Mobile Resource Management Infographic

On a single construction project, large numbers of employees work on multiple tasks.  Each task may involve multiple steps, and each step may involve multiple people.  The use of technology in construction is fundamental in increasing the efficiency of running any project.   Technology allows real-time visibility of project details and allows for easier communication and faster decision making.    Have a look at this infographic from AboutTIme that shows how using a mobile Resource management solution works for your business.

AboutTime has a new movie!  Check it out.  The best 2 minutes of your day is ahead.    http://abouttimetech.com/media/introduction-to-abouttime.html

Standing Around

Tracking, documenting and managing a project from start to finish is a huge task.  It takes multiple people to complete a single project.  Each person has a specific role to play from design through completion. Everyone involved in a project cannot be at the project site full time to make sure that it is progressing correctly.   At the same time, everyone on the project needs to know what is happening on the job site to make sure it is progressing correctly. 

It goes without saying, standing around and watching workers do their particular job is the least effective way to manage a project, especially when there are multiple projects running simultaneously.    Not only is this ineffective but it is impossible. 

So how is it possible to proactively manage remote job sites without actually being on the job site?  TECHNOLOGY!  Using mobile resource management software in conjunction with smart phones and other mobile devices, information can easily be gathered and documented in the field and delivered in “Real-Time” directly to office staff.  This allows various staff members to make immediate, sometimes critical, decisions regarding the project.  

With the use of technology, the office can easily communicate with field staff, keeping the flow of communication open.  “Real-Time” means that the information is delivered “as it happens,” completely doing away with the need for office staff to physically be on site. 

Throwing Rocks Under a Bridge

Our jobs and lives are so busy and hectic that when there is a problem sometimes we use a quick fix instead of taking the time and spending the money to handle the situation correctly.   As seen in the picture above, throwing a rock under a bridge to hold it up may fix the problem for a short while, however, aside from the obvious danger, when the “quick fix” stops working the whole bridge could fall apart.   

As a business grows, so does its risk factor.  Having more employees and more projects is great, but managing everything can become overwhelming. Instead of frantically “throwing rocks under bridges” to keep up, proactively manage your mobile employees and projects using a mobile resource management solution. 

A mobile resource management solution allows you to automate the process of gathering, communicating and comparing field information.    Problems arise when a project deviates from its original plan and the change is not addressed in time to be managed properly.  The key to early identification lies in the real-time relay of the data.   There is a distinct advantage to knowing, at the moment an employee clocks OUT, that the task they worked on is behind schedule, instead of finding out at the end of the week that the project was not completed on time. 

Make sure you are not throwing rocks under your bridge.   Take the time to research mobile resource management solutions.   The money and heartache it will save down the road far exceed the temporary help a makeshift solution gives today.

Inspiration to Create AboutTime

This letter from Ryan Remkes, CEO and Founder of AboutTime Technologies says it all!  

AboutTime Team,

My wife was home cleaning out files from my construction business, Better Builders.  She found this sampling of "Time Sheets" and "Daily Logs" from 14 years ago in 2000.   She snapped a picture and sent it to me titled "Inspiration to create AboutTime." At the time, I had about 40 employees and this was the typical and common way to capture what was going on in the field. Check out the level of "detail and accuracy." This picture represents the core problem we help our customers solve every day.

It is amazing to me now, looking back, that I could actually turn a small profit and grow a business with such inefficient methods of measuring and managing field labor and project production!

Thousands upon thousands of companies are still managing their most valuable resources, their work force, assets and their businesses this same way today.  Some companies have graduated from paper and are now using a spreadsheet or possibly a cleaner form.  Still they require their workforce to manually input (and estimate) field information at the end of the day or even worse, at the end of the week. Foremen are guessing on assets used and cost codes.  The information is outdated and inaccurate before it even hits accounting. These companies need our solution. They are our future customers.  They are why we started AboutTime.

This small sampling of old time sheets and daily logs brought back many memories. Today the AboutTime solutions provide drastically improved accuracy, accountability and visibility... so much more than I ever had as a contractor. Our customers gain competitive advantages that help their teams work efficiently, it reaffirms to me that we are doing the right thing to help our customers enjoy a much better way to manage mobile resources. It's AboutTime!

Ryan Remkes

CEO AboutTime Technologies

Allocation with Automation

Allocating employees and where they spend their time isn’t easy.  You probably have multiple jobsites that are scattered across your state or even multiple states.  Each jobsite requires multiple tasks to be completed in order to finish a job.   Sometimes it is important to complete one task before the other.  Maybe project A has to be completed 2 weeks before project B.   You know what needs to be done and when but how do you communicate this to your field employees? 

I recently heard a story about a business owner who would print out 10 – 30 pages of instructions, calendars, forms, and anything else he felt like his crew managers would need in order to stay on top of their tasks and employees for the week.    So, Monday morning each crew manager would receive a packet.   The owner started realizing that things weren’t going according to his plan.  Instructions and timelines he detailed in his packet weren’t being followed.  He came up with a brilliant plan to find out which mangers were actually reading the packets and which managers were just tossing it aside.   One Monday morning he put a bonus check for two thousand dollars in the middle of the packet.  Can you guess how many checks were cashed?   NONE!!!!!

What did he do?  He purchased AboutTimes mobile resource management software.  When an employee clocks in using AboutTime they are given a list of task codes.  They simply choose the task that they are working on and clock IN and they are off to work.  The beauty of the system is that the office can restrict employees to only the tasks that they want them to work on.  When the employee clocks OUT at the end of the day, they submit how much of the task was completed.  WOW!  Now the owner knows exactly how far the job progressed that day.  Alerts can be sent out to his managers if a job is going over the budgeted hours and adjustments can be made.  No more huge packets of paper that get discarded.  No more misunderstandings on what projects should be worked on that day.  Instead the business is operating smoothly.  Everyone is on task and projects are completing under budget.  

Paper vs Automation

Paper... Paper ...and more Paper!!! 

From collecting time cards to managing employees in the field paper is in hand.   Have you ever wondered how much of that Paper is misplaced or lost on it’s way back to the office?  According to a survey done by Price Waterhouse Cooper the answer is 7.5% of all documents are lost!  That means your company is losing money and wasting time trying to find lost or misplaced documents.

Believe it!  It is expensive every time a document is lost or misplaced.  In fact, according to the same study it can cost an average of $220 per document.   WOW!  That is a lot of money.   Imagine how much money and time your business could save if all of your documents and forms could be completed on the jobsite using smart devices instead of paper.  Imagine how much time and money your company could save if these same documents could be sent electronically back to the office where they are securely attached to all the documents associated to that jobsite and stored for easy retrieval when they are needed.  

  

Gathering field information using today's technology rather than using pen and paper,  provides many benefits including saving time and money …Isn’t it AboutTIme to get rid of outdated pen and paper strategies and automate?