ENTER THE DIGITAL AGE
A Dublin tech company has launched a new product that promises to save over €300,000 for construction projects by cutting out manual paperwork
Kianda EHSwise, a new software product from Dublin-based tech company Kianda, aims to empower construction firms to move forward into the digital age. A user-friendly, mobile and offline-capable software, the new product allows teams to manage health and safety processes such as incident reporting, audit planning, observations and energy reporting to provide real-time information to field and office workers. It’s a solution that will, says Kianda CEO Derya Sousa, allow employers to deliver high-quality projects without compromising compliance, while maintaining complete transparency from start-to-finish.
“Essentially, Kianda EHSwise will help companies to protect workers’ lives, increase project profitability and ensure compliance with industry regulations. You would be surprised at the number of construction firms that are still relying on paper-based communication. A lot of sites don’t have adequate internet connection and so are unable to use the type of application that would improve their performance. This is where we come in. Employees can use their mobile phones or any device they have. They can submit information on site even if they’re offline; once they’re in an online location, the information syncs back into the system.”
The construction industry differs to almost every other sector, says Derya. “Construction firms need to deliver software solutions easily and quickly to maintain their competitive advantage and connect people to the processes. If they don’t embrace digital transformation and continue using outdated systems, they face the risk of being left behind. Our intuitive no-code technology provides a fast and easy way of delivering industry specific software.” Kianda EHSwise is suitable for construction firms of all sizes, although the company is targeting construction companies with between 200 and 500 workers and limited IT teams. Market research shows that companies of this size with 20-30 sites are spending at least half a day per week inputting and reporting ESHQ related information manually. Kianda ESHwise software is expected to introduce more than €300,000 of savings annually, just on manual paperwork costs across 20-30 projects.
“The safety of workers and improving the efficiency of an organisation is on everyone’s agenda. Our new software is extremely user-friendly, it works from any device and has been designed to make it easy for workers on site to upload images, take notes, annotate on top of those notes and generate reports. Compared to other products on the market, it’s the most flexible. The fact we provide full offline capability is very important and something that construction firms are telling us is crucial.”
Kianda’s client base includes Mercury Engineering, Lagan Homes, Ardmac, AJI Bio Pharma and DEME. DEME is a world leader in the highly specialised fields of dredging, marine infrastructure and offshore energy and one of the leading engineering organisations currently using Kianda software to digitise their EHSQ management with more than 10,000 employees.
Employees can use the new software to collaborate and complete their EHSQ tasks quickly and efficiently by recording events and observations in real-time with apps that work anywhere. The software is completely customisable and can be changed to suit any project no matter the scale. Employers can also use the software to interact with subcontractors to avoid unnecessary cost disputes and transfer across any data from previous systems.
Although only newly launched, Kianda has already received very positive feedback on the software. The ambition is to continue targeting Irish construction firms, as well as the UK
and US markets.
“We want to fill that gap in the market where some construction companies are unable to digitise their processes due to the prohibitively high cost of some solutions. Our research shows us there’s space in the market for a cost friendly, simple to use solution like ours. This is the first construction industry specific product we have launched, but we intend to launch further products. For example, labour scheduling is one area where we have been asked to provide a digital solution. For the rest of 2023 and beyond, we will continue to create solutions that will help companies make the move to digital.”
_____________________________________________________
Denise Maguire Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine
Email: denise@mcdmedia.ie WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE WWW.IRISHCONSTRUCTION.COM