The concrete construction industry is going through a digital transformation. Apps promise productivity, efficiency, safety and information gains, which gives company the means and the knowledge to decrease risks, unknown variables, downtime and rework on the jobsite, thereby leading to work that is completed on time and on budget.
Here are seven apps that will help you drive your company’s performance in 2020:
Procore project management
Procore is built for use by specialty contractors. Concrete contractors using Procore find great value from features such as Drawings, RFI’s, Daily Log, Photos, Inspections, Submittals, Change Orders, and Budget. These are all unified on the Procore Platform which creates a single source for all information.
“The photos tool allows formwork crews to take photos directly within the Procore App and tag job specific “locations” on the photos as well as tag colleagues by using the “@” feature; the tagged person receives instant notification of the photo and its information,” says Stuart Galloway, President, 20/20 Show Productions—the organizer of Canadian Concrete Expo– Canada’s only national trade show dedicated to the concrete industry. “The inspections tool is a convenient and useful means for conducting quality control inspections on concrete formwork and placing.
Bay-Lynx BatchPro Connect volumetric mixer app
BatchPro Connect is a three-step solution that addresses mobile concrete ordering, dispatch and mix design. The customer portal can be linked to any concrete provider’s web site. Once an order is placed, the information gets sent to Bay-Lynx’s new dispatch platform. The truck communicates in real time with dispatch, so dispatch can know where the trucks are at all times and even how much has been poured.
“And, since everything on the truck is live-recorded, this allows for remote diagnostics. Information can be sent to the Bay-Lynx service center, so the company can proactively help customers with any technical problems with their equipment,” says Galloway.
Giatec SmartRock concrete temperature and strength sensor
Wireless sensors measure concrete’s temperature better than other methods and therefore provides more accurate data on concrete’s strength. By knowing when concrete has reached strength, it can be used sooner, which means contractors can move onto the next step of a project sooner or the project opens to the public sooner.
“With SmartRock sensors, contractors can confidently make decisions because they know in real time the strength of their concrete. As well, by observing trends in data, they can predict when concrete will reach strength,” says Stuart Galloway, President, 20/20 Show Productions—organizer of Canadian Concrete Expo.
PlanGrid document control
PlanGrid is an electronic documentation software. The technology’s automated sheet versioning thoroughly compiles plans in order and keeps older versions for easy access to project history. Sheet compare allows you to overlay two sheets, so changes between the two are easily identifiable. The technology’s Field Reports feature enables users to capture daily reports with weather—critical to concrete work.
This decreases turnaround for RFIs (requests for information). In the field, just tag and annotate drawings and other documents within the software. An alert goes to the project manager or engineer or architect or all of the above who then clicks on the annotation to read the document and respond to it.
Trimble Tekla Structures business information modelling (BIM)
BIM allows for all phases and professions to be connected, all models and work-streams to be content-enabled and for constructible data to drive smart workflows. Trimble refers to this as the Constructible Process.
Tekla constructible models are data-rich and complete with information such as areas, volumes, required mix information, rebar types, embeds and formwork that streamlines all phases of concrete construction and gives contractors everything they need to automate material quantification and planning for successful pours. And, contractors can automatically create lift drawings, pour plans and layouts with 3D visualizations from the model, ensuring consistency of annotations, dimensions, rebar schedules, bill of materials and other data.
On-Center On-Screen Takeoff (OST)
This construction estimating software is built to think like a contractor. It calculates the quantities needed for estimates with a few clicks and then saves and sends your takeoff calculations to Quick Bid (On-Center’s estimating software) for quick access to incoming change orders.
The technology’s Auto-Count Objects uses optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to count objects of the same shape and size within drawings. Intelligent Paste Logic selects takeoff objects and pastes them into a similar distance, space, and directions. Multi-Condition Takeoff selects any number of conditions and then draws the takeoff once. OST places the appropriate takeoff objects on the plan, automatically, all at the same time.
Command Alkon CONNEX ready-mix concrete app
CONNEX is a technology platform that increases collaboration between contractors and project owners, and their heavy material suppliers, producers and haulers. It facilitates every step in the workflow from initial orders through to paying the final bill and is customized to involved in ready mix: ready-mix producers, bulk materials suppliers, bulk materials haulers and building contractors.
Insights gained from reading the data collected can lead to making better business decisions, operating more efficiently and more profitably, and seeing actionable information in real-time. Planning becomes easier when demand, orders, material inventories, schedules, and movements are tightly orchestrated.
