Beverley Wise, Regional Director UK & Ireland for Webfleet Solutions, explains how digitisation and telematics can help firms build back stronger and greener.
As the economy rebounds, the outlook for the UK construction sector looks a positive one with increased activity across the board, from residential repair and maintenance to large infrastructure projects. Growth may be slow, but latest IHS Market/CIPS Construction PMI data suggests the disruption caused by supply shortages are now easing.
Building back stronger
Meeting the rising demand, keeping customers happy and building back stronger calls for smarter ways of working. According to industry analysts, the construction sector is among the least digitised in the world. The transformative benefits of technology, however, are increasingly being recognised.
Firms are exploring new process and practices, underpinned by automated workflow – a trend accelerated in no small part by the pandemic. Telematics data, for example, can inform how and where assets are being moved, and how powered machinery is being operated, offering greater visibility over building projects.
Firms rely on the efficient and timely transportation of essential materials to and from site and telematics data can provide vital operational insights to help minimise project delays and cost overruns.
Using Webfleet, Webfleet Solutions’ vehicle management software, for example, businesses can benefit from dynamic scheduling processes. They can use up-to-date traffic data and journey times to calculate estimated times of arrival when using vehicles to move materials and assets between sites, adjust schedules and send the most appropriate drivers to jobs.
Even in development areas without street names, drivers can be efficiently routed to their destinations by creating geofences around target building sites. Furthermore, this same functionality will alert managers if vehicles or assets leave designated areas, reducing the risk of plant theft.
Diagnostic information will also monitor the health of connected vehicles and assets, alerting firms to mechanical issues that might be developing and helping them to avoid costly repairs and vehicle downtime.
In recent times, open telematics platforms have led to integrations between fleet management software and office suites, such as supply chain planning and asset management. They have also led to integrations with mobile devices, including tablet-style devices, such as the Webfleet Pro 8 series, that host business apps to automate on-site tasks.
Building back greener
Smarter processes and a smarter use of resources is also called for if the industry is to reduce its carbon footprint. Electric LCV adoption is gathering pace and as regulations tighten, and the potential to reduce vehicle running costs become more compelling, fleet electrification in the construction sector will accelerate.
Systems such as Webfleet offer dedicated software to signpost the electrification potential of fleets and allow EV operations to be optimised through a range of connected tools. Access is available for everything from mapped charging infrastructure and vehicle charging insights to real time battery levels and remaining driving ranges.
For traditional combustion-powered vehicles, telematics data can support decarbonisation by enabling trends to be identified and the root causes of fuel wastage to be tackled.
Incidents of unnecessary idling, for example – which often occur on-site when vehicles are left waiting for extended periods during the loading and unloading of materials, and during operator breaks – can be easily identified.
With construction firms increasingly called upon to record and act on carbon emissions as project performance indicators, the importance of such digital solutions should be underestimated.
The benefits of digital transformation for the sector are clear, and those ahead of the curve will find themselves in the fast lane to competitive gain.
For further information on Webfleet visit https://www.webfleet.com/en_gb/webfleet/
