In an industry which revolves around being able to build faster, more efficiently and at a lower cost than your competition, mobile technology means more than just devices in your workers’ hands and your supply chain. It means automating and eliminating manual, paper processes that create bottlenecks. It is also about reducing risks and ensuring accurate information and processes. This can often lead to a loss of productivity that organisations feel all the way downstream. With most people around the world constantly connected and accessible 24/7 through mobile devices, the expectation on construction firms is that they are also meeting customer demands in real-time. But more mobile devices and apps means an increase in management complexity.
Real-Time Access
Health and safety compliance in the sector is crucial. All contractors and permanent staff need regular briefings and alignment to mandatory training, new briefings and updates to keep organisations compliant.
Real-time access to vital information across numerous job sites is key. This is why many rely on mobile devices and rugged handsets to stay up to date with colleagues, processes and customers. However, a recent SOTI study found that workers lose an average of 11 hours a month each, due to device issues.
This significant amount of time for employees to be unconnected is especially concerning when staff are distributed across different locations. Across different countries, different sites, from head office to home or across country for meetings all the while communicating with multiple stakeholders for different tasks. Clearly, any kind of device downtime would lead to project update and coordination issues and potential delivery delays, so the ability to detect, fix and even prevent device issues to keep communication lines open and transparent remotely, is key.
Managing Security Risks
Another significant challenge for the construction sector lies in ensuring data security and compliance. When looking to digitise processes and increase the number of tools and devices being used, unfortunately there comes a higher risk of them getting lost or falling into the wrong hands. Robust cybersecurity measures are a must, including the ability to track assets and lock them down anytime, anywhere, to protect sensitive data.
However, many handheld devices are aren’t managed by Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions, particularly when employees use personal phones for work use. This makes the business more vulnerable and susceptible to cyberattacks and threats. It could stem from a lack of security expertise, or the challenges and time required to manually install software updates for staff who are constantly on the move. It can also be due to a lack of awareness of company policy and a lack of ‘lockdown’ on feature rich smartphones that are not falling into company compliance, or in line with the latest regulations. Turning off a camera feature is a common request on some sites, to ensure users can’t take any photos or share them off-premises. Same with microphones to prohibit recordings of meetings.
In an industry so stretched for time, it’s understandable that addressing such issues may seem like a second priority. However, it’s important to keep in mind that one small mistake can result in a device becoming unusable – or even expose an organisation to breach of contract or security risks. As such, it’s essential the sector looks to tackle this head on including making sure they have the ability to push through device updates and training courses remotely, so that employees always have the tools and knowledge they need to stay compliant and secure, so they can focus on the task in hand.
Driving Change
By adopting an effective business-critical mobile strategy, construction organisations can put more controls in place to minimise risks. We’ve seen this recently through our successful EMM solution deployment with T&M Plant Hire.
The company faced an increasing number of security challenges, due to personal phone usage and contractors. The use of unmanaged personal smartphones and tablets made this more challenging for the IT and operations teams involved, especially when seeing that employees were accessing an average of 20 apps each.
With SOTI, T&M Plant Hire has a thorough view over its entire fleet of devices, can easily set up new contractors onto new secured devices within minutes, as well as more control over what information and apps employees can access. All in all, this makes it easier to identify anomalies and reduce the possibility of a security breach. With fast device diagnostics and 100% remote support, any issues are also dealt with swiftly, ultimately reducing downtime and boosting productivity.
Getting ahead with digitalisation
The road to digitalisation in the construction sector may be challenging but it is possible to make quick and impactful changes to keep businesses on the right track.
This doesn’t need to be a heavy or expensive lift as with the right mobile device strategy in place, companies can navigate this journey successfully, reaping the benefits of increased efficiency, productivity and security, not to mention the cost savings.
- Digital Strategy
- Infrastructure & Cloud