We all know that mobile devices have become the primary communication tool. Now, owners/operators can utilize mobile tools to log hundreds of observations necessary for accurate analysis and productivity improvement. According to CII, monitoring Hands-on Tool Time data had 28% better productivity.
That isn’t to say that Tool Time Programs don’t have their challenges. Many companies already implement tool time programs and realize the benefits, but hit some road bumps along the way.
Data can be costly to collect
The reasons are due to different factors including involving 3rd party auditors, time to create reports along with costs to analyze the data.
Audits are sporadic
Audits take time to process. Due to the cost of collecting data, they frequently occur for only one week per quarter. This causes a few issues. With audits occurring quarterly, it is difficult to track the effects of change, and difficult to identify problems as they occur. Problems and changes are tracked months in advance, limiting the impact of the tool time studies.
Static reporting
Tool Time reports are frequently provided as pdf reports or excel files with a fixed set of charts. These can take weeks to produce, even for a limited set of data, and only show the views selected by the reporting team. It’s difficult and time-consuming to generate new information or views (or just impossible entirely). It also limits your ability to get to the key insights that are the whole purpose of the audit.
Why is it important to have the right technology tools to measure tool time? Here are a few reasons:
- You can’t improve what you don’t measure (that’s a phrase we say a lot to our clients and users).
- You need to know where to target improvements and that’s where predictive analytics can help.
- Measuring tool time in real-time provides a baseline to track field costs and savings when you implement change.
With mobile technology, Owners, EPCs & Contractors can manage their data collection, insights, and reporting through a couple of key features:
Mobile Data Collection
- Decision support reporting helps users decide when and where to take readings.
- Simple reading creation replaces paper and clipboard-based data collection and introduces automation to improve efficiency.
- Live data is updated from anywhere in the world.
Dashboard Reporting
- Live data can be viewed through live reporting that tracks changes and issues in real-time.
- You can segment data by time, discipline, area, project, plant, and much more to gain new insights.
- You have the ability to drill down into specific source data to see the underlying issues that need to be addressed.
More importantly, mobile technology can also improve safety in the field. Just like with tool time, users can go to the field and take readings on safe or at-risk behavior. The reporting is saved to the cloud and can be utilized to help address trends of unsafe behavior on the job site.
What is O3Go?
Our team created O3Go to help owners, EPCs, and contractors better manage tool time tracking methods. O3Go is a mobile application used by an audit team to record data on the tool time of construction crews. You can learn more about O3Go and its’ capabilities here.
