IoT helps to improve contract profitability in infrastructure works

Practically all machine manufacturers offer their own monitoring systems. The challenge is centralizing multi-brand fleets management on an integrative platform 

When construction and mining equipment are connected to the Internet, sending location information, working conditions and operation, it is possible to transform this data into vital information for controlling productivity and costs within a work. 

Today there are different machine brands and models, with each manufacturer offering its own monitoring system, which sees the machinery as an end, as part of an operation to complete a given project. The problem is that, in this way, construction and mining companies have a limited view of work fronts, as technologies do not deliver integrated information for day-to-day management, nor with a managerial bias for several works. 

“If it is impossible to centralize machine management, given that there is a miscellany of manufacturers with their own monitoring systems, it is essential to look for a management platform capable of capturing location, health and operation information from all manufacturers”, highlights Vinicius Callegari, co-founder of GaussFleet.  

According to him, it is difficult for a construction company having just one equipment brand in its works. Even if that happened and it managed to have the manufacturer’s monitoring system for the entire fleet, it would still suffer with a platform that sees the machine as an end and does not have operational context of work progress, work regimes and contract measurement.  

“Some parameters that need to be evaluated are: automatic availability and use, without human interaction; 100% digital and automatic odometer and hour meter, which can even be integrated into the maintenance system; work progress and how much must be paid by the client; possibility of relocating underused machines on other fronts; and control over CDM process”, lists Callegari. 
  

Jaeder Carriel, fleet coordinator at Camargo Corrêa Infra, told in a lecture how the solution used by the construction company for fleet monitoring and management, using telemetry, has ensured equipment physical availability in the field, in addition to production control, consumption reduction and automatic recording of worked hours. 

According to him, the construction company has 242 monitored equipment and 480 operators qualified to interface with this technology. “At the beginning of each shift, a safety and maintenance checklist is carried out, with real-time equipment status on information that enables improved and accurate management”, he describes. 

Jaeder says that before monitoring implementation, the construction company did not have equipment traceability and lacked integration between planning and execution, in addition to the difficulty to obtain information in a timely manner for decision making. “Today, the equipment digital interconnection with the control room was able to reduce fuel consumption by up to 3%, improve mechanical availability and machine utilization rate by 5%”, he assesses. 

He even observes a change in the operators’ culture, with a quality improvement in the information transmitted. From the moment professionals become aware that they are being monitored, they adopt a behavior standard consistent with that established by the company’s work standards. 

By: Santelmo Camilo