Solar companies everywhere have a challenge that is both similar to construction companies and yet unique to the solar industry. This challenge is managing and tracking contractors and employees that are operating in the field.
The construction industry has this same challenge but on a somewhat easier scale. In tried and true construction, a job site remains the epicenter of the entire endeavor for a significant amount of time. In the solar industry however, job sites, especially in residential solar, are all over the map and are only worked on for a very short amount of time.
This constant movement of employees and contractors presents a significant logistical challenge. As we have covered before, logistics are of vital importance to the solar industry.
When developing Janus for solar companies, the ability to track employees and contractors was at the top of our list. This is because by having that level of accountability, it allows solar companies to save time and money by better managing employees and contractors digitally.
How does Janus track personnel?
For the in-the-field aspect of employee tracking, the administrator begins at the dashboard and the project in question. Here the administrator is able to designate the location of the job site via the address.
Through inputting the address, a digital fence is then created a certain distance around the project. This digital fence then becomes active for all employees and contractors who are assigned to that job site.
When the assigned contractor/employee reports to the job site, they start the Janus app on their phone and from there, clock in. The system then checks their check-in against the digital fence.
If the contractor is significantly outside the geo location fence, Janus will not let them check or clock in. This then prevents them from accessing their task sheet for the day’s job as well.
This level of accountability ensures that personnel are at the job site when they say they are, rather than padding their hours. Furthermore, the person that is on the job site is pinged on a frequent basis for their current location. If the system detects that they have left the job site, then this is noted in the logs and the hours reflect this accordingly.
In the event of an error, the administrator can easily override and clock the personnel in and out.
Through accountability and tracking, money and time can easily be saved with Janus.
