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iPad Will Transform Construction Industry

By on March 14, 2013 in Ideas

Ipad Construction

TechCrunch:

Here’s just a short list of some things that will transformed in the next few years as the iPad delivers computing to the construction site:

  1. Adios, blueprints: The first thing that will disappear is paper. It’s expensive, always out-of-date, and with this new push for green buildings, The Owners are asking their contractors to ‘go paperless’.

  2. Much better communication: Here’s a process that happens every time some guy in the field needs clarification from the architect on how to build something: He leaves the job site, heads to the construction trailer, grabs his set of blueprints, heads back to the job site, looks at the problem and makes notes on his plans, heads back to the trailer, scans the plans, goes to his computer, opens his email, sends the scan to the architect, and then walks all the way back to the job site. This takes at least 20 minutes every time someone has a question! With the iPad, he’ll just open up his blueprints app, markup the problem, and send out an email right there.

  3. Hello analytics: One of the most frustrating things about running a construction company is that you are constantly writing these huge checks, but you have no idea what is actually going on in the field. No field computing, means no field data, which means you have no idea that your electrician, who you picked because he was 10% cheaper, is 30% slower than the other electrician you used last time. The Google Analytics/Palantir for construction is going to really change how things are done.

Photo based on one by 1971yes/ShutterStock.

construction ipad

Business Opportunities Weblog editor and publisher Dane Carlson lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, just 15 miles from Yosemite National Park. He accidentally became a professional blogger in 2001. He has added 12,208 posts to the site.

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  • mrp

    Nice article, but doesn’t consider the size and light conditions required to effectively work in the construction industry.

    There is a good reason blueprints are as large as they are – you can see the big picture and details, in direct sunlight, with no concerns about them falling on the floor, with or without gloves, clean or dirty hands.

    With an iPad, you would have to see your blueprint through a 9-inch window, clean hands, indoors, carpet flooring (or enclosed within a shatter resistant case), with a magnifying glass, hardly a construction site environment.

    Unless apple comes out with a maxi-iPad that’s at least 20-inches in size, readable in direct sunlight and gorilla-glass reinforced for outdoor/construction site environments, it will hardly be used in such environments.

  • Aaron Falconer

    I have been using my iPad instead of plan prints for residential construction. I design and build and find using the IPad really effective and handy. Lighting conditions have not been too much of an issue as the screen is bright and sharp, and the scale of the screen has been bearable. On a commercial project I expect that the screen size may be more of an issue. I use spread sheets and email for material orders etc and often use the calculator. Photos are easy and sending info requests to consultants a breeze. Thumbs up :-)

  • Ellis

    Solution to the size of screen is to be able to project it onto a wall – there are portable projectors out there that can do this if they have a usb port..

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