Digitize equipment management - How to optimize the management of your equipment and machinery in the construction industry

In the construction industry, extensive inventories and the parallel handling of many projects are not uncommon. Maintaining an overview is a real challenge. In this article, we explain how you can simplify the administration process by digitizing your equipment management.

Construction project management and the associated logistics, i.e. getting equipment and goods to the right place at the right time, is a mammoth task. The many parallel project locations and a large number of changing players provide many sources of error in the exchange of information. It is therefore not uncommon for equipment and goods to be unused and available in excessive quantities at project sites, while they are urgently needed elsewhere. In addition, project sites often exchange equipment among themselves without having passed through a central warehouse beforehand. It is almost impossible to maintain an overview. This in turn leads to unproductive time and significantly increases search times. In the worst case, costs are even incurred for the superfluous acquisition of new equipment or new purchases due to losses.

Digitize device management through tracking

Device management in construction is a big lever for efficiency and effectiveness in construction. IoT devices operate this very lever. By equipping equipment with trackers and equipping warehouses and construction sites with gateways, construction companies obtain digital inventories. On the one hand, the software makes it possible to see which devices or goods are in the warehouses at the current time, which devices are at which construction site, or where a device is currently located. This also makes it possible to track the relocation of equipment between projects.

Time saving thanks to live inventory

Digitizing equipment management optimizes the logistics process in the construction industry on various levels. On the one hand, this actively reduces search times, because the location of a piece of equipment can be found out with just a few clicks. This makes time-consuming phone calls or even searches a thing of the past. On the other hand, it significantly reduces non-productive time, thanks to the faster provision of equipment.

Automated prescription on projects

The time savings are also noticeable in administration. The tracking system posts devices to the corresponding projects completely automatically. This significantly reduces the administrative effort and prevents incorrect bookings.

Reduction of the inventory according to demand

Acceleration and climate sensors installed in the trackers provide information about the utilization of equipment. In this way, historical data can be used to avoid superfluous new purchases or even to optimize the equipment fleet according to need on the basis of the data.

Conclusion

It has long been clear that digitization is not a trend, but a task that will take a lot of work off our hands in the future in our private and, above all, our business lives. It goes without saying that the integration of IoT systems and trackers involves investments. But those who take the step will quickly realize the enormous added value that digital helpers can deliver. Because information can be retrieved with just a few clicks, automated processes in the background and the considerable acceleration of communication ensure that device management is only a secondary matter.