Raising the bar

A potential answer is bar coding. There are some very powerful software tools available that allow tracking and monitoring of equipment from a single storeroom through to multiple site tracking. Despite reasonably sobering investment costs, the return on that initial capital is generally less than a year.

"Well the software providers would claim that," I hear you scoff, cynically. In fact it isn't the providers that are making the claim, but a recently published double report from the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), which concludes very favourably on two studies in Canada (see factfiles). The body is now embarking on a national dissemination programme, starting this month, and hopes to encourage pilot construction projects in the UK.

"We have been producing reports on the use of technology on site since June last year, with the project due to conclude in January," explains BSRIA's head of process and productivity, Glenn Hawkins. "We chose Canadian projects for the bar coding analysis because our research showed that the USA and Canada have far higher levels of penetration for this type of system."

Bar coding in practice
The two projects chosen for the analysis – and published under the 'Performance improvement through enabling technologies' banner – cover a major factory and a large construction site.

The facts and figures derived from the research came from monitoring carried out by Hawkins and his team, with around three days spent on each site watching the way that operatives worked. Hawkins is keen to stress that all of the results were collected independently and are benchmarked against his team's experience of process management within the construction sector.

Clearly impressed by what he saw and heard from the staff on site, Hawkins is now hoping to attract additional funding from the current project's sponsor – Partners in Innovation – to initiate pilot test sites in the UK.

"Currently you have a situation where the software providers can see the potential in construction but are nervous about how they approach the markets and also concerned about the building sector as a high-risk industry," Hawkins reflects. "At the same time you have construction companies that can see the value in such systems but don't really know where to start, are concerned about the difficulties in implementing the technology, and are also a bit put off by the start up price.

"What we would like to do is act as facilitators and trial some projects to show how it all works and to get the parties together," says Hawkins. "We hope that through these reports we can engage companies and show them that there are real benefits."

So, what do the systems actually do? The two studied by BSRIA both come from a Canadian provider called Houndware.

The first – Tool Hound III – is an asset management system for tracking personal protective equipment and tools at a large agricultural products manufacturer called Agrium (see 'Tool Hound III gives growth at Agrium', right). The system is used here to track equipment from the storeroom, monitoring who has it and when it is returned. It also acts as an inventory device, ensuring equipment availability for specific projects. Equipment and staff all have IDs and bar codes and equipment is scanned in and out.

In the second study, Houndware's bar code asset management system for tracking tools and equipment on the Scotford Upgrader construction site was assessed (see 'Houndware sniffs out savings', below). Here the client, Ameco, is an outsource service for plant, tool and equipment supply. Its coverage on this project ranges from marker pens through to cranes. Both projects showed huge savings by using bar coding.

"What struck us was the speed and level of the return on investment and the ease of adoption," recalls Hawkins. "Once the companies had crossed the line and decided to go for it they found the transition relatively painless. Even if you factor in the costs of taking staff off-site to train them in how to use the system, the cost savings are still very impressive."

Hawkins also notes in his reports the reduction in the loss of equipment and tools on site. As an example of the magnitude of the problem, BSRIA quotes one UK specialist trade contractor that has confirmed a stock loss of £250 000 during the 1999-2000 financial year on an inventory valued at £8 million.

A common thread from both Canadian projects is that the clients emphasised the importance of staff buy-in and of getting everyone on site identified before scanning began. Hawkins stresses: "It very much is a case of the people have to come before the technology. That appears to be the secret to getting this to work well and effectively."