FR2676846A1 - Automatic entry of elementary data on construction sites - Google Patents

Abstract

Automatic entry of elementary data for construction site quality management. Device for automatically entering and managing on site the defects noted in the works carried out by the companies, as well as for noting the carrying out of the phases of progress making up the timetable of the operation. It consists of a pocket computer (1), equipped with a bar-code reader (2), a cord for linking to an office computer or to a minitel (6), an office computer (4) equipped with database management software allowing automatic attributing of the noted defects, or of the phases of progress, to the companies concerned, and automatically generating the necessary mailings (5) for forwarding the information entered, and the consequent requests for making good the works. The device according to the invention is particularly intended for the on-site management of quality and timetables.

Description

AUTOMATIC INPUT OF ELEMENTARY DATA (SADE)
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a device for automatically managing the quality of construction work on building sites.

The final quality of an achievement can be characterized by the following parameters
- Defects noted on delivery
- Delivery on the promised date or with delay.

The Automatic Data Entry Device
Elementaires (SADE) makes it possible to treat these two parameters with the objective of delivering the buildings with "Zero defect" and "on time".

Today, on a given site, the controller (Quality Manager, Works Manager, Engineer
Production ...) proceed as follows
r Recognition of various faults in all trades, on
site, often outdoors in conditions
difficult climatic and meteorological conditions
block of paper, handmade.

i At the end of the day, processing of this information from the
following ways
Solution a
Coding of each defect found by the subcontracting company by subcontracting company.

 Copy for company "A" of the defects noted from the list entered on day "D".

 Copy for company "B" of the defects noted from the list entered on day "D".

 Etc., etc...

 So every day of the week.

 It is also necessary that each defect noted is identified in the space-place.

Example
- House No. 27, living room, at the foot of the left wall, to the right of
the fireplace).

 - Fault: splinter of tiles.

- Company: "The tiler
Obviously, if lton wishes to manage the follow-up given to this observation, that is to say to make so that the company "The tiler" returns in house n0 27, changes 2 to 3 tiles at a date compatible with the general planning, you have to
- Copy the lists every day by one, or even
several secretaries
- Send (serve) to the company the acknowledgment of faults
in order to enforce the existing work contract between
a Client and a company.

 This solution "a" is very rarely used because this daily work is tedious; secretarial staff do not stay on duty long; when the company receives the information, 2 to 5 days have passed.

 Hence poor quality and delay.

Solution b
The input work is the same as for solution "a", but being more realistic, we do not re-type the observed defects.

 The controller tries to write as best as possible on the site on a pre-printed "standard frame" paper (there are lots:; location:; what a defect :) with blanks left free for writing.

 Back from the site, the controller counts the number of trades involved in the faults entered (examples: 10 trades); he asked his secretary for as many copies of the list of defects entered as there were companies.

 The controller, or the secretary, then takes the 10 copies, and passes to the colored marker the defects (for example) of the plumber, then on the copy following the defects of the electrician, etc ...

 Besides the fact that in cases of litigation (frequent in the building) judges, experts and opposing parties must work with documents often of quality and of doubtful readability, the companies when they receive notification of their own defects, drowned in a mass defects found belonging to other trades, do not feel concerned, nor motivated, and do not act.

 Result: poor quality and delay.

 Solution c: the most common.

 When the controller notices the faults, he goes to look for the company which does not note anything and forgets.

 The controller more generally formalizes what he notices during the weekly site visit, all the companies being present (huge loss of time).

 The controller ends up saying to the company "you are responsible for your works ...".

 Result: poor quality and delay.

 The S.A.D.E. allows the entire process described above to be processed completely and automatically.

 It includes the following IT elements, which can come from various suppliers and are available on the market with various technical characteristics and potentials. We will indicate below a typical configuration which gives us complete satisfaction.

1. A pocket computer with a pin
special, connectable to an optical pencil reader
barcode.

2. Handheld memory capacity
compatible with daily seizures
predictable.

3. "Barcode generator" software
running on the handheld or on a
desktop computer.

4. An adapter cord allowing communicability
handheld - desktop or
handheld - modem for transfer to
distance or through a minitel.

5. A PC type desktop computer (Personal
Computer) with memory capacity
sufficient to accommodate and operate a
"database manager" software.

This desktop computer may have
following additional peripheral software
I barcode generator.

I data transfer management back and forth
between pocket computer and
office.

i graphics software to transform into
graphs (histograms, pie charts, curves,
etc ...) the data coming from the "manager
database ".

i spreadsheet software capable of reprocessing
data from the "database manager
data
i classic word processing software.

 i planning software.

6. "Database manager" software
able to store, manage and assemble the
requests a certain number of files including, for
the SADE system, the main ones are
a batch file (number of houses, or
apartments or offices, or rooms
hotel ... depending on the construction to be carried out).

i a file of trades (masonry,
electricity, plumbing ...).

 i a file of companies (name, address ...).

1 a file of past contracts (which company
has which market).

 i a file of delivery dates.

i a customer file: when selling to
the unit (example: village of houses
individual).

i a body-by-body defect file
status, non-exhaustive list.

i a file of the locations in a house, a
building, office or room, including
landmarks, or sections for the body
VRD status (various roads and network).

i a file of standard mails intended for
companies or customers: single letters,
reminders, formal notices ....

i a file of the planning progress phases
recovery in corporate markets.

7. A conventional needle printer or better
laser.

 Summary basic principle of the S.A.D.E.

 Throughout the day, the controller captures faults identified by simple reading of bar codes characterizing the said faults, using his handheld computer and the bar code reader pen.

 Back at his desk, the controller connects the handheld computer to the desktop computer, and transfers the information entered into the database manager.

 The latter automatically assigns each defect found for each lot to the responsible company, specifying all the characteristics.

The database management software then automatically generates a summary sheet by company, of the defects noted, in the form of a table specifying
- the lot concerned,
- the situation, location,
- the failure,
- the date of the finding,
- the date on which the defect must be repaired.

 It then automatically generates the dispatch mail to the company concerned.

 And this until all the trades for which faults have been identified have been exhausted.

The database manager software then allows you to record the date on which the defect was repaired by the company and authorizes
i a statistical analysis of the defects of a body
given state over a given period; or for
lots given (number, frequency, average,
standard deviation).

i a graphical representation of these statistics
allowing a real dialogue with the company,
since it is possible to show him with
figures on which posts it does not
quality; how many faults she had to repair
what average time elapsed between the observation
defect and repair; etc ...

i a significant improvement in quality in
making other choices of materials or
implementation techniques at the stage of
design of real estate products; or the choice
other companies.

i it finally measures the cost of
quality.

Preparatory work
For any real estate operation or program
1. Fill in all the files in bulk, or else
as the progress of the
site, in the database manager
data.

2. Generate bar codes for batches,
situations, body by body faults
status on printer.

3. Create the "site book". It's about
a flexible plastic filing cabinet allowing
inserting documents between two sheets of
transparent plastic.

a) Install the list of batch barcodes
(house 1, 2, 3 ...; or apartments including
entrance hall, stairwell A, B, C ..., room
trash can... ; everything that has been entered in
the base file).

b) Install reduced plans of houses or
apartments, or offices. We will then stick
on the maps on "stay" the barcode
corresponding to "stay"; on "cuisine" on
barcode corresponding to kitchen; etc.

c) We will then place the list of bar codes of
third dimension corresponding to "ceiling,
floor, wall, left, right, face, underside,
etc ... "allowing the precise location of
defaults.

d) We will install in the workbook in
last place the barcode listings of
trades defects by trades
masonry, electricity, plumber, etc.

 While going to the site, the controller takes his site book, his handheld computer, the barcode reader optical pencil. He enters house 37: he reads the bar code "house 37". He enters the kitchen: he reads the "kitchen" barcode. He notices, for example, a crack in the insulation coating on wall A, he reads the barcode "wall A". It finds in the Platreriecloison trade body the fault "crack" and reads the barcode "crack", and so on.

Site planning management
We will have previously checked and printed out the barcodes relating to each phase of the progress of the work of a particular trade.

Example: House Masonry
Phase 1: foundation excavations
2: pouring foundations
3: pouring paving on the ground floor
4: elevation of the ground floor walls
5: installation of the first floor and slab casting
6: elevation upstairs wall
7: production of pinion ends
8: finalization, tables, thresholds and finishes.

 All the phases of the trades will be stored in the "planning progress phases" file.

 On the construction site, the controller will for example batch: house 37 (reading the corresponding barcode). He checks, for example, that the floor is in place and that the floor slab is poured. Answer: Yes or No.

The handheld model chosen has three memory possibilities A, B, C
C: will store the defects noted and can be put back
to zero every day.

 B: will store the progress of construction.

A: the available RAM remains for others
applications.

 Consequently: initially the controller goes to "C": notes all the possible faults of the masonry trades at this stage of realization. If he accepts the work despite some noted defects, he goes to "B", and enters the barcode for lot 37; he searches in "Masonry - phase 5" for the barcode of "installed first floor and poured slab". He will then enter the barcode of 100 t ", or" 50% ", etc ...

 As for the defects noted, the controller once connected to his office computer will transfer to the "planning" software the progress information entered under barcode (the pocket computer with an internal clock which automatically indicates the day and the time of the progress report).

 Thus, every day, a site managed under S.A.D.E.

allows to have a certain estimate of the progress, of the quality through the defects noted, of the risk of slippage if the too high number of defects leads inexorably to a resetting of the planning.

Management of customer reserves
When a customer is delivered and takes possession of his house, his apartment, or even his offices or hotel, there are contradictory defects in delivery and to simplify, the customer is also entitled, at the end of the first month of use, to notify the manufacturer of any faults that he could not have seen or not seen on the day of delivery (case of Sale in the Future State of Completion).

 The responsibility of the manufacturer is engaged.

Legally, these defects are called "reservations".

 The manufacturer is required to repair them within a contractual period of 3 months.

Again, the controller once the reservations contradictorily discussed and accepted by the customers, will enter the barcode of the accepted defect-reserve, of the batch, of the situation, etc ... but also of the qualification of the reserve - Simple reserve ( to be raised by the company) - Reserve as part of the performance guarantee
construction site.

- Reservation within the framework of the biennial guarantee relating to
some works.

- Reserve under the ten-year guarantee.

 Thus, with the S.A.D.E. device, it is possible to go to the end of site management while preserving the builder in the context of his legal obligations towards his customers, in the framework of the insurance obligation.

 The database manager, through the file of standard mails, automatically generates the mail corresponding to the scenario adapted according to the type of guarantee in question.

Description of the material selected for
the application of the SADE device

1. Pocket computer type XP or LZ from PSION, model
organizer Il 2. An optical pencil "barcode reader" from PSION with
its snap-on organizer pin.

3. A 32 kilo byte Rampack "C" from PSION (memory
additional)
A 32 kilo byte Rampack "B" from PSION (memory
4. The barcode generator software from PSION, or
the same for desktop PC type (IBM or
other).

5. Adapter cord with integrated software "COMMS LINK" from
PSION, link between organizer and desktop computer.

 6 PC Tandon 386 SX 20 mega memory.

7. MAGIE database software developed by the
Société Génération Informatique (Grenoble) in collaboration
with Investor from 1985.

8. Peripheral software
Graphics: Harvard Graphic from Microsoft.

Spreadsheet: Multiplan version 3 or 4 from Microsoft
Word processing: Word 5 from Microsoft
Planning: PSN4 from Alcap.

All of this software is under Disk Operating System (DOS),
IBM compatible. The IT market by its very
numerous productions allow all other combinations of
material for the same results.

Claims (5)

 AUTOMATIC INPUT OF ELEMENTARY DATA (S.A.D.E.)  multiple, for multiple businesses.  permanent seizure of faults found in places  said sites; qualitative management requiring  form of barcode necessary for the qualitative management of  codified data (faults of works), represented under  optical pencil barcode reader with which it is fitted,  to seize on an outdoor or indoor site, using a  construction, using a handheld computer allowing  CLAIM 1. Device for entering basic data on site of 2. Device for entering basic data on site  construction, using a handheld computer allowing  to seize on an outdoor or indoor site, using a  optical pencil barcode reader with which it is fitted,  codified data (faults of works), represented under  form of barcode necessary for the automatic management of the  phase-by-phase progress schedule, body  of state by state body, batch by batch.  3. Automatic Data Entry Device  (S.A.D.E.) as described in claim 1, connectable  database management software, authorizing  quantitative analysis of quality on site and its  Graphic Representation. 4. Device for the Automatic Entry of Elementary Data  (S.A.D.E.) as described in claim 2, connectable  planning software authorizing the intelligence of the  software in phase advancement and generating output  site planning graph. 5. Device for Automatic Entry of Elementary Data  (S.A.D.E.) as described in claim 1, authorizing  entering and managing the reservations found in  customers delivered in connection with a software manager  database.