Production Management System Enables Construction Productivity

With today’s construction technology, contractors can get a wealth of accurate data that tells them exactly what’s going on with machine health, production levels, fuel burn and idle time. That’s highly useful for operations of any size.

But for bigger operations, with multiple jobsites running fleets of machines, being able to view this data from an individual machine level all the way up to the organization level is essential. And that’s what a production management system does.

It allows your people to get a high-level overview of your operation, and drill down to find the detailed information that you need to make decisions that will reduce costs and enhance safety.

Michael Miller, a Caterpillar Commercial Consultant specializing in productivity says, “It’s all about giving the decision maker an accurate picture of their operation and providing them with opportunities to implement change, and make improvements to machine utilization and operational efficiency.”

Knowing precisely how long specific functions take — including travel loaded and empty times; load, dump, and roading times; swing, dig and wait times — is key to making smart, informed decisions. Production management systems help managers track all those measurements and analyze them to spot bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

As an example, Miller cites the issue of excessive waiting time in the load area. Using the analytic tools built into a good productivity management system, he says, “You can track material movement and, importantly, see how much time is spent in each part of the cycle. By slowing the machines down on the return, you could keep a more consistent flow of traffic and potentially reduce the non-productive waiting time and fuel consumption.”

Better still, Miller adds, imagine being able to replay an event to identify areas for improvements based on relevant, real-time data. Guesswork is eliminated.

Being able to include your operators in this review, with powerful visuals including maps and graphs, allows you to work together to identify inefficiencies and find solutions. Discussions like these — based on hard data — strengthen partnerships with operators. It facilitates objective, informed conversations that promote solid operator buy-in.

Miller goes on to say that reliable construction data is a huge help when pulling together quotes for future work. With a productivity management tool, you can feel confident in your ability to estimate competitively because you’re using actual machine and project data from the past.

Relying on accurate data helps you put together a tighter, more competitive bid. You’ll also be able to monitor the project as it happens and measure against your targets to ensure you finish on time and on budget.

A good productivity management tool also allows you to build cost dashboards that show where and when the key cost impacts are happening. Miller notes that these kinds of dashboards let you see at a glance what it’s really costing to move material. You’ll be able to see the operating cost-per-hour and payload, and whether there are idle time costs that could be reduced.

Modern construction technology has the power to help you to reduce costs and inefficiencies, increase productivity and profitability, and enhance worksite safety. Miller concludes that implementing a production management system like VisionLink^® Productivity can open up new opportunities to get more from your operation every day.

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