team members in real-time, which users key insights (e.g. battery health, enables more informed tool crib location, usage information) decisions. Connected tools Smart batteries a tool that is equipped with a battery equipped with built-in technology (e.g. software, and battery diagnostics that is capable sensors) to collect the tool’s data of syncing with a system to provide and connect it to a system Material & At a time when profit margins Final Thoughts... are getting tighter, and cost of Consumables materials are rising (10% increase Inventory in construction material costs in While the digital black hole may 3 2019), the use of paper-based be common in the construction Management inventory management systems industry, digitizing asset that are dependant on people are management is an opportunity. An impossible to justify. opportunity to better control costs, reduce losses, and keep projects A digital asset management running on time. software connected to smart batteries and tools allows for Digital solutions like smart leveraging predictability by batteries, connected tools monitoring inventory through and digital asset management a cloud-based platform. Since software are increasingly easy to it efficiently tracks inventory use and relatively inexpensive to and the usage of materials and implement. With the right choice of consumables (such as nails, bolts, construction technology will more and tool inserts), better estimates than pay for itself very quickly for ordering can be made before – by cutting costs on physical a project ever breaks ground. assets, by freeing up staff time This can prevent duplicate assets for more productive purposes, by 10% and decreased productivity due eliminating the delays caused by a increase in to waiting around for the right paper-based system. construction materials. Psst – an astonishing material costs 35% of construction time is spent in 2019.3 on non-productive activities.4 REFERENCES 1. “Imagining construction’s digital future” https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/ operations/our-insights/imagining-constructions- Digital asset management digital-future 2. Eighty percent of contractors report difficulty 35% software also helps control loss finding qualified craft workers to hire as firms give low marks to quality of new worker of construction during an ongoing project by pipeline https://www.agc.org/news/2019/08/27/ eighty-percent-contractors-report-difficulty-find- time is spent on monitoring consumables usage ing-qualified-craft-workers-hire-0 3. “Construction material prices increase stead- non-productive and any unauthorized removal of ily in June” https://www.bdcnetwork.com/con- struction-material-prices-increase-steadily-june 4 4. Plangrid https://constructionblog.autodesk.com/ activities. equipment or tools. construction-industry-statistics/ FIND OUT MORE 44 ASSET AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT Hilti US | Hilti Canada US Customer Service 1-800-879-8000 | CA Customer Service 1-800-363-4458