RFID + smart camera ai
Case Study 3
Dougall-Howard is a Civil Construction company specialising in design and construction of medium scale rail and road civil works and upgrades.
Dougall-Howard has permanent staff of 46, comprised of Engineers (11), works foremen/women (16) and 19 machine operators and labourers. The company is headquartered in a modern office on a large industrial site, which comprises of 2 large warehouse buildings and 8ha of open but fenced compound storage.
Dougall-Howard won the civil works project of the design and construction of a railway bridge over a dual-carriage road at Barjong Crossing. For this project, Dougall-Howard would employ a further 35 labourers and machine operators on a project-specific basis, along with sub-contracting surveying services from a specialist company. They would also need to establish a remote office hut and a large fenced open compound near the civil works site, located approximately 160km from their main headquarters.
As all civil works projects are tight on budget and strict on time milestone achievements, we needed to explore smarter and more automated technology to assist with the efficiency and remote monitoring for this 18-month project."
Dougall-Howard wanted particular emphasis on:
OH&S conformance
Monitoring client billable times for own permanent staff, the casual full-time staff and the professional sub-contractor services
Efficient machinery allocation and relocation
Weekly stock takes of the varied and complex materials at headquarters compound and warehouses
Bi-weekly stock takes of the varied and complex materials for the on-site compound
RFID + SMART CAMERA AI
Case Study 3 - (cont.)
In close consultation with Dougall-Howard, GeoApsis designed and implemented the following solution:
- Each crate was uniquely monitored for:
AI smart camera analytics of several SOP’s
RFID Card plus Face-ID access
GNSS monitoring of all machinery and company vehicles
RFID tags on tools plus camera with Face ID to toolshed
Indoor warehouse autonomous inventory drone
Outdoor autonomous drone weekly inventory with RFID reader and camera
RFID antennae installed on headquarters warehouses and open compound gates
RFID antennae installed on project site and open compound gates
RFID antennae on forklift trucks
Warehouse Management System (WMS) software implemented
Results:
On the worksite and at HQ:
PPE compliance automated alerts to smartphone
OH&S incident camera evidence
Day and night 24/7 video data, stored in cloud and securely accessible to all authorized users
Worksite access of all personnel monitored and controlled via Card and Face-ID access
Tools allocations and usage auto monitored
Machinery location and usage monitored
Automated weekly stock takes via drone over open compound critical items
Same drone used for weekly project mapping progress
Critical components delivered from HQ automatically registered and monitored by RFID
Each RFID-labelled tool was uniquely monitored for:
Who used the tool(s)
When
Last logged allocation/movement
Daily analysis provided of human and resources usage and efficiency
I was stoked! Senior Managers and remote Managers all reported - significant efficiency increase; Welcomed acceptance by staff and contractors; significant decrease in lost items, tools and staff searching times; plus accurate project cost monitoring"
Annex: After 4 months, Dougall-Howard engaged GeoApsis to provide solutions for 2 other civil works projects that the company had won interstate.
*Note: Technical details are accurate. Real names have been altered to maintain confidentiality.