One tough cookie

A construction manager is eating lunch in his site office, some time in the mid-90s. He’s sketching a design for a computer on one of the many redundant drawings strewn across his desk. This computer will be tough and portable, so it can be taken right to the point of work, and get rid of the mountains of paperwork that fill the average site office.

Nice idea, but making it work would be far too expensive, so he puts the idea to one side. But he can’t quite forget about it. Eventually he decides to try and patent it and in 1998 he succeeds. It was then that Barry Herman, MCIOB, really knew he was onto something.

Herman is the 38-year-old managing director of CDR In-Site, the company he founded to develop the CDR rugged tablet PC. He wasn’t an IT expert when he invented it but he did know about construction and knew he had a good idea.

“When I got the patent, that was a major turning point. I went to a company that registers patents, and 99 times out of 100 it turns you away. So when it came back with a yes, it was the go-ahead to really start developing the computer.”

The CDR rugged tablet PC is a rugged mobile computer, specifically designed for use on construction sites. It looks like a cross between a hand-held computer and a laptop, and comes with a shoulder strap. It is dust-sealed, can survive a one-metre drop without damage, and is shock-proof.

Herman approached the London Business Innovation Centre with his idea. It was keen to help him out and agreed to get some funding so he could mock up a prototype. The centre won a DTI smart award for the CDR unit and Herman got the chance to turn his ideas into reality for the first time.

He made a prototype and did some market research among other construction workers. “The main problem with the prototype was the lack of ruggedness, but apart from that the people I showed it to thought it was an excellent idea.”

Not that Herman’s quest has been without setbacks. The first hardware company he showed it to in Scotland rejected the idea. “There have been times where I’ve thought I should go to bed and forget about it. But it took the guy who invented Post-It notes five years to get his idea made, so how much longer is a computer going to take?”

Herman says the advantage his CDR unit has over a hand-held computer is that you can view drawings on it, so you can take the relevant information right to the point where it is needed on site. This prevents expensive reworking caused by working from old versions of drawings. But how is it different to a laptop?

Even rugged laptops have a weak point, the pivot, where the lid is attached to the keyboard. The CDR has no lid. It has a touch screen, which is toughened to allow for the rigours of a construction site. You operate it with a pen, or your fingers if you prefer.

And Herman is keen to point out that he did not invent the CDR to be flogged to companies who would then be left to get on with it. “I’m working with Service Point UK, which provides document management software, and Compwise, which provides additional software and support. I’m looking for partners to provide an entire service, not just the computer.”

The CDR has two batteries with a life of three hours each, but when it is not needed on site, it doubles up as a PC. It fits into a docking unit, which has a phone connection, printer ports, a CD-ROM drive, and everything else you find on a desktop computer. There’s even a remote control keyboard.

It costs around £4,850 but Herman stresses this is because each device is made to order. The price will come down as more are sold.

Although the unit isn’t due to be launched until this month at the Interbuild exhibition in Birmingham, Herman has already had enquiries from the Terminal 5 project team, through its partnership with Service Point.

“It’s in the very early stages,” says Pat Edwards, national construction consultant for Service Point. “But the reaction from the Terminal 5 project team has been very good. The CDR unit is particularly useful for a large, spread-out project such as this, as there’s no need to keep going back to the site office to collect drawings or check information.”

Remarkably, Herman is only giving up his job as a construction manager with a housing trust this month. “I’ve had to do this in my spare time, but after the launch I’ll have to go full time. I won’t miss being a construction manager because I’ll still be on site, working with people, getting feedback on the computer and seeing where the improvements can be made.”