Tracking Infrastructure

Transcript:

Hi. Welcome back to the Idencia Innovation Vlog Series. I’m Jillian. And this week we’re going to be talking about different types of innovation.

There has been a lot of talk about 3D modeling and BIM in recent years. Both have experienced acceptance and application in commercial construction.... but very little in the civil construction market. However, it seems that the FHWA's push for e-Construction practices over the past 5-6 years is bearing fruit. Now, all of a sudden, DOTs are starting to require e-ticketing and Digital As-Builts from their suppliers.

Stubbe's Precast, based in Harley, Ontario, is a big precast producer with a great reputation. They serve eastern Canada with two state-of-the-art manufacturing plants specializing in structural and architectural precast. Speak to any precaster in Canada or in the northeast United States and they will speak of Stubbe's with high regard. The reason for this is found in Stubbe's values: quality, innovation and, as they state on their website, "forward thinking solutions". 

Since early in Q2 of 2020, we have seen a dramatic growth in inquiries from large precast manufacturers who want to 'go digital' in their plants. They all have their own specific needs, of course, but the acceleration of interest suggests that there is something bigger at work. Something that suggests a change in thinking or a transformation. It feels as if the industry has reached a tipping point, much the same way that the world rushed to embrace Zoom to manage through COVID.

We think it has.

We are very pleased to announce that Idencia has created a new service for the precast industry... and the best part is that it does not cost a cent!

This week we introduced Idencia Insights, a series of polls we will take from time to time on topics of interest to the precast industry. Participants can immediately see how their anonymous responses compare to others and Idencia will publish the results.

Now that things are starting to settle down and states are beginning to re-open from COVID-19 shutdowns, the question on everyone's mind is "What will happen next?". It feels like we were cruising (speeding?) along at a comfortable pace of 85 mph and slammed on the brakes to avoid a multi-car accident that came out of nowhere. We've crashed. Are we seriously injured or just severely shaken up?

Our discussions with concrete product manufacturers during the past month reveal that many are reassessing their workflows in response to the COVID-19 disruption. Smart managers see a break from normality as a good opportunity to rethink the old ways in order to emerge more productive.

The first cut is to find hidden costs that can be eliminated.

This past week consumer apparel company, Ralph Lauren, announced that it is going to be 'digitizing' every product it manufactures. Why would a company with such well known brands (Polo, Club Monaco, Ralph Lauren Collection) go to the bother of ensuring that every product it manufactures has a digital identity? And why should manufacturers of products used in infrastructure and commercial construction care that Ralph Lauren is doing this?

"Modular construction's time may have finally come." This is how McKinsey & Company summarized the findings of its June 2019 report Modular construction: From projects to products, a follow-up to its 2017 report about reinventing construction to produce $1.6 trillion of productivity improvements. The possibilities include accelerated timelines (estimated 20-50%) and cost reductions of 20%. McKinsey reports that the primary factor enabling these possibilities is the application of technology. All manufacturers, modular or not, will want to understand the technology landscape in order to compete effectively. We offer a profile here.

We have heard (separately) from two precast manufacturers that it costs $25,000 to conduct an inventory count. If there is one process that immediately justifies automated data collection, this is it.  While the cost naturally depends on the size of the yard... they both have yards of about 40 acres... automating inventory counts for yards of any size will produce obvious savings. RFID tracking is the solution to this and, with a few kinks to work out, there are a few ways that this will happen.