Keep taking the tablets
Harvey Fit-Out Contractors have provided all our site and project managers with iPads, an operational innovation that is yielding significant benefits in efficiency, accuracy, improved communication and synchronised information sharing, as well as speeding up on-site decision making.
Tablet devices such as the iPad are lighter, cheaper and more portable than a laptop, yet can deliver all the computing functionality we require in the field, in a single package, providing for genuinely mobile operation.
Traditionally, complex fit-out projects have always been heavily dependent upon a vast paper trail. All too often plans and blueprints would have fallen out of date almost as soon as they were printed and distributed. Now, all our staff have real-time access to the most up-to-date documentation – such as schedules, project plans, blueprints, floor plans or wiring diagrams – via a cloud server, ensuring that everyone is, quite literally, always on the same page!
Alongside this, even simple, practical actions such as shooting photos and video right from the device, for immediate sharing via email, are very powerful capabilities that are streamlining our processes. It means we can address any queries or issues far more quickly and accurately, right from the project’s front line. The Facetime application – utilising the iPad’s front and rear cameras – has proved particularly valuable, by enabling real-time site walk-throughs via video link, with the opportunity for simultaneous feedback, comment and discussion with clients or architects.
Our operations have always been characterised by having many of our people out on the road, on site, every day, far from the office. In these circumstances, maintaining effective lines of communication, and coordinating events and information on site, has always presented one of our biggest challenges. It’s been clearly demonstrated that equipping our site managers with iPads has regained many hours of productive time; we’re getting more done, more quickly and efficiently. Among many benefits this represents a cost-saving that can be passed on to our clients, as well as ensuring greater accuracy and minimising the potential for mistakes or misunderstandings.
