July 31, 2012

Kim Brown/NSCSC

ACOA Project Officer Shannon Chambers and FIT Consultant Evan Pemberton discuss the potential uses of mobile devices on construction sites.

FEATURE | Site Services

The paperless project part of the digital bandwagon

DON PROCTER

correspondent

When large retail giants like Wal-Mart receives inventory, it is usually out on the sales floor soon after it passes through shipping and receiving doors. That’s because the retailer - and others like it with large-volume sales - don't have enough warehouse space to handle the constant flow of incoming product.

In cases where retailers like Wal-Mart have a long list of suppliers, paper invoice management systems can be cumbersome and unwieldy. Wal-Mart’s solution has been an electronic accounting system that relies on radio frequency invoice identification (RFID). As a pallet of goods comes through the warehouse door, a radio identification tag on each box identifies its contents (right down to color and size of product) and uploads it onto Wal-Mart’s inventory management software.

“Nobody has to lay a hand on an invoice, and it probably saves Wal-Mart tens of millions of dollars a year (over paper invoice management),” explains Chris Curtis, business development manager, Halifax-based Atlantica Mechanical Contractors Inc., the largest mechanical contractor east of Toronto.

What Wal-Mart is doing the construction industry can learn from, he says.

On large construction projects where material deliveries are constant, some paper invoices might be lost, misplaced or simply forgotten. Contractors making late payments face interest charges that can add up in a hurry.

Above, workers at the Central Nova Scotia Civic Centre Site in Truro, Nova Scotia.

“Over a year for a major construction company you can incur a couple hundred thousand dollars in interest charges.”

But the technology is available — computer tablets with bar code and RFID scanners, for instance — that could eliminate paper invoices and ensure all bills are paid on time, says Curtis.

Curtis is on the steering committee of the Function Information Technology (FIT) project, a partnership between the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council and government to provide builders with trial usage of the latest digital tools to improve productivity and efficiency.

An example is when a foreman identifies a construction problem that requires a change order. That change might require the approval of his bosses, the engineer, the general contractor and some of the subcontractors.

“That whole process could take days,” says Curtis, adding that the more hands the information passes through the more likely the information relayed won’t be accurate.

But with the right technology — a tablet computer with a high definition camera (perfect for illustrating an onsite construction problem), for example — the process could be done speedily.

However, for the construction industry to embrace sophisticated digital technology there is a hurdle: the cost. In a world where profit margins are low and low bids win contracts, builders have reason to shy away from big investments in new technology that can’t guarantee rapid payback, says Curtis.

Never mind the fact that most construction companies don’t have comprehensive information technology departments to investigate and implement this type of technology, he adds.

In time the construction industry will have to jump on the digital bandwagon. Projects like FIT in Nova Scotia could help the industry make that shift sooner.

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