In many industries, asset management is important. For construction companies, it’s essential. Look around any construction site and you'll find a blend of high-cost items like power tools and custom materials alongside low-cost consumables such as nails, screws, and sheets of drywall.
These highly portable items tend to walk off of jobsites, either through outright thievery or worker neglect. This results in immediate replacement costs as well as possible project delays.
It’s no wonder that a recent Quickbase survey revealed that 95% of construction leaders experienced unexpected or increased costs over the last twelve months. Asset loss has a ripple effect, causing production snags, skyrocketing budgets, and dissatisfied customers.
While no one can guarantee that you'll never lose materials or tools from a jobsite, there are strategies for tracking supplies that will reduce your jobsite losses and boost your bottom line.
Why Construction Asset and Tool Tracking Matters
On one level, the answer is clear: construction asset and tool tracking results in greater inventory control and reduced equipment loss.
But there's another reason why asset tracking matters. Jobsite accountability is communicated top-down, and when workers see that team leads and management take it seriously, they will, as well.
For some workers, that attention is enough to make them think twice before driving off with a tool “accidentally” tucked in their truck bed. However honest workers are affected as well, often taking extra steps to prevent accidental material damage or loss. Simply showing you care about materials means that your workers will pay more attention to best practices. The result is higher project efficiency and reduced expense on both the current job and ones down the road.
Greater inventory control and reduced equipment loss helps companies of any size. Large contractors can enjoy the benefits of savings scaled up over larger jobs. And smaller contractors, who often live on thinner margins, can make a significant difference in their bottom line.
Asset tracking also makes budget management much simpler. This is especially true for larger items with longer lead times. While losing a few nails or screws is an inconvenience, the theft or misuse of custom windows can seriously derail your budget.
Tracking your workers’ time and material use doesn’t need to feel like a Big Brother surveillance situation, though. Done well, it’s fast, easy, and non-intrusive.
Manual Tracking Methods
You might think asset tracking doesn’t always necessarily require a high-tech solution. After all, you could use a simple spreadsheet or even pen and paper to track physical inventories. However, it’s not ideal for long-term efficiency or scalability, especially as your operations grow.
Old-school tracking solutions are very affordable, but the labor cost to implement them is not. They require multiple human inputs—recording materials when they arrive on site, when they’re used, and during any returns or reorders. All that entry adds up to a lot of labor hours.
Manual data entry is also prone to error. Each time an asset is tracked by hand creates another potential point of incorrect data. And that can lead to uncomfortable questions and unfair red flags. Throw around a few unfounded accusations of theft, and you’ll see jobsite morale sink faster than the Titanic.
There’s no way to eliminate this issue with manual entry. Inventory has to be taken on a regular basis, so that any theft or excessive loss can be nipped in the bud. If you have larger jobs, complex inventories, or just don’t have the labor force to dedicate to constant inventories, then it’s time to consider a more tech-savvy system.
Technology-Driven Tracking Solutions
Modern tech has revolutionized construction asset tracking. Some options include barcodes, QR codes, RFID tags, and GPS trackers. That’s a lot of terms and letters, but they can largely be sorted into active and passive inventory management.
Active management requires a worker or manager to scan items as they go out the door and as they come back in. Examples include barcodes and QR codes. All that scanning does require labor, but it’s far less than a pen-and-paper system, with far more accuracy.
Passive asset management systems run without direct intervention in the field. Because the items are tracked passively, workers don't need to do much scanning to track the inventory. Passive management often uses technology like GPS and RFID chips to track items. RFID chips excel at real-time tracking and automated inventory counts, while GPS works great at locating equipment off-site or within large jobsites. They’re not often used to track individual consumables, but you can stick an RFID chip on your power tools, and put GPS on vehicles.
Tracking software can integrate with either active or passive asset management and track equipment location and usage. For example, a worker might scan a box of nails to indicate that they've been opened up and are being used. Or the computer in a company truck might give the driver an alert if they try to leave the jobsite without their tools.
You can also set up GPS fences to alert you if your equipment travels outside of a predetermined geographic boundary. Want to know that your air compressors have strayed outside of 100-yard perimeter? A GPS fence will alert you that’s happened, and also let you know exactly where that compressor is located.
Software Solutions for Asset Management
No matter the technology you use to inventory your assets, the next step is to collect the data and share it with your key team members. That’s where software comes in.
Even if you use a pen-and-paper tracking system, software can still streamline your process. FastField’s AI Form Converter lets you turn paper inventory into an electronic version almost effortlessly.
When you’re ready to choose a software solution, key features to look for include:
- Compatibility. Look for a solution that communicates with your existing software. Nothing beats a one-stop solution when your crews need fast information on a jobsite.
- Compartmentalization. You should be able to easily limit information to those with a need to know.
- Ease of Use. Even the best system won’t work if it’s not used.
- Customer Support. Will you get help when you need it? Look for a combination of online support and printed or electronic documentation.
Implementing a Successful Tracking System
Once you decide to make the leap to an asset tracking system, there are a few steps in order to make sure it goes smoothly.
1. Conduct an initial inventory
An initial inventory helps you understand what the type of equipment and material you need to track, which in turn helps you determine what options your tracking system needs.
2. Choose the appropriate software
Once you understand what information you need to track, you'll be able to choose the appropriate software. Look for vendors who provide detailed information up front and demos so that you can get a feel for the software itself.
3. Train employees
This is where robust vendor tech support pays off. The learning curve for any new software can be steep, so search for a solution that includes help with training your employees. Look for options to separate functionality among different groups —your apprentice carpenter doesn't need the same access as your team lead.
4. Establish clear procedures
As you train employees, you can begin to write down your specific procedures and practices for future reference. Documentation provided by the vendor is great, but a truly customized procedure book for your company doesn’t exist until you create it.
5. Review and update the system as needed
You should aim to review the system once or twice annually and update it if necessary. For fast-growing companies, that review cycle may need to happen more often.
Reduce Your Tool Tracking Headaches
Construction asset and tool tracking is a challenge for companies of all sizes. Whether you're a single-crew team or a 1,000-employee corporation, jobsite losses create an administrative headache and ailing bank accounts. Shifting asset management from an improvised or pen-and-paper inventory to a software solution can dramatically reduce jobsite cost, and help create a culture of shared accountability for workers and management alike.
