MobileTime - Mobile Time Tracking Blog for Construction

Innovations in Construction: September, 2011

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and the Construction Industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article will feature select news topics regarding new innovations for the construction industry.

How genetic engineering of bacteria can be used to repair concrete – 9/29/11
“It seems that a team of students at a British university has used genetic modification to develop a way to repair fine cracks. Their achievement holds the promise of prolonged life for concrete structures and a reduction impact that they will have on the environment over the life of the structures. ”  

Long-life bridges using NRC's new concrete technology – 9/19/11
“Preliminary predictions indicate that the service life of bridge decks could be extended by a factor of four, and associated life cycle costs reduced by a factor of three, compared to decks made with conventional normal strength concrete. This would constitute a significant contribution to sustainability in bridge technology.”

Willmott Dixon tests latest low carbon innovations – 9/20/11
“Willmott Dixon is putting to the test two new energy savings systems that are at the cutting edge of low carbon technology.”
“The builder, which is now one of the industry’s leading promoters of low carbon solutions, is harvesting footfall energy and using new transparent photovoltaic glazing to generate free electricity.”

Modular Home Industry Leading In Construction Innovations – 9/9/11
“As time progressed and the modular construction industry enhanced, improved and developed new materials, equipment, fasteners and methods, the gap between the standards closed. Today, many types of fast, yet durable methods of construction that were once only used in modular construction are not regularly used in conventional construction.”

Given all the construction industry's problems brought on by the struggling national economy, innovations that may lead to cheaper, better, and more efficient construction should be well received.

Mobile Time Tracking Construction Industry Update: September, 2011

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and the construction industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article will feature select news topics regarding the construction industry as a whole.

Lack of Confidence Pervasive In Construction – 9/20/11
The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey which included responses from 664 executives of large construction and design firms, showed a large ratings drop from the prior two quarters of 2011. The rating has fallen from a 3/31/11 high of 51, to 46 as of the end of June, to the current low mark of 37 as of the end of the third quarter. The new rating reflects the increasing pessimism in the forecasts of the survey group.  

The use of a Chinese firm to build sections of the new San Francisco Bay Bridge sparks much controversy – 7/12/11

The State of California estimates it will save $500 million by outsourcing this work, but at what cost to the local, state, and federal economies at a time of high unemployment? In addition, what are the implications for future infrastructure projects?

Latest Developments In The Government’s Complaint Against Boeing
    House Passes Legislation to Ban NLRB from ordering any employer to shut down plants or relocate work – 9/15/11
    Boeing internal documents released bringing into question motives for opening of new plant in Charleston, SC. – 9/24/11

National Science Foundation Researchers Call For More Stringent Building Standards To Prevent Future Damages From Tornadoes and Hurricanes – 8/8/11
Research into the massive damage caused by this past spring’s tornadoes results in findings that call for better design standards as well as improved local building codes and inspections. The Joplin, MO tornado in June of 2011 killed over 150 people and caused an estimated $3 billion in damages.

The Evolution of a Mobile Time Tracking Application

Have you ever considered how the evolution of a software product might be subject to a phenomenon similar to Darwin’s Natural Selection component of his Theory of Evolution? Although a software application is not subject to random genetic mutations, it is subject to adding supplemental value to its software, and if not enough value is added, the application may not survive, especially given the highly competitive environment we operate in.

In 2002, mJobTime arose from the needs of a single customer desiring to find a better way to track the time spent by her crews in the field. Her goals were fairly modest, the ability to track the hours worked by her field employees, what jobs they worked on, and the tasks they performed, all done in a wireless format. With those directives, so was born mJobTime, a single-user mobile time tracking application designed to run on Palm Pilots. However, at that time and for some time thereafter, this customer remained our only customer.  

Eventually, we began to add other customers, but they needed more.  In software, you must continuously and consistently add more and more programming mutations, otherwise known as new features, in order to prosper and survive. That brings on the dilemma mentioned earlier – trying to determine which features will add value to the product versus those that will add value to the customer. In doing so, you don’t always make the right decisions. Sometimes, features that you are absolutely certain will be widely accepted will have very limited application. Sometimes the process will work in just the opposite manner.

Since those humble beginnings, mJobTime has evolved tremendously.  We have switched from a single user application to an enterprise environment capable of supporting multiple companies within one organizational umbrella. We now work on many platforms and devices including Windows OS, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile OS, Windows Phone 7, iPhones, iPads, Androids, time clocks, and biometric devices.

It is impossible to begin to list all the new functionality, but among the more important items added are:

• Equipment time tracking
• Daily logs
• GPS/Geo-fencing
• Production items
• Daily quantities
• Budgets
• Multiple time entry methods including real-time, after-the-fact, daily, and weekly
• Shift maintenance
• Overtime processing
• Break processing
• Multi-level approvals

We have been fortunate to survive and prosper in such a competitive environment in addition to selling to an industry that has suffered tremendously in recent times. We also know that future survival is contingent on continuing to be innovative and responsive to the needs of the market we serve. In other words, survival of the fittest!

The American Jobs Act: Promise or Problem?

Last night, before Congress and the nation, President Obama laid out a plan for creating jobs and restoring vitality to the American economy. The plan includes a $447 billion package of tax cuts and spending initiatives that the Administration believes will provide the impetus for job creation and overall economic growth.

Let take a look at what has been proposed:

Expansion and extension of the one-year payroll tax cut	$240
Unemployment insurance and jobs programs	62
Infrastructure projects	60
Aid to states and local governments($80 billion)
To keep teachers, firefighters and police officers in their jobs	35
To modernize schools and community colleges	30
To rehabilitate and refurbish vacant and foreclosed homes	15
To help low-income youths and adult workers	5
Total	$447

How does break down between individuals and business?

Employee payroll tax holiday	$175
Unemployment insurance and jobs program	62
To keep teachers, firefighters and police officers in their jobs	35
To help low-income youths and adult workers	5
Total for individuals	$277
Payroll tax holiday for small businesses	$60
Accelerated depreciation of business assets	5
Aid to states and local governments	45
Infrastructure projects	50
National Infrastructure Bank	10
Total for business	$170

How you feel about this deal will probably be determined by your political swaying’s, but the majority of the economists interviewed in this article seem to believe that the benefits of this pending legislation will be anywhere from minimal to meaningful.

With the unemployment rate for the construction industry still hovering around 13.5%, it is obvious that job creation in the industry is badly needed. But with a highly partisan atmosphere in Congress, what is the realistic chance that this proposed legislation will be passed?  What is your take on the American Jobs Act?

Is An Infrastructure Bank The Answer to Construction’s Jobs Problem?

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and the construction industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article looks at the national infrastructure bank legislation currently proposed in Congress.

Now that the debt crisis issue is finally over with (at least for a while), our nation’s leaders, both Democratic and Republican, have turned their attention to the more pressing problem of creating jobs for this very tepid economy. The Administration has hinted that they would like to make a National Infrastructure Bank a big part of their jobs package.  How will this work? What will be the source of funding? And finally, who will be the customers of a National Infrastructure Bank?

Currently, there are 2 proposals in Congress.

In the Senate, John Kerry (D- Mass.) introduced a bill in March of 2011 to create an independent, nonprofit bank that would leverage private investment into infrastructure projects. The bill has 8 co-sponsors from both parties. The bill would require $10 billion in start-up money from the government to get the first loans going and cover administrative costs. The bank would be a wholly-owned government corporation, run by a chief executive officer and managed by a board of directors, independent of any federal agency and self-sustaining after the initial expense. Public-private partnerships, corporations and state and local governments would be eligible for the loans. Projects to be considered under this bill would have to have a cost of at least $100 million ($25 million for rural infrastructure projects). Project selection would be based on an analysis of costs, benefits, and loan repayment sources such as tolls or fees. Supporters of this bill think the revenue stream for payback of the loans will allow the projects to stand on their own, and by doing so, be good enough to attract private-sector funding.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has sponsored a bill in the House that would create a wholly-owned government corporation named the National Infrastructure Development Bank with $25 billion in initial capital. It would also be set-up very similarly to the Senate version with a chief executive officer and a board of directors. Unlike Kerry’s bill, there are no specific size limits on projects which will focuse on transportation, environmental, energy, and telecommunications projects.

The concept of an infrastructure bank is supported by most Democrats and by two parties who are usually on opposite ends of the negotiating table – the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. There are many others who question the effectiveness of this device to quickly create a large number of jobs in a short period arguing that most projects are not “shovel-ready”. Republicans are solidly against the idea with Speaker of the House John Boehner calling it "more of the same failed 'stimulus' spending".

The likelihood of passage of such legislation will probably come down to a few main factors:

1. Whether Congress has a change of heart and determines that job creation is a more important factor than reducing the deficit,
2. The perceived ability of such a bank to approve projects that will quickly provide a large number of jobs, mostly in construction where they are desperately needed,
3. The perceived ability of the individual projects to create revenue streams sufficient to pay the debt

Rep. Rosa DeLauro noted that China invests 9 percent of its GDP in infrastructure, while India invests 5 percent. The figure for the United States, she said, is less than 2 percent. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in February that a national infrastructure bank would focus on three specific industries - construction, manufacturing, and retail trade. There seems to be a pretty wide consensus that our nation’s infrastructure is in disrepair, but given the current political climate, the chances for passage of the aforementioned legislation appear very slim.

Accountability in Mobile Time Tracking–Approvals and Audit Trails

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article is the last in a series of posts that deals with internal controls embedded in mobile time tracking systems.

Have you ever wondered what internal control features make for a safe, secure mobile time tracking application? One that you can depend on to give you an accurately recorded, properly disbursed payroll. In this issue we will focus on the role of signatures, approvals and audit trails in assuring valid payroll data.

How do you keep from having disputes with employees regarding who worked what hours, and how do you handle a situation where an employee does dispute his hours worked? Without any supporting evidence, it comes down to one person’s testimony against another’s, a very untenable situation at best. This is exactly why many companies require their employees to attest, in writing, to the number of hours worked. This can be accomplished regardless of whether the time tracking method used is paper-based or digital.  This signing usually is prefaced by some sort of accompanying text that may read something like “I certify that the hours shown here are correct and that all work has been performed with no injuries." With the pre-requisite signatures in place, confusion and disagreement can be easily avoided!

In addition to employee signatures, many companies require time record approvals by management personnel, often at multiple levels. Most often, a foremen out in the field will approve his crew’s time records since he is most familiar with how long they worked, what jobs they worked on, and what tasks they performed along with other peripheral information.  The foreman’s records may then be reviewed and approved by a project manager or superintendent who has overall responsibility for the associated jobs or projects, and lastly, final approval may be done by the payroll or accounting manager to assure that all business and payroll rules have been properly applied.

What happens when someone changes the hours worked for an employee in your time tracking software? Will you know what was changed, who made the change, and when the change was made? Without this information, the adequacy of the accountability of your system really comes into question. Changes can be made at any time to your records and no one will have a clue as to the source of those changes, much less what changes were made. That is why it is crucial that your time tracking software contain features that provide a clear audit trail capable of establishing the facts pertaining to any changes made.

Employee signatures, multi-level approvals, and audit trails can not only strengthen the internal controls associated with a mobile time tracking application, they can prevent potential disputes regarding the hours worked by employees of the company. Does your time tracking system incorporate these very important controls?

Accountability in Mobile Time Tracking–Access & Responsibilities

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and the construction industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article is the second in a series of posts that will deal with internal controls embedded in mobile time tracking systems.

Have you ever wondered what internal control features make for a safe, secure mobile time tracking application? One that you can depend on to give you an accurately recorded, properly disbursed payroll. In this issue we will focus on limiting access and assigning responsibilities to assure accurate payroll data.

The first line of defense for a mobile time tracking application should always be the use of encrypted passwords to access the system. This will help prevent unauthorized persons from logging in and using the system. In selecting passwords it is a generally accepted rule of thumb that the easier a password is for the user to remember, the easier it will be for a potential hacker to crack. However, complex passwords are much harder to remember, and oftentimes result in the user having to write down or electronically record this information which in and of itself reduces the security of a system. Probably the best advice for selecting a password is to not base it on words or names that have personal significance like your birthdate, or the names of your spouse or children. Here is an excellent link on choosing a secure password.

Once encrypted passwords have been established, the next step should be to assign user responsibilities. This can be done in a couple of ways. In some systems, user responsibilities are assigned by the administrator of a system. As an example, the administrator may allow the user to create transactions but not to edit or approve them. Editing and approving transactions may be limited to management personnel. Other systems may automatically assign responsibilities through license types. In these types of systems, the license type will dictate the individual responsibility. For example, the license type may restrict the user to entering and reporting on only his time.

When considering a mobile time tracking system, you should not consider any system that does not incorporate these two very important security measures.

Accountability in Mobile Time Tracking – Data Integrity

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and the construction industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article is the first in a series of posts that will deal with internal controls embedded in mobile time tracking systems.

Have you ever wondered what internal control features make for a safe, secure mobile time tracking application? One that you can depend on to give you an accurately recorded, properly disbursed payroll. In this issue we will focus on the role of data integrity in assuring accurate payroll data.

A properly designed mobile time tracking system begins with using correct information. It pulls this information directly from the payroll/accounting system to insure the validity of the data used including employees, jobs, cost codes, pay codes, etc. One can assume with at least a certain degree of confidence that this data has already been reviewed and approved by the appropriate accounting managers. Compare this to a system where the data has to be manually input into the time tracking system. The possibility of human error increases dramatically when manual processes are introduced. This is one of the main shortcomings that electronic time tracking applications were created to address in the first place.

Once the newly created records have been reviewed, edited, and/or approved, they are exported back to payroll/accounting.  It is at this point where a second integrity check occurs. These records will be validated before being accepted by the importing application. Any invalid data will be rejected and the time tracking application administrator will have to research the cause. Unless someone has manually entered new data, or there has been some kind of update or deletion in the payroll/accounting system since the data in question was initially imported, invalid data should be the exception and not the rule.

A good mobile time tracking system makes it very easy to use the correct data to generate accurate payrolls. Do you have such a system?

Buddy Punching Issues In Mobile Time Tracking

Welcome to the latest edition of MobileTime, a blog about the issues affecting mobile time tracking and the construction industry in general.  Our goal for this blog is to provide useful, helpful information presented in a concise format to our customers and all others who might benefit. Today's article discusses the issue of Buddy Punching in mobile time tracking.

Buddy punching is the term referring to when an employee clocks in another employee (the “buddy”) who is either running late, leaving early, or not showing up altogether. Buddy punching is relatively commonplace, and according to Nucleus Research, “three out of four companies experience loss from buddy punching”.  

The cost of missed labor hours can be very high.  For example, if you have 15 employees getting paid for 10 minutes of unworked time per day, the total time for a month, assuming an average of 21 working days per month, will be approximately 3,125 minutes, or 52 hours.  If your average pay rate is 20.00 per hour, then you are paying an extra $1,040 each month for labor not worked.  Adding the cost of payroll taxes and benefits will increase the cost even more.

What can be done to combat buddy punching? There are several available options.

• Use a supervisor – have employees report directly to their supervisor at the beginning of each shift. It may be necessary to do this on a regular basis for a while to get the employees used to the procedure, and then later, continue it on a random basis.

• Use a video camera – Simply setup a camera pointing to the time clock and let the employees know that all clock ins and outs will be recorded. Obviously, camera security may be a concern.

• Smartphones with fingerprint scanners – up until now, smartphones have mostly been limited to those with fingerprint readers for unlocking the phone. However, it appears that true biometric technology is entering the smartphone world. According to a July 21, 2011 article posted on www.govtech.com, “A new device is nearing the mass production stage that combines iris, facial and fingerprint recognition scanning into a smartphone, giving nearly instantaneous identification results to an [law enforcement] officer using it in the field”.  Obviously, the cost of this type of device will not be cheap as the units are estimated to sale at $3,000 each.

• Laptops with USB connected fingerprint scanners – these are a very low-cost but effective, not to mention portable, way to do fingerprint scanning. The scanners are small, but very accurate, and can start at a cost of under $200 for the physical scanner and any associated software.

• Biometric time clocks – heavy duty time clocks are ideal for high volume use and are able to withstand harsh environments, although they are not portable. Instead, they mount to a wall or tabletop. These devices are generally relatively expensive depending on the quality and sophistication of the unit.

All of the above solutions will provide labor savings but the last three will also reduce the time spent on calculating payroll and submitting it to Accounting.  If you think that you are paying for work not performed due to buddy punching, you should investigate these options. Based on our example above, it could definitely be worth your time and trouble.

Should Cost Mainly Determine What Mobile Time Tracking Solution You Purchase?

 

So many times in our experiences, we see prospects focused intensely on price when making their purchase decisions, but is this the wisest way to proceed? When you go this route, what considerations are you overlooking and how important are they to the process of finding the right solution?

Here is a list of factors that should be considered in order of decreasing significance:

• Business value – buy software based upon your business needs and not some glitzy features that you only have occasional use for.  Know which processes and procedures are critical for your organization and make sure that they will be well served or even improved by the software you are considering.

• Return on Investment – what savings can be realized by utilizing the prospective software. Savings can be expressed in terms of time, productivity, and/or actual financial savings. Oftentimes, with software, the potential savings will allow for the cost of the project to be recovered in a matter of months, but careful analysis of all costs and savings must be done prior to any purchase. It is highly recommended that you come up with your own numbers in determining return on investment.
• Price-Total Cost of Ownership – Obviously, cost is still an important consideration. When considering cost, you should try to get a good handle on all costs involved. For the software, this would be the initial purchase price, implementation and training, the cost of necessary customizations, and any on-going costs such as maintenance and support contracts. It will also include the cost of any required hardware, and other associated costs such as cellular data plans, or wireless syncing plans.
• References – With mobile time tracking software it is important to obtain references that come as close to matching your business as possible. So a large electrical contractor will want another large electrical contractor as a reference. It is also good to get a reference using the same accounting software in order to gain an understanding of the integration that exists between the software and the accounting application. In checking references, always check on the level of technical support given by the software company. Once you sign the check that is who you will be almost entirely dependent on, so do your homework. One last note on references, unless you are planning a site visit, getting a near-by reference is not nearly important as getting a well-matched reference.

In today’s fragile and uncertain construction environment, spending money is a very stressful event. Everyone wants to pay as little as possible, but sacrificing effective software for a few dollars of savings is seldom the smart move.