The Fulcrum Focus

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are giving architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals clearer insights that drive smarter decisions. GIS transforms complex spatial data into a usable format, helping teams visualize site conditions, understand risks, and plan with greater precision. By adding location-based information to project workflows, GIS makes it easier to avoid costly mistakes, manage environmental factors, and optimize resources. As the complexity of projects increases, GIS is becoming a crucial tool for navigating site challenges, urban planning, infrastructure management, and disaster preparation.

The fieldwork landscape is changing fast, evolving from outdated manual processes into a domain driven by AI-powered solutions. What used to be a slow, error-filled, paper-based process has evolved into a system driven by digital precision, efficiency, and real-time decision-making. As the leap from paper to tech, and now to field AI, transforms how on-site operations are conducted, the result is not just faster processes, but smarter, more reliable workflows.

Field operations often suffer from inefficiencies and errors due to inconsistent processes. Standardizing your field processes is a powerful way to mitigate these challenges, ensuring smoother workflows, reduced mistakes, and faster project completion. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of standardizing field processes and how this approach can transform your operations.

If you’re not quite on board with the idea of practical AI, you’re not alone. Between generating nightmare images of uncanny valley mutants with too many (and too bendy) fingers and news stories of AI missteps and hallucinations, it’s easy to dismiss AI as another tech novelty. 

The geospatial industry is experiencing a profound shift, driven by rapid technological advancements, evolving user expectations, and an unyielding demand for more intelligent workflows. The Trimble State of the Global Geospatial Industry 2024 report highlights several key trends shaping the future of this field—from the essential need for reliable field data collection to the decisive move towards Software as a Service (SaaS) models. 

At Fulcrum, we pride ourselves on enabling loose coupling in your workflows. But what does that mean? Loose coupling integration allows different systems and components to work together seamlessly, without heavy dependencies on each other. This flexibility makes it easy to integrate new features or replace components without disrupting the entire system.

Connectivity shouldn’t curb your fieldwork capabilities. Engineered with advanced offline field data solutions, Fulcrum ensures uninterrupted productivity, even in the most remote locations. Here’s how our platform supports seamless field data collection and operations, no matter where your projects take you.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with remote sensing technologies is transforming groundwater monitoring, providing unparalleled insights into water quality across extensive geographical areas. This innovative approach is particularly beneficial for water utility and field operations teams looking to enhance their monitoring and management capabilities.

We just got back from the Esri User Conference and are still riding that post-conference high! Before we dive back into our daily routines, let’s recap some of the fantastic moments and insights from last week.

Achieving a balance between customization and standardization in field processes is essential to maintain flexibility while ensuring consistency and efficiency. Here’s how to strike that balance effectively.

As we gear up for the 2024 Esri User Conference, Fulcrum is excited to showcase several groundbreaking features and recent developments that enhance geospatial field data collection and management. These innovations promise to streamline field operations and improve data reliability, setting a new standard for GIS integration and field data handling.

Explore how digital inspection platforms like Fulcrum help electric utilities prevent infrastructure failures by modernizing utility pole inspections. By combining digital data collection with GIS, AI, and IoT, utilities can move from reactive maintenance to proactive, data-driven strategies that improve safety and grid reliability.

The electrical cooperative industry faces many challenges, including operational inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities. Fulcrum’s advanced field data collection and process management platform offers a promising solution to these issues. By integrating innovative technology with on-the-ground tasks, Fulcrum transforms the way electrical utilities manage their field operations, resulting in increased efficiency, reduced costs, and improved service reliability.

Industries such as environmental consulting and utility services are increasingly recognizing the practical benefits of Fulcrum’s platform for field data collection and process management. Fulcrum’s approach focuses on rapidly evolving existing workflows to improve efficiency. Join us as we explore case studies from GeoForce, Great Lakes Wellhead Inc. (GLW), DIEHLUX, and TREKK Design Group to see firsthand how Fulcrum’s technology streamlines tasks and boosts overall efficiency with field workflow automation.

Even though you might not have heard the term “FieldTech ecosystem,” if you’re with an organization that collects data outside of an office setting, you have one. 

GPS tracking enhances field data collection by capturing detailed movement, location, and environmental context, which improves data quality and decision-making. Explore the fundamentals of GPS logging in fieldwork and how Fulcrum’s mobile platform leverages this technology for flexible, real-time data capture.

Geo Week 2024 marked a significant milestone in the evolution of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT). The event showcased significant advances in airborne, terrestrial, and commercial 3D technologies. In response to evolving geospatial and built world professionals’ needs, it brought together experts, innovators, and enthusiasts from around the globe. As a result, it served as a melting pot of technology, ideas, and advancements in the field. Moreover, it emphasized the fusion of traditional geospatial methods with the latest trends. Additionally, it integrated AI and big data analytics into mapping and spatial analysis.

FieldTech refers to the integrated hardware and software systems that support field operations in demanding, remote, or regulated environments. From drones and sensors to AI-powered platforms and offline data sync, FieldTech helps field teams capture accurate data, reduce inefficiencies, and bridge the gap between the field and the office. As industries push for greater efficiency, safety, and compliance, FieldTech continues to evolve as a critical part of modern operations.

As a GIS Manager, you’re at the forefront of merging the traditional with the modern, ensuring that your organization leverages the best of spatial insights to optimize its operations. The implementation of an Enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) is a pivotal step in transforming your business’s field data capabilities. But how can you seamlessly incorporate this technology to maximize its impact?

Embracing cutting-edge solutions in today’s fast-evolving operational landscape is essential, and one such innovation is the convergence of Field Technology (FieldTech) — technology built for and managed by field teams — with Geographic Information System (GIS) Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings. These integrated platforms are revolutionizing industry workflows by providing unprecedented agility and capacity to adjust to market and environmental alterations quickly and effectively.

Utility companies may hesitate to embrace a SaaS (Software as a Service) field data collection software and management solution due to the substantial investments in their current methods, from pen-and-paper to complex in-house digital platforms. These entrenched systems represent significant sunk costs in time, money, and training – investments that may be painful to put aside in favor of a SaaS solution, despite the benefits.

As 2023 draws to a close, utilities face considerable headwinds, finding themselves squeezed by regulator-driven demands for sustainability and environmental care, and grappling with escalating service delivery costs. In this challenging landscape, GIS-enhanced data collection emerges as a crucial tool for utilities, aiding in balancing these demands while maintaining operational efficiency.

With the alarming increase in extreme weather events, electrical poles face an unprecedented challenge. Damaged poles can incapacitate a grid, leaving communities in darkness, cutting off communication, and stalling vital services. However, the solution is not costly-full scale replacement of the many poles that make up a grid. Instead, utilities are much better off reinforcing poles and implementing preventative measures. Fortunately, field data collection and inspection software can help utilities strengthen electrical poles, grids, and services against future storms.

The power of where in emergencies

In the critical moments following a disaster, the ability to pinpoint and act upon geolocation data can be lifesaving. For utility companies, this information is the compass that directs the restoration efforts in a landscape where traditional landmarks may no longer exist. Geolocation data provides clarity amidst the confusion, enabling a swift return to normalcy.

Data accuracy plays a critical role in utility field operations. Incorporating GIS lines and polygons is reshaping utilities with visual data collection and mapping of critical assets.

Water utility asset management involves tracking and optimizing infrastructure, inventories, and tasks to ensure safe, consistent, and cost-effective service delivery. Doing this effectively requires the right tools to reliably collect accurate data on assets, life-cycle costs, and proactive maintenance.

Field operations managers and their teams play an indispensable part in electrical utilities. They work tirelessly to ensure timely maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, and emergency response.  However, in an industry where precision and efficiency are paramount, managing and coordinating field teams presents a constant challenge.

In Part 2 of our series on SaaS data collection tools for electric utilities, we highlight the superiority of SaaS platforms in integrating with other digital systems like GIS, business intelligence, and analytics software. These integrations allow for seamless data exchange and maximize the utility of each system, ultimately helping utilities reduce workflow friction, save money, and scale operations. Keep reading to find out more!

Wooden utility poles are essential infrastructure but costly to replace. Using inspection software helps utilities reduce replacement frequency by identifying issues early and maintaining each pole’s health more efficiently. Accurate, consistent inspections lower operational costs and enhance safety while extending pole lifespan.

While vital for environmental health, conducting stormwater inspections can nonetheless be a slow, inefficient, and costly process.

Congratulations on finally shelving your paper-based system of field service management! 

Undergrounding relocates overhead utility lines and infrastructure below ground. Cities and utility companies are increasingly adopting this to enhance the reliability and look of their electrical systems.

The EPA’s Audit Policy encourages companies to voluntarily admit any environmental violations they may have committed. This policy offers incentives for self-disclosure including up to 100 percent reduction of gravity-based penalties and declining to recommend self-reporting entities for criminal prosecution. It’s a great way for companies to take responsibility for their actions and make things right, and be rewarded for taking the initiative to do so.

Health and safety risks are ongoing concerns for any organization with field operations, particularly when teams are isolated from the home office or deployed to unfamiliar environments. When field teams don’t have the right knowledge or tools to identify and mitigate potential hazards, safety risks increase, especially if they are isolated or lack resources in emergencies. 

Designing mobile data collection apps with intention helps teams capture cleaner, more valuable information in less time. When apps are focused and easy to navigate, data collectors work faster, and the results become easier to trust and analyze. Fulcrum’s platform combines a drag-and-drop interface and powerful form builder with geolocation capabilities, including GPS coordinates, custom maps, and geotagged photos. It works in a web browser or in offline data collection mode, so teams capture real-time data even without connectivity. These flexible tools support clarity, scalability, and stronger outcomes across every project.

Quality assurance inspections keep operations running smoothly but require effective data collection to assess if work is up to standards, identify problem areas to improve, and avoid rework. 

Delivering projects on time and within budget is no easy feat, requiring laser focus on a wide range of issues, from quality inspections to asset management, process execution to safety measures.

Whether critical installations or safety inspections, field teams perform a wide range of essential functions for many companies. By the nature of their work, however, field teams risk being isolated from not just the main office, but from the very processes which produce quality work. When field teams fall behind a quality curve, potential rework and unchecked safety hazards can threaten both bottom-lines and business reputations. And if they’re isolated, field teams may not adopt the culture of quality that safety managers strive so hard to cultivate.

Environmental, health, and safety inspections (EHS) are one of the most effective measures to identify, prevent, and remediate threats to employee and public safety, quality work, and overall business operations.

Ubiquitous across industries, a standard operating procedure (SOP) is a series of step-by-step instructions that help workers successfully and efficiently execute routine tasks. While incredibly useful to our everyday work, digital SOPs also have considerable benefits at a wider, enterprise level.

Trained professionals conduct regular fire safety inspections to save lives. They ensure compliance with safety regulations. In addition, they assess the functionality of equipment, including sprinkler systems, smoke alarms, fire doors, and alarms. Inspectors also check for hazards such as outdated wiring and insulation, contributing significantly to building safety and fire prevention.

The construction industry has struggled with labor shortages for some time. The retirement of many older workers is one factor. Young people’s reluctance to enter construction is another. These factors coincide with a construction boom stemming from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, further exacerbating labor shortfalls.

According to the latest OSHA statistics on workplace safety, the construction industry remains one of the most dangerous occupational sectors, accounting for over 170,000 nonfatal injuries and representing around 25% of all worker fatalities in the US in 2020 — roughly 3 deaths per day, and the third highest fatality rate of any industry.

A new hope
The Infrastructure Bill provides states with additional resources to make long overdue infrastructure improvements. Under a program specifically targeting bridges, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) will distribute more than $27.5 billion to states for bridge repairs over the next five years, in addition to a newly-created DoT discretionary bridge program which will provide an additional $12.5 billion for projects through 2026.

After an elevator went into freefall in Atlanta in August 2021, killing one man, it was found that the elevator in question was long overdue for an inspection because, across the state, many had not been inspected in 2020 due to COVID-related inspection backlogs.

So, we’ve launched Intelligent Team Automation. You might have seen the video, the webinar,  the press release, or our launch blog – or maybe all the above. Today we’re going to do a little more in-depth analysis into one of the core capabilities of Intelligent Team Automation:  unifying inspection teams while optimizing each role.

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act introduces new standards for construction and engineering firms. Companies seeking federal funding must now comply with various oversight and evaluation criteria. These criteria span state, local, and federal levels. Compliance is essential for firms to qualify for infrastructure projects under this act.

So, you’ve made the decision to stop using paper forms and modernize your firm’s field safety inspection management processes, and you need to pick out a software platform. But how do you know which one is best for your company’s needs? ‍

Having problems finding skilled construction workers? You’re not alone. The labor shortage has hit the construction industry particularly hard: home builder contractors estimate that nearly three-quarters of a million construction workers will be needed each year to keep up with demand and account for attrition, while 92% of commercial construction contractors report moderate to high levels of difficulty finding skilled workers.

Can you get good inspection data from old inspection collection methods? Probably not. The problems with using a paper-based system instead of digitized inspections to collect safety data are many and far-reaching. Companies that rely on paper checklists to demonstrate OSHA compliance risk running into regulatory trouble.

Regardless of industry, OSHA compliance is an ongoing challenge for any company. While agreeing that regulations are necessary to ensure worker safety, people can still note that complying with them can be an incredible burden as companies’ responsibilities include: