Stockpile Reports Lite iPhone app

The UK construction industry is a huge sector. Employing around 1.3 million people it is worth around £102 billion per annum, 6% of all UK economic output. To keep its place as the third largest UK industry, the construction industry must constantly evolve – and it is constantly doing so. Adopting new technologies, particularly when it comes to mobile devices, will help to dramatically improve efficiency, reduce costs and speed up projects.

In a construction company, construction managers have much to keep track of: workforce, subcontractors, equipment, quotes and regulations. But with the help of digitisation and mobile technology, construction professionals can manage all processes, employees and keep track of the progress of all their projects.

With smart phones and tablets carried in almost every pocket, mobile solutions enabling real-time information to be collected and distributed is changing the face of the construction industry. Construction professionals now have access to GPS and drones, allowing hard to reach areas to be mapped out and surveyed. From Building Information Modelling (BIM) generating 3D representations of a building and combining it with a construction schedule, to smartphone apps which can measure stockpile amounts simply by pointing the phone at the pile and walking around it, digitisation has forever changed the face of the construction industry.

The ability to share data, on-site images, videos and audio quickly and easily throughout a team keeps everyone involved in a project closely connected. Communication is dramatically improved as team members can manage and access project documents, review images and connect easily from almost any location.

Mobile technology boosts productivity in the construction sector. Using mobile solutions, workers are no longer tied to paper work and data entry so are free to use their energy in more constructive areas. Information on contractors, construction progress or incidents can reduce overall project delays and keep projects on track.

There are now even quickly downloaded apps which can save businesses money and dramatically speed up projects at the touch of a button. One such app is in the area stockpile measurement. This has traditionally taken considerable time, money and effort. Accurate measurement reports are crucial and getting it wrong can mean thousands, if not millions of pounds lost, unaccounted for or written off. It can even lead to disputes and a long, costly road to resolution.

Traditional measurement teams, which can be costly, use techniques such as drilling into stockpiles and LiDAR laser measurement equipment to gauge the volume of material. It is as significant financial outlay. But innovative technology has delivered a game changing solution.

Any stockpile can now be quantified by using the new Stockpile Reports Lite iPhone app. It allows construction professionals to measure piled material by simply pointing an iPhone at the material and walking around it. The app captures high resolution imagery that is then uploaded to the cloud and processed to generate a report. Independent tests have shown the measurements to be within 1% to 2% of LiDAR (laser measurement) surveys. Designed to work with free-standing stockpiles up to 3,000 cubic metres, it takes just a couple of minutes to measure and results are auto-generated quickly. Once on the purchase screen, construction workers can simply select the amount of measurements they would like to purchase and go through the check out process. The measurement results are accessible quickly, for a small fraction of the typical cost and well before the time it would take a measurement crew to arrive on-site.

The adoption of new mobile technology is driving the construction industry forward. Businesses can potentially save thousands of pounds by introducing new mobile solutions into everyday tasks, linking the workforce, increasing productivity and speeding up tasks like never before.