Completing infrastructure installation projects on time and staying within budget requires an efficient and productive operation. Small problems on a job can build and have a cascading impact on your profits due to the infra sector's already razor-thin margins. The intricacy of the allows issues to be masked or buried in everyday operations with a lot of moving parts.
The financial damage might remain undiscovered until it's too late if these problems are not dealt with. Sometimes, they aren't discovered at all, and businesses continue getting hit by a barrage of losses. As of 2022, this issue remains a serious dilemma, with more than 49% of the 5,000 smart city projects in India remaining unfinished, as deadlines approach.
By utilizing cutting-edge technology and improving communication, you can avoid problems with infrastructure project development and stay on track. Grid has been working with organizations in the Smart City infrastructure space to streamline and digitize their operations from start to finish so that every stage in the project remains interconnected. We'll walk you through the most common reasons why projects fail, as well as how Grid has assisted in reversing and turning these failures into profitable areas.
Survey
Every infrastructure project begins at this specific point, with the task of surveying to collect detailed requirements ensuring error-free construction/installation. Contractors use data from the survey to create the best possible rollout plan, that involves minimal loss of resources, capital, and time. But as mentioned, the rollout plan is entirely dependent on the data received, and this is where things tend to go wrong for most projects.
Traditional methods still rely heavily on pen-and-paper for data collection. In cases where electronic devices are used instead, the data is still warehoused in excel sheets or other cheaper legacy software that provide minimal to no transparency and zero version control. This results in numerous human errors, that are a threat to the very foundation of your infrastructural project, and later turn out to be the reason for delays and budget overruns.
Grid has enabled companies to create survey applications that not only collect accurate data from the most remote locations but also allow automated generation of equipment installation plans that can be set up, based on heuristics. The ability to create, upload and edit flexible survey forms, which are automatically imported into a centralized database, standardizes and streamlines data collection giving a live view of progress and efficiencies.
Inventory
Every infrastructure project, small or large, requires the use of a number of assets that are quite frankly difficult to track and manage. Keeping a physical register of all your assets or inventory is absurd and has historically led to losses running from thousands to lakhs. Machines and equipment used in infrastructure projects are built to be extremely durable and are hence expensive, and it becomes essential to track them and their condition proactively. With Grid's agile Inventory Tracking System, contractors can assign QR codes to their valuable inventory, and track:
- Supply and demand
- Stock
- Location
- Assignee
- Health
- Status
This is vital data in safeguarding assets and helps companies negate a significant percentage of their losses. All of this is possible through meticulous yet user-friendly forms that constantly update information regarding inventory movement for faultless project management.
Installation
During the installation phase, the progress needs to be tracked in as close to real-time as possible, to ensure that the project is on track and timetables are being adhered to. Based on the information in the survey, a plan can be drawn up using heuristics with timelines, deliverables, and responsible parties for each step of the project for asset installation. Failure to do so results in wide-scale mismanagement of personnel and time, which would result in multiple iterations of an already extensive process.
Grid enables the tracking of installation of Smart Assets across Urban Bodies. This is also integrated with the inventory management solution to track assets. The commissioning and closure of asset installations are also done via the Grid app for a rigid, connected system. The Grid mobile application works completely offline, on any mobile device, enabling technicians to quickly add installation data in bulk from the field, without expensive hardware, thus saving costs. This also allows for much faster billing cycles and hence directly affects the profitability of the project. The installation trackers designed on Grid give near real-time visibility into project progress for tracking timelines and billing cycles. This saves more than 70% of data reconciliation time for back-office teams.
Maintenance
The most unstandardized aspect of operations is maintenance, which is a major reason to undertake projects/tasks. From identifying faults to fixing them, maintenance for most service providers isn't streamlined, with multiple personnel and points of contact complicating what should be an easy process.
Grid has the ability to shake with Smart Infrastructure Data Management Systems or Interconnected Device Networks, so as to readily find consumption trends and patterns, which help keep an eye out for abrupt abnormalities that bring attention to a maintenance check or suspicious activity. Maintenance applications for field engineers and contractors are also integrated with citizen-facing applications and smart assets. Grid allows the generation of alerts that can automatically be pushed to the mobile apps of the concerned field personnel along with the location so that they can swiftly resolve the issues, and enter consumption of spares and other items in the resolution of the alert.
Financial Control
The difference between a struggling construction business and a successful one can sometimes boil down to a structured account management system. It is mandatory for companies to manage invoices with utmost precision. If you fail to send invoices to bill for your services or materials you're not likely to get paid. But when it comes to large-scale infrastructure projects, invoice management can plunge into total chaos. Traditionally, invoices have to be emailed, reviewed, scanned, and entered into ERP software. In addition to the manual effort required, these tasks also spread across multiple platforms/channels.
The invoices are then forwarded to different departments and processed manually for payments, naturally resulting in human errors. To make matters worse, extra personnel is also needed to track and monitor these processes, step by step, leading to massive mismanagement of human resources.
Grid helps you create an integrated application that takes care of the following workflow, automatically:
- Document collection and review as per set conditions
- Invoice matched against PO and automatically pushed for approval
- Invoice submission followed by verification, approval, and authorization for payment
- Payment credited for approved invoices
- Records collection of all activity and stages sent to integrated ERP for audit and analysis.
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