6 principles for infra-collaboration

The future is exponential
For the first time in human history we live in an exponential world. Moore’s Law, which say that every 1-2 years the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits doubles, creates an exponential development for anything digital. Up until recently humans have lived in a linear world. Linearity is predictable and understandable, and most of our systems are developed around a sort of linear change.

How does this exponential world affect the infrastructure industry?
Well, at least it will not be predictable. Development will happen at a higher pace and new methods will be available that will transform the way we work.

What will be the key to success?
When change happens fast and new methods become available the key thing we can do is collaborate. Having information available in real-time will have a huge impact in how we make decisions. Consider a worst case for example: imagine not visiting the construction site for 1 month and not knowing what has happened there the last 4 weeks? How would you feel?

Having information available in real-time will have a huge impact in how we make decisions.

Real-time view of the project status
Well, then imagine having a real-time view of your site, from anywhere. On your commute home from work you can see that, yes, they did complete that last part. And yes, it has been documented to be proved as planned. That’s a good feeling. Also when errors do occur, having the chance to detect and avoiding them in real time, not 2 weeks later, is a great feeling.

How can we make sure information is available and that communication happens the way it should?
Well, we have proposed the “6 principles for infra-collaboration”. As described below these are the foundation of how you make sure your personnel have access to up-to-date information about your project. And having access to information is the best indicator that your project is on its way to success. Especially in an exponential, unpredictable and fast changing world of infra.

Cloud-connected in open formats – availability for all in real-time

“6 principles for infra-collaboration”
1) Use open file formats
Because if you use proprietary formats for exchanging information there will be a day when someone can not access the info. Also, open formats allow you to use the tools and software you or your sub-contractors prefer.

2) Support different equipment, machines and hardware
So that you are free to use the equipment you like, and for example negotiate on price. This is an important thing for the bottom line of the project.

3) A collaboration tool can not also be a CAD tool
Use different CAD tools, each tackling their own task. You should have the option to solve different tasks with different tools. And if you hire a new member of staff or consultant, they should be able to use the tools they have skills for.

4) Have the same files and information available both on site and in the office
Because having to print or create a copy of the file to bring out to the site is a waste of time.

5) Have information available on all platforms: mobile, tablet, PC/Mac
Because you should be free to choose which computers and mobile devices you want to use.

6) Support information flow between all project phases: designing, construction and as-built documentation + maintenance
Because for each time you change systems you lose a little bit of information.

Read more on the subject: “Infra-construction in 2020”

GUEST POST: Turning Point of Digital Infra-Construction

Turning Point of Digital Infrastructure Construction
(Written by Iiro Villman)

Summer, the high season of infra-construction business, is here and news about busy offer calculations and great amounts of projects offers can be heard from all over Finland. The most intense period of the whole year is on-going, but this time maybe even more actively than before. “If this is recession, hopefully it would last even longer”, a sentence heard from one contractor. This indicates that even winter wasn’t too bad for the infra-construction industry. Is the positive news stemming from the contractors, who have been keeping the offers low and – in this way – gotten themselves a lot more work with a smaller salary, or from the fact that they have some competitive advantage over other contractors?

Digitization as an competetice edge: tangible benefits are seen in cost-efficiency

Technology for Everyone

There have been services for digital construction available for everybody’s use for some years already when trying to improve the competitiveness of the market, but still only few have utilized them in full scale. Finland’s major infrastructure contractors have been developing the technology and using the services for years, though. Their initiative and government-supported projects have developed technology to a much needed positive direction in the industry.

Now, however, it seems that the advantages of technology have been noticed among small and medium-sized operators as well. Machine control system sales are accelerating when, at the same time, applications and electrical tools are becoming more and more standards in the field. The benefits of the technology can be seen in the improved cost-effectiveness of projects and thus improving the competitiveness of companies. You see, in today’s contract contests, only few jobs are goldmines for the winning tender already from the beginning.

Total costs of the project are determined at the designing table, but during implementation phase the greatest costs arise from material purchasing and implementing the job itself. It is difficult to lower the material prices since manufacturing and raw materials’ costs are rising continuously. Instead, it can often be seen on worksites that machinery is on a standstill or tasks might have to be done twice due to construction errors or incomplete designs. New technologies provide new possibilities and solutions for lowering working costs and enhancing work efficiency for any project, but especially for projects that have set very low margins in the offer phase.

Professionally skilled staff and active foremen are the key players when talking about work efficiency. But what if the foremen don’t have the time needed to run the worksite with traditional methods? Machine control systems and data transfer applications – which are easy to use – help foremen, and make their tasks easier on-site. When utilized right, devices and applications pay themselves back quickly with work becoming much more efficient.

You can view 3D designs in real-time also on Infrakit

Real-time Quality Control

Nowadays project owners have a goal to implement projects with as high quality as possible with the lowest costs possible. Achieving and authenticating the given objective is based on mutual trust between project owners and contractors, even if the owner’s representative or consultant would visit the site often. Most of the end products in infra-construction remain hidden from the surface and it is not always possible to see from the finished structure whether the project was actually completed according to the design.

It’s not my intention to imply only the worst-case scenarios about contractors’ reliability or their ways of producing high quality projects, but to highlight all thepossibilities of improving the worksite’s real-time quality control processes brought by today’s techniques. Work on the construction site is progressing rapidly and getting the as-built data surveyed with the traditional methods to consultants and project owners can often take weeks. In the meantime, many phases have been completed following the possibly incorrect as-built data. Repairs done afterwards are always expensive and, in addition, violate the work that has been done correctly around the incorrect structure.

3D view of the project

Nowadays, project owners require more comprehensive documentation from the contractors just to ensure the usability of the structures. Contractors avoid expensive solutions that seemingly don’t directly affect the final result of their product. They try to come up with easier ways in order to fulfill the project owner’s requirements. For this reason, contractors have acknowledged digital applications, and benefits and possibilities provided by new technology. In order to achieve the desired transparency and comprehensive quality control, real-time applications have been taken in everyday use – at least in public sector’s construction projects. I sincerely wish that the private sector would follow their lead!

3D KOPPI logoThe issues mentioned above are based on stories told by different contractors and on my own experience from the private sector. I, myself, have worked as a site manager in earthmoving projects and seen the ways that tasks could be completed more efficiently with machine control systems and real-time data transfer and quality control. Luckily these kinds of solutions already
exist and new tools are created as we speak. Even the small contractors can get a competitive advantage by taking the newest technologies in use, and work the same way as the big companies.

Founders of 3D-KOPPI Sami Rautkoski (left) and Iiro Villman

The author, Iiro Villman, is the Project Manager of 3D-KOPPI Ltd., 3dkoppi.fi

Editor’s note: This is the 2nd post in our new Guest Post series where infra-construction experts and experienced doers tell about the transformation of infra-construction industry, digital leap and new winds of change in the industry. The posts are written by the authors themselves and the texts have not been edited (except a word-for-word translation into English).

Infrakit Truck App Now Available!

The Truck App is at Work!

Truck App login

Infrakit has a very useful new product called the Truck Tracking App. The app is used for tracking of trucks and their loads and taking the paperwork out of the truck driver’s hands. The Truck App works on any Android device and, of course, in combination with the Infrakit server.

The App is now working in Finland and in the Netherlands in different projects and has proven to be very useful. Truck drivers like the fact that they have no paperwork anymore and project managers have all information available in real-time.

Super easy install: it takes only 1 minute

How does it work?

If you have a project in Infrakit you can assign trucks to the project. You also can define materials that need to be transported from A to B. All you need is an Android device: mobile or tablet. In preparation the truck driver only needs to install the app from Google Play Store here.

After a successful installation and logging in, he can choose the product and the volume — and he is ready to go. The only thing he has to do to use the app is press “LOAD” when he receives a load and press “UNLOAD” when he dumps it. All positions are automatically stored on the server from that moment and each individual load can be followed real-time. This is very convenient for the driver and for the administration as it saves a lot of time and provides accurate data from the field.

View from the App

It is even possible to do the recognition of the “LOAD” and “UNLOAD” sequences automatically. The project administrator can create so-called geo fences at the project map. So he can create one fence for “LOAD” area and one fence for “UNLOAD” area. As soon as the truck enters the LOAD area this will be recorded as a LOAD sequence and when he drives into the UNLOAD area the same will be done at the server. Very easy to use.

What to do with the information?

The information will be stored at the Infrakit server for each truck individually and can be viewed in different ways. It is possible to see 1) each individual drive, but also as 2) totals per truck or 3) totals per day and 4) per project.

Example of material types

This gives a great overview with no additional effort at all and can be viewed by everyone that has access to the project. That can be the project leader or manager, but also the project owner if needed. A great new tool within Infrakit and new features will follow all the time!

Feel free to try the Truck App in combination with the Infrakit trial account here. And do so in combination with the great Infrakit App, too (downloadable from Google Play Store here). It can be used to take all your project information to the site with you and, for instance, use it for taking as-built measurements using Bluetooth connection via a GNSS rover. Read more about the Infrakit Android App from our blog: User Cases and how to use is as a Surveying Tool.