Fleet management software

Graham Larkin, plant manager for the JV companies building the Metro.

Using computer software to run a construction site is hardly a new idea – after all site managers generally have had some kind of database for years, but the concept of using special packages to monitor uptime and service intervals is reasonably novel in this region.

Modern software can handle all kinds of information about the machines and vehicles in a company’s fleet. As well as the usual data about vehicle maintenance and scheduled services, software can now track purchases, including labour costs and resale values.

As well as this, it is possible to add in a number of ‘modules’ that can monitor anything from tyre items through to the stock levels in the parts inventory and so on.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

Additionally, some modern software packages can be integrated with payroll software, so you can see who has worked what hours, and on which machine.

We were curious to see such software in action so we dropped in on Graham Larkin, plant manager of the JV grout that is currently building the Dubai Metro.

It is a particularly complicated time for the project now, as some of the plant is being removed as the job nears completion, while other smaller pieces that are relevant to the final stages are being brought in.

Software
As such, Larkin has brought in some software that he firs encountered while working in Africa; “In a previous job in Eritrea, we did a survey [of the software available] and the government picked this one”. The software in question is from a UK-based firm called TAG. In it, the program, a variety of ‘modules’ are interlinked and these contain values about the equipment being monitored.

Using the program is not too difficult for a trained operator. At the JV, there are two staff who work the database. Larkin explained; “If, for example, there is an issue for a part to a machine, you have got issues by work order, then that will show in the bold print all the open work orders, that will show all the machines being serviced. Select this work order number, and then directly issue parts to that work order number. So if we were to go back in a couple of weeks time, we would see that.”

He added, “We could go right back to the beginning of the project and track every machine and every cost…if we’d used it from day one!”

He explained that if he were to do the project again, then even more integration would be useful: “There is also a purchasing module which we didn’t buy as the company already had its own purchasing software. This was a bit of a pity as we would have been able to track everything. If we were to do this again than we would do that.”

Out of interest, the purchasing software that the JV uses is the popular ‘Timberline’ software package.

“When we have visits by the engineers, they were very impressed with the record keeping because it is what they wanted to see.”