1 September 2015

In August of this year, as part of researching Telematics deployment in the Construction Supply Chain, an industry workshop was held in Maidenhead. Jason Valette designed the workshop as part of his 91´óÉñ dissertation. Dr Maurizio Tomasella, his dissertation supervisor and Douglas Graham, Business Development Manager assisted along with two other 91´óÉñ candidates.

The workshop focused on barriers and constraints to Telematics deployment in the construction supply chain. The workshop brought together 30 delegates and 5 facilitators. Representatives from Costain, Skanska, CAT, Finning, JCB, Walters, Speedy Services, Llynch, EnableMyTeam, GAP Group, A-Plant Hire, Quartix, AXA and Northgate (Enterprise Fleet). The attendees included the head of Systems Applications (Telematics) for Cat/Finning, Group Telematics Manager for JCB, the UK managing director for Walters, a senior member of the Construction Plant Hire Association (CPHA) and several key Costain personnel.

Everyone participated impressively and the results were excellent. The workshop confirmed many issues that have been present in the Construction industry for over a decade. It also brought to light several new issues that surround this interesting topic. In all the afternoon was a huge success and showcased the University of Edinburgh team as capable and understanding when dealing with issues that plague industry. The feedback from attendees and Costain has been overwhelmingly positive. Costain is about to embark on an Innovate UK project with the University of Edinburgh and, as a precursor; this workshop was the perfect start to the working relationship. This would not have been possible without the help of the facilitators and the research budget for the event.