Construction sites are often loud and complicated places to be in. It’s a mix of amazing coordination and highly risky equipment, a lot can go wrong on a construction site. That is why, managers have to be extremely alert & make safety their priority. That’s why a lot of companies prefer the use of RFID in construction management nowadays.
So, let’s talk about the benefits & applications of RFID in the construction industry.
Applications for RFID in Construction Management
Radio Frequency Identification technology can be very useful in the construction industry. It has various applications that allow it to make day-to-day work more efficient. So, let’s discuss the use of RFID in Construction Management.
Tool Tracking
Contrary to what you might think, it’s fairly common for tools to be misplaced on a job site. This can occur for many reasons, ranging from negligence to outright theft. And if there’s one thing that is necessary for construction, it’s the presence of tools. With the help of RFID technology, you can effectively keep track of your tools & equipment. An RFID tag will communicate the location and time stamp of all your tools to your system and inventory database. This prevents any unnecessary loss and also helps workers find and retrieve any equipment without wasting time.
Raw Material Management
Before any actual construction can take place, first you must get the proper stock of raw materials & other supplies. They are then kept in a secure storage place to be retrieved during construction when needed. Construction companies can use RFID for raw materials in a couple of different manners. RFID tags allow you to prepare and audit the manifest for incoming supplies quickly. By implementing RFID security gates on the entry and exit of the supply storage, you can also prevent any theft of the materials. Lastly, when you want to retrieve any material from the storage, a handheld RFID reader makes it very easy and fast.
Tracking On-Site Workers
Maintaining a professional and disciplined work environment is an essential part of a manager’s job. In addition to that, they also need to keep track of the workers’ location on the job site. By using RFID cards, you will know the location of all the workers. This not only improves the efficiency of a project but also serves as a safety measure.
Find Underground Assets
Assets that are underground can be a pain to locate and identify, but with the help of RFID tags, you can easily solve this problem. UHF RFID tags & readers have strong enough radio signals to penetrate the ground up to a limit. This allows workers to easily locate underground assets using handheld RFID readers.
Inventory Management
An essential part of construction management is to ensure proper inventory, this helps the job site run effectively without a hitch. An RFID system keeps your inventory database updated in real-time, allowing you to have good oversight of your assets & raw materials. This assists you in making timely replenishment of the inventory and deters theft or stock shrinkage.
Benefits of Using RFID Systems in Construction Management
Now that we have discussed all the applications of RFID in construction management, it's time to see what its benefits are. There are other methods for managing a construction project, before the advent of RFID, we were still used to constructing. However, radio frequency identification has a leading edge over conventional methods.
Automation
As long as a tag is within the broadcasting field of a reader, they’ll keep communicating. This allows RFID technology to automate a lot of time-consuming tasks like keeping an inventory, locating equipment, etc. This allows the job site to become more efficient and productive.
Virtually Error Proof
Human error is always a risk, these can result in halts or even financial loss to the organization. With the help of RFID, you can make sure that there are no errors. As each tag contains specific information and can communicate with the reader without direct contact, every tagged item will be logged into the system.
Prevents Stock Shrinkage
No security is foolproof, and minor thefts from the inventory are common in most businesses. However, if left unchecked, it can lead to disastrous results. RFID is a great way to deter &reduce theft and stock shrinkage. A study shows that an RFID system can reduce theft by as much as 75%.
Streamlines Fabrication
Due to RFID automating a lot of tasks while decreasing the chances for mistakes, the overall productivity of the project is improved as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What are the RFID tags for construction equipment?
Ans. Due to their diverse applications, manufacturers develop a variety of RFID, each suitable for different purposes. In the case of construction equipment, the RFID tag has to endure vibrations, dust, and probably even physical damage. So, you need a tag with a protective shell and a strong mounting, like – Embeddable Tag or Hard Tag.
Q2. What is the principle of RFID?
Ans. RFID, full form - Radio Frequency Identification, it’s a system of asset identification and communication wirelessly using radio waves. An RFID system consists of RFID tags & readers. A reader broadcasts a signal that is picked up by a tag. The tag uses backscattering and sends the signal back to the reader, which receives it & sends it to the system.
Q3. What are the three components of RFID?
Ans. Although you can divide RFID technology into several components, there are three things in an RFID system – RFID Tag, RFID Reader, and Software.
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