Tenna, a construction technology platform for equipment fleet operations, has released new product solutions to address some of the most common problems plaguing jobsite crews, including Maintenance, Reserve It and Safety & Compliance.
Tenna's Maintenance feature enables construction companies to manage and control their equipment fleet maintenance remotely, allowing for quick identification of maintenance or repair needs and timely resolutions to many preventable problems that cost crews across the country thousands in lost productivity.
It's critical that equipment is in good working condition for optimal performance, efficiency and safety. By reading telematics data from a hardware tracker specific to each asset type and interpreting that data for the users on their software platform, Tenna enables teams to know well in advance when routine and preventive maintenance is upcoming. This helps appropriately schedule maintenance between jobsite reservations, keeps assets operational and prevents their needs from becoming urgent.
The maintenance feature also promotes easy communication to the shop when repairs are needed, indicating the condition and service requirements necessary for mechanics to easily assess and address issues quickly, reducing downtime and keeping assets up and running. Early identification means improved scheduling to optimize resources and minimize the impact that maintenance can have on project timelines.
"Every construction job is unique, with its own set of challenges and requirements, but they all need to have the right tool or piece of equipment in safe and operational condition at a moment's notice," said Jose Cueva, co-founder of Tenna. "Even something as trivial as a dead battery or a busted hydraulics hose can stop workers in their tracks and force the job into unplanned troubleshooting, which is very costly.
"With Tenna, the health, safety and schedule of each tool, machine and vehicle are captured and swiftly communicated to the people relying on it the most. This visibility can eliminate four to six-figure cost ‘surprises' at the job level and help grow the project and business' bottom lines," added Cueva.
Tenna's new reservation system enables quick communication and coordination between equipment managers and jobsite personnel to help share resources efficiently and reduce man-hours spent searching for available assets across the organization. This feature is valuable on its own but also pairs particularly well with Maintenance in times when emergency repairs are needed and a replacement asset is required urgently to complete project operations, according to the company.
"With several people utilizing the same assets, there's a breakdown in communication, which makes it difficult to pin down who's accountable for what and what is really needed on which job sites," said Cueva. "Our technology addresses the disconnect between management and jobsite personnel, promoting more effective communication, accountability, improved productivity and, most importantly, safety."
Through firsthand experience, Tenna also understands that sometimes there are problems that are unavoidable. Construction equipment is subject to heavy wear and tear, and broken parts are routine, just as oil changes are.
The reservation feature centralizes assets across project sites, allowing teams to share resources to support emergency needs at multiple projects. This feature also promotes better utilization of assets and reduces hoarding by exposing underutilized assets on one site so they can be intentionally put to use on another. Streamlining resource management eliminates additional man-hours lost by foremen, laborers, superintendents and shop personnel trying to track down assets they need.
"Tenna aims to help organizations create a workplace environment where assets and equipment are properly maintained at all times. But things can break down even when you don't expect them to, and many times it's timelier to find and mobilize a new machine than it is to wait for the repair of the original one. Our reservation system allows crews to request and reserve another piece of equipment located at the shop or on a different job site, so that when on-demand repair isn't available or cost-effective, a replacement asset can quickly be acquired," said Cueva.
Finally, Tenna's new Safety & Compliance feature promotes safety on the job with Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR) and Driver Scorecards. DVIR empowers individual drivers to perform full walk-around safety inspections before operating an on-road vehicle to verify that everything is in safe working condition prior to beginning a trip. This helps ensure compliance with many fleet regulations.
"Every construction company has personnel on the road at all times, so giving these drivers and operators the right tools to ensure the safety of their vehicles can prevent accidents, avoid fines and foster a culture of safety," Cueva said.
The Driver Scorecard functionality gives drivers and management insights into driving performance and behaviors. This can supplement a safety program with safe performance scores and identification of areas for improvement for individual drivers to maintain safe on-road operations.
"It is not enough for companies to enforce safety at the job if the crews and project personnel immediately forget their good habits when they hop in the truck and drive to pick up supplies or head back home," said Cueva. "After years of working with construction and industrial companies, we have learned that the best way to avoid this is by giving individuals a sense of identity, in this case a Driver Scorecard, which is visible to their peers, supervisors, and executives. Nobody wants to be known as that one driver who scored an ‘F' on their Driver Scorecard and brought down everyone's average. It becomes a matter of accountability to others, beyond yourself, at that point."
One of the primary values Tenna provides is widespread communication throughout the organization on events and actions related to its assets and operations.
For more information, visit www.tenna.com.
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