Geofencing & IoT for Construction

There is no shortage of opportunity in the construction industry to utilize Internet of Things (IoT) technology to improve worker safety, project efficiency, and equipment security.  “According to The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), 1,000 pieces of commercial equipment are reported stolen each month, the annual cost of equipment theft is estimated to range between $300 million and $1 billion.” IoT solutions can be implemented to reduce equipment loss and the associated financial impacts resulting from higher insurance premiums and required equipment replacement.  The potential savings for organizations that choose to remediate equipment loss with the help of IoT are significant.  Further, use of IoT technology can separate organizations from their peers and provide a competitive advantage to those that embrace the opportunities.

Industrial grade equipment such as compressors, pumps, and vehicles require large capital outlays to acquire and deploy to the field.  These investments can be protected by continuous monitoring enabled by industrial controllers.  These controllers allow for assets to become visible to the internet and IoT enabled. Geofencing is a core component of this type of solution.  Geofencing allows a perimeter to be drawn by an end-user around an IoT-enabled device for the purpose of tracking the movement of the device in proximity to the defined perimeter.

A recent Skylytics’ customer produces state of the art OEM and aftermarket industrial controllers.  The controllers are capable of continuously sending telemetry to the monitoring platform built and deployed on Losant’s Industry leading IoT platform.  Keenly aware of the potential savings represented by loss prevention and asset tracking for its clients, our customer wanted to extend the product to include geofencing.  

Using a design thinking approach Skylytics’ IoT experts collaborated with the customer’s product team to formulate a solution with the customer's needs as the core consideration. The solution moved from the understand to materialize phase and deployed in a matter of weeks. Skylytics’ software developers used an agile delivery approach to iteratively build, test, and deploy geofencing functionality to the customer’s platform.  The customer’s strategic decision to deploy their platform on the Losant IoT platform enables speed to market for functionality the customer prioritizes on its roadmap.

The introduction of Geofencing now provides platform endusers the ability to easily draw perimeters around the IoT controllers on a detailed map in the web-based user interface. The perimeter can be as small(feet) or as large(miles) as required by the activity or asset the customer wishes to monitor.  The platform can also be configured by end users to alert them to planned and unplanned movement of their globally deployed controllers towards or through the user defined perimeter. The solution will now allow customers to remotely monitor their assets and be more proactive and directed in the management of their capital assets.

Drop us a note or book some time and we can help with you with your IoT Innovation!