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Innovation doesn’t always have to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes, it’s about applying proven technologies in new ways to increase efficiencies. Our retail design department has been doing just that by taking Surface Pro tablets on architectural surveys, which are usually done using paper floor plans.
LDG’s architectural technicians typically require more than 70 sheets of paper for architectural surveys. They previously printed small sections of the floor plan on each piece of paper. It would take hour and a half in the office just to get ready. Using the tablets helps save time, and the cost of paper and ink.
Using tablets has streamlined the process. Previously, the technicians would take the papers to the site, keep them in a central area, then run back to where they kept the papers to get the right section of the floor plan to record the measurements. Now, they load the floor plans onto the tablet and record the dimensions with a stylus.
The tablet allows users to zoom in on floor plans, helping them to depict the building as accurately as possible to create complete construction documents.
LDG’s architectural technicians estimate that in addition to the hour and a half saved in survey preparation, using tablets saves up to an hour of time in the field, and an hour or more once the measurements are brought back to the office.
It may not sound like a major savings, but when you multiply that by 80 stores a year, it really starts to add up.