Struggling to take complete charge of your construction equipment? A construction equipment manager deals with procurement, usage, management, and maintenance of equipment ranging from expensive heavy-duty machines such as cranes, forklifts, bulldozers, and excavators, to smaller tools and accessories. Tracking such a large and diverse inventory of equipment can be challenging, especially if you are using manual methods.
The job of a construction equipment manager requires you to take strategic decisions that impact your company’s bottom line. Inaccurate data and human error can cause a great deal of confusion and disrupt operations.
Here are a few outcomes of poor equipment management:
Take powerful control of your equipment
Looking to take complete control of your construction equipment? Use these helpful tips to sidestep common problems and run efficient operations.
Understand best utilization practices
Construction equipment that is lying idle at a warehouse or not being used to its full potential is a significant financial burden. This equipment costs a lot in maintenance while giving low output. Being aware of your equipment’s utilization ratio is essential for boosting your productivity in the construction industry. This leads to smarter decision-making on your part.
For example, if a bulldozer has been sitting idle and costing you money in maintenance and storage, it might be a good idea to consider selling it off and renting a machine on a need-only basis instead. Likewise, for items that are being used frequently, you can buy in bulk at a lower cost since you know they will be utilized.
Accurately estimate asset depreciation
Since construction equipment is constantly in use across a wide range of projects, its value depreciates over the years. From heavy-duty machines to tools, equipment loses value and efficiency over time. Accurately tracking and estimating this depreciation is a critical part of your job as a construction equipment manager.
Knowing the real value of equipment helps in presenting an accurate financial picture of your business. Also, keeping accurate track of when a piece of equipment needs to be retired and replaced means fewer disruptions and unanticipated costs for the organization. Asset management software is extremely helpful in this regard. The software comes equipped with tools to determine your equipment’s depreciation depending on the date of purchase and usage levels.
Put theft prevention measures in place
Equipment theft is a major concern across the construction industry with businesses losing millions of dollars every year. As construction companies may be working across multiple sites at a time, it can be challenging to accurately keep track of equipment in varying locations.
Theft can be prevented by implementing some simple security measures. Secure the construction site with fences or barbed wire to prevent trespassers from breaking in. Security personnel and surveillance devices are also a great investment for maximizing security for your valuable equipment.
Also, it is extremely important to maintain an accurate inventory of your assets in order to prevent any form of theft by opportunists present inside the organization. Labeling your equipment and tracking it in a software will create a traceable line of ownership and enhance accountability across the organization.
Provide effective training to your team
Since the construction industry is using specialized equipment that requires specific handling and care, it is essential to train your workforce in its use. Having a trained workforce minimizes the chances of any errors on the part of the workers that would cause delays or financial losses for the business.
Ensure that workers have studied any required equipment manuals, provide practical demonstrations, and help workers complete any certifications required to operate certain machinery. A trained operator who is familiar with both the abilities and the limitations of the equipment will be able to get optimum outcomes while ensuring the safety of the job site.
Ensure seamless communication
Effective communication and providing clear directions goes a long way in boosting worker productivity at a construction site. Depending on your workflows and requirements, you can use multiple methods of effective communication. For example, you can set up short daily meetings to bring the entire workforce on the same page regarding tasks. Moreover, your workers should be able to reach out to you conveniently for any help or suggestions.
A seamless communication system will enable you to inform your workers of the equipment available, any potential delays, or if there are any changes to the plan. This also ensures that workers are never misdirected or idle.
Automate operations with asset management software
Where keeping an inventory of your equipment is extremely important to your team’s productivity, a tracking software makes the process extremely efficient. Here are just a few ways a centralized platform can help you simplify operations and gain powerful control over your construction equipment:
- Fully automate maintenance. Set up recurring services, send equipment into triage, and even mark items as unavailable while they are being serviced.
- Generate Work Orders to keep track of projects across your teams, assign tasks, and stay updated on progress via notifications.
- Reserve equipment via a dashboard calendar for conflict-free scheduling.
- Check items, in and out, and perform multiple actions in the field with a mobile app.
- Label your equipment and get real-time updates on who has ownership of which item at any given time – send custody verification requests to custodians.
- Enable workers to transfer custody of items, and ask for approvals before equipment is moved around.
- Generate reports on equipment utilization and maintenance costs for useful business insights with implications for procurement planning and complete lifecycle management.
In contrast to manually logged spreadsheets, asset management software keeps real-time track of your construction equipment and shares the responsibility of managing it while ensuring transparency.
About EZOfficeInventory
EZOfficeInventory is the leading Asset tracking software. It will allow you to integrate and use your Asset data with any third party application built on Amazon Web Services. We offer a free 15-day trial – no credit card required!
