: Do They Mix?
”Precast concrete products date back to the Roman times when molds were used to produce concrete aqueducts and culverts. The process was applied to modern manufacturing starting in 1905 when a Liverpool, England engineer, John Alexander Brodie, began producing building panels out of precast concrete. Mr. Brodie was also the inventor of the soccer goal net. So, the industry is steeped in innovation historically but... can it still be an innovative industry?” Read more...
Smart Infrastructure with IoT
“The ‘smart city’ is the wave of the future and there is a lot of interest in making it happen. However, you don't seem to hear as much about ‘smart infrastructure’, which is curious. Every house has a foundation, and infrastructure is the foundation of the city, so it stands to reason that you can't have a truly ‘smart’ city unless it is ‘smart’ all the way down to its foundation. Idencia is all about smart infrastructure so we thought we would share our vision.” Read more...
What IoT Means for Construction
“This is the first of a 3-part series that will show how the evolution of technology will affect the infrastructure product manufacturing industry. In this post we discuss why the construction industry will embrace IoT... and soon. In the second, we will discuss how smart infrastructure products will be demanded for projects. In the third, we will provide our vision for how technology will enable the reinvention of construction manufacturing in response to new, vertically integrated mega-firms.” Read more...
Precast’s Digital Response to COVID
”Since early in Q2 of 2020, we have seen a dramatic growth in inquiries from large precast manufacturers who want to 'go digital’ in their plants. They all have their own specific needs, of course, but the acceleration of interest suggests that there is something bigger at work. Something that suggests a change in thinking or a transformation. It feels as if the industry has reached a tipping point, much the same way that the world rushed to embrace Zoom to manage through COVID.” Read more...
Digital Twins: The Metaverse for Construction?
”Since Facebook changed its company name to Meta, there has been a lot written lately about the metaverse. As a combination of augmented reality and video that people can experience virtually, it creates a lot of consumer excitement for the potential that it can offer by bridging the virtual and physical worlds. There has been a parallel movement in B2B markets (some argue that it's part of the same movement) in the form of Digital Twins. As is often the pattern in technology, it is likely that the surge in consumer interest will be followed with business adaptation. Get ready for Digital Twins.” Read more...
Confessions of a QC Manager
”The Idencia data tracking system is being used in more than 90 precast concrete plants, almost every one of which is doing so to track QC data. There is a simple reason for this: Idencia solves problems that are plaguing the QC department! The process of working with prospective customers has been an interesting study in human nature because people typically don't want to admit that they have problems. The irony is that most have the exact same problems!” Read more...
How Precast is Addressing the Labor Shortage
Caitlyn from Idencia interviews precasters about their struggles with the labor shortage and learns about the strategies they have in place to help with hiring and retention. The blog also explores why there is a shortage and other tactics precasters can use to create the best workforce they can. Read more...
That about sums it up! We hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with us over the past decade of our blogging platform and maybe learned something new. Since May of 2014, we have published nearly 150 blogs—can you believe it?! Above is a small sampling and we recommend finding some more nuggets of wisdom from the past here: https://blog.idencia.com/the-idencia-blog/all
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