Tracking labor, material, and equipment data in real-time is a key to making quick and meaningful decisions on your construction project. Waiting until the end of the month or the pay period for this data to come in can put you at risk for delays or costly overruns. Raken, a field management app, just released an update to their Production Tracking product, which now allows users to track equipment use in real time.
Read more[VIDEO] There’s a New, Less Expensive Robot Dog That Wants to Roam Your Jobsite, But Same Amount of Creepy
By now, you’ve probably heard of the Spot robot dog, made by Boston Dynamics, that is a completely autonomous 4 legged nightmare intended to walk construction sites with attachments strapped to its back. You’ve probably also heard that they have a pretty hefty price tag currently. Well, there’s a new four-legged robotic dog coming to market that promises to be a less expensive alternative.
Read more[VIDEO] STACK Updates Preconstruction Software with Plan Overlays, Proposals
As I mentioned in my article yesterday, the World of Concrete has a ton of technology companies that exhibit on a yearly basis. I was able to catch up with STACK Construction Technologies to see what they had in store for their preconstruction software for 2020.
Read more[VIDEO] Procore Announced Several Updates at World of Concrete 2020
The World of Concrete is full of exhibitors showing off tools, equipment, and materials involving concrete, but there is also a large group of technology companies looking to touch base with specialty contractors in attendance. Procore is one of those technology companies and they showed us several product enhancements already released in 2020.
Read more[VIDEO] Giatec Releases Upgraded SmartRock Concrete Maturity Sensor
Concrete Sensor maker, Giatec, launched their first wireless concrete sensor in 2015 and, since then, they have continued to improve both their hardware and software. At the World of Concrete 2020, the company announced a re-design of their SmartRock sensor and I was there to get the details.
Read moreSmartBarrel Turns Orange Construction Barrels into a “Virtual Superintendent”
courtesy of SmartBarrel
Tracking time sheets is a difficult task on a construction site. Unlike most businesses, you don’t have the luxury of a static workplace with one central area for hourly employees to clock in and out. I recently had a conversation with founder of SmartBarrel, Albert Bou Fadel, and he told me about how his company can help solve a lot of the woes contractors are feeling in regards to time keeping and other field-based reporting tasks.
Read moreHonda Shows Off Its Autonomous Offroad Work Vehicle at WOC 2020, Wants Test Partners
photo courtesy of Honda
Robotics is making a big push in the construction industry lately, including Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog, the TyBot rebar tying robot, Built Robotics’ self-driving track loader, or even 3D printing machines. Some threaten to reduce the need for certain labor, or at least displace it, while others, such as Honda’s recently announced Autonomous off-road ATV, merely wants to be your friend and lend you a hand — for now, anyway.
Read more[VIDEO] Meet TyBot, the Autonomous Rebar Tying Robot
Last week, I spent some time out in Las Vegas to attend the World of Concrete 2020, which is an immersive experience for all things concrete and masonry related. While there, I was able to catch up with the team from Advanced Construction Robotics, the makers of TyBot, the autonomous rebar tying robot.
Read moreAutodesk Announces 8 Updates for BIM 360 and PlanGrid
At Autodesk University in late 2019, the company announced dozens of updates for PlanGrid, BIM 360, Assemble, and BuildingConnected. They have continued that effort in 2020 with the announcement of 8 additional updates to BIM 360 and PlanGrid.
BIM 360
The BIM 360 updates include the addition of Meeting Minutes, Pay Applications, Submittals to the Field, and usability upgrades to Submittals.
Meeting Minutes allows users to create agendas, add invitees, assign individuals to action items, and easily store the minutes for future reference. More information about the addition in BIM 360’s tweet below.
⏰ No more hunting for lost meeting minutes, questioning accountability, or running the risk of unanswerable claims. Introducing #BIM360 Meeting Minutes! https://t.co/jgzWA23cs2 @ADSK_Construct pic.twitter.com/eQfj85Y6hi
— Autodesk BIM 360 (@BIM360) January 30, 2020
Pay Applications aims to allow better management of contracts through automation and forecasting
Submittals to the Field gives instant access to approved submittals and submittals in progress. iOS users can search and filter.
The usability upgrades to Submittals includes contractual date tracking, the ability to re-open/edit closed submittal packages, export submittal data, enhanced submittal items & list view, and improved filter options.
For more information and videos about these updates, check out BIM 360’s blog post here.
PlanGrid
PlanGrid users will see upgrades to Submittals on mobile, additional custom form templates, additional custom form questions, and root cause for tasks.
Like BIM 360’s updates above, Submittals on PlanGrid mobile will be easier to access within their new list view.
Field Reports receives two updates, including additional custom form templates and additional custom form templates. Templates are now optimized for mobile, automatically adjusting the reports to fit any sized screen. Form questions can also now be marked as required before a form can be submitted to reduce missing information.
Finally, Tasks receives the addition of a box to document the Root Cause of the issue. Determining root cause is perhaps the most important step in any incident investigation, because it helps keep the same problem from happening again, assuming action is taken. Now, tasks can be filtered by root cause and reports can be generated to get a better understanding of your project.
For more information about these updates, check out PlanGrid’s blog post here.
Procore & Milwaukee Tool Team Up for Tool Tracking and Reporting
When Milwaukee Tool first released ONE-KEY, their Bluetooth-based tool tracking and reporting system, in 2015, they hoped to not only help reduce lost and stolen tools, but also increased visibility into maintenance needs. For the past few years, the company has continued to add more ONE-KEY enabled tools and software enhancements. Now, Procore has jumped on board and ONE-KEY has been integrated into their platform.
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