Tracking equipment use on the job site for maintenance and billing purposes is difficult. Crew members don’t like to be slowed down by paperwork and supervisors would prefer not to spend all day entering data. Yet, the ability to track equipment location and usage is necessary for most construction companies these days.
Unfortunately, most solutions found on the internet are ineffective, too complicated, or just too expensive. Worse yet, few of these solutions will integrate with your existing ERP and inventory systems like they need to. They just take too much effort to implement and too much thought to use.
With the help of Nobious, a quarry in the Midwest found a solution to this problem. Previously using Field Management by Viewpoint, they found the program was not saving them time, could not track their equipment, and could not provide smart barcode scanning. By developing a custom software system, they were able to create a solution tailored specifically to their needs. This new solution used a smartphone application primarily using barcodes to quickly assign time to equipment, jobs, and phases, and maintain an accurate location on all equipment.
They wanted their equipment to be barcoded numerous ways, including:
• Laser etching
• Titanium riveted labels
• Reading the existing VIN number on the vehicle
• Attaching an adhesive vinyl label inside of the cab, perhaps on the backside of door window
By barcoding their equipment and using this new application the company will:
• Increase revenue by billing more accurately
• Enhance equipment utilization by better understanding your needs
• Increase productivity by eliminating manual time tracking tasks
• Have more accurate equipment use information
• Better maintain their equipment by more accurately tracking odometer hours
Custom software allows you to think outside the box and create tailored solutions to your greatest business challenges. It offers businesses complete ownership of their software with applications that do everything they need it to. Better yet, custom solutions do not require implementation because they are built specifically for your company, fully integrated and ready to use. They typically require minimal training because they’re designed to automate the existing processes using the fewest inputs, instead of constantly asking users for data.
On top of all that, because each solution is designed and built for a specific business by a small team of experts, the total cost of ownership is always less than pre-built software.
