Focus on Equipment

September/October 2009

It’s Midnight. Do You Know Where Your Skid Steer Is Tonight?

Equipment-tracking software can boost contractors’ productivity and cut regular maintenance costs

Construction firms are improving productivity by using equipment- and fleet-management systems to closely track machines and other resources.

By Debra Wood

The Dispatcher program’s map-view page shows the location of each piece of equipment and where it has been, based on GPS data. (Image Courtesy of HCSS)

“It comes down to best utilizing the technology to help you make better decisions and manage your equipment in terms of maintenance and utilization,” says Tary L. Carlson, senior project manager for the inici group Inc., Portland, Ore., Oregon-Columbia Chapter AGC, and chairman of AGC’s Electronic Information Systems Committee.

For instance, some systems let management track when the equipment is idle or moving, Carlson says. If someone quits early, management knows it. “It is kind of a Big Brother aspect, but it goes back to providing accountability,” he adds. “If guys know they are being watched and people are looking and asking questions, they tend to be a little better about what they are supposed to be doing.”

Skanska USA Building in Seattle, a member of multiple AGC chapters, knows where every piece of its equipment is at any given time by using ToolWatch, which lets the company accurately bill for each machine. “It is fast and saves a lot of time,” says Jolyn Miller, office coordinator for Skanska’s equipment yard. “It is up to the minute, and if someone transfers equipment to another jobsite, it shows it is there.”

With ToolWatch, when machinery and tools are sent to a jobsite or handed out to employees, someone at the warehouse or equipment yard scans the bar code placed on the item. That scan starts an information stream, showing how often the tool is used, when it needs service and how long it has been at the jobsite. “It immediately drives accountability,” says Don Kafka, president of ToolWatch Corp., Denver, a member of AGC of Colorado, adding that company management can compare the use of tools and equipment and measure their performance across projects or supervisors. “It impacts profitability and performance on the job in a positive way,” says Kafka.

With ToolWatch, contractors must scan a bar code imbedded on a piece of equipment to sign it in and out from a warehouse or an equipment yard. (Photo Courtesy of ToolWatch)

Kafka estimates contractors using the system save between 60 cents and 80 cents per hour for each employee in the field. The cost of the system starts at $100 per month. If the company charges a cost to the job for each tool and people in the field share a bonus for a successful outcome, everyone working on the site tends to take ownership to ensure equipment is returned as soon as it is no longer needed, Kafka adds.

Another software option is Dexter + Chaney’s Spectrum Equipment Service System. It also tracks operations and cost of ownership based on hourly use and fixed costs. The cost for a fleet with approximately 50 pieces of equipment would run about $35,000 for hardware and software. “It helps you when estimating and when you run the job,” says Brad Mathews, vice president of marketing for Seattle-based Dexter + Chaney Inc., AGC of Washington.

Crossland Construction Co., Columbus, Kan., AGC of Kansas, uses The Dispatcher Resource Management Software from HCSS, Sugar Land, Texas, to verify the location and use of equipment and to know when machines need servicing or preventive maintenance.

“We use the information to try to get the best utilization out of our fleet,” says Todd Houser, GPS coordinator at Crossland. The Dispatcher costs $4,000 for a single user, with HCSS offering discounts for additional users.

Scheduling Maintenance

Global-positioning-system software typically tracks the hours a machine has run, the fuel consumed and the preventive maintenance performed. The programs often will send a notice that an oil change is due in 100 hours or some other parameter and again when that time approaches if the work was not performed. The Spectrum Field Master mobile-control device mounts on the fuel and maintenance truck and captures hours run, maintenance tasks and fuel dispensed. It then transfers the information to the main office.

“We found it nearly impossible to collect the information manually,” says Steve Rasmussen, vice president of information technology at Phillips & Jordan, Knoxville, Tenn., Carolinas AGC, which uses the Spectrum Equipment Service System. Without the software, “it is hard to get [the information] timely, and it is time consuming to process.”

Rasmussen says the technology helps the company make better servicing decisions because it helps crews identify equipment ready for servicing. “It is simple for them to use,” Rasmussen says. “It gets them involved and helps them do their job.”

Tracking Equipment

Flatiron Construction Corp., Longmont, Colo., Colorado Contractors Association, purchased GlobalTRACS from Qualcomm, San Diego, three years ago to electronically track maintenance needs but since then has expanded its use to include geo-fencing for theft prevention and monitoring where equipment is located and how long it ran. If a machine is idle, the company will move it to another job rather than renting another piece of equipment.

Dexter + Chaney’s Spectrum Equipment Service System Field Master mobile-control device mounts on service vehicles and tracks repair history, fuel use and hours run. (Photo Courtesy of Dexter + Chaney)

“Utilization is becoming more and more of an issue, especially in today’s economy,” says Warren Schmidt, corporate equipment manager for Flatiron. He says the system has allowed the company to avoid purchasing unnecessary equipment.

Qualcomm has stopped selling GlobalTRACS. Topcon Tierra—a joint-venture company of Topcon Positioning Systems, Livermore, Calif., and Italy’s DIVITECH S.p.A.—will provide maintenance and service on some existing accounts.

Skanska USA Civil uses a GPS system on its transport trucks, says Gary Merrifield, vice president of equipment for Skanska USA Civil in Cortez, Colo. It automatically tracks the mileage in each state for tax reporting. “It allows us to see where they are at any given time, and every quarter when we have to figure how many miles each truck traveled in each state, it does that automatically and saves hours of labor from going through each driver’s log book,” Merrifield says.

ToolWatch’s Kafka says he expects more use of radio-frequency identification in the future. “The biggest thing coming out is the ability to manage tools and integrate with building information modeling,” he says. “Contractors will be able to fabricate a blower, piece of steel or something, track it through the process, build it into an assembly and manage it on the job using RFID to know where it’s at on the project and install it.”

While some manufacturers include GPS or other systems with new equipment, those proprietary systems often do not communicate with existing software. Flatiron’s Schmidt is working with organizations that are trying to convince manufacturers to post all the information at one collective site, but he says that while that is a “good goal, people need to bite the bullet and go to a third-party system.”