Case Study

 

Reducing Environmental Impact with IOT

AsseTrac

AsseTrac partnered with SDG on an integrated hardware and software solution for tracking and reporting on construction equipment — while reducing environmental impact.

Challenges

Software-hardware integration
Startup challenges
Tight timelines

SDG Solutions

Product strategy
Internet of Things (IoT)
Cloud architecture
Mobile applications
Experience design
Application development

 

Tracking construction assets in the vast wilderness

AsseTrac helps its customers manage thousands of heavy equipment assets on construction and other worksites that may span hundreds of miles, often in remote, environmentally sensitive locations. They do this through tracking technology that provides precise location and other data to worksite personnel. A startup founded by two Minnesota natives with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry, AsseTrac was formed when its founders recognized the value of replacing inaccurate manual processes with tightly integrated software to locate equipment and bill for the movement of the assets.

Originally, the AsseTrac team was tempted to use pre-built tracking software from their device manufacturing partners to manage these valuable assets. However, as they built their business, AsseTrac’s founders quickly identified that a more customized solution engineered as professional-grade software would better serve their needs and differentiate their product.

With that in mind they turned to SDG for assistance in defining the product, designing the integrated hardware and software experience, building the software, and ultimately delivering the solution.

Built for the construction industry

An example of the assets that AsseTrac manages are Access Mats, large mats that form temporary roads for heavy equipment in remote locations. The mats enable firms to move equipment through areas like wetlands and forests without permanently altering the landscape. Access Mats and machinery are fitted with patent pending technology to provide the current location of the mat to personnel, who use software to then make decisions about repairs and movements.

It’s critical that the entire system functions flawlessly, even in harsh conditions. SDG worked closely with AsseTrac’s leaders and the users of the software to design and build a comprehensive solution that embrace the realities of this industry through user focused design and configurable business rules.

Startup dynamics

As a startup, AsseTrac is laser-focused on delivering maximum value for its owners’ investment and on developing a product that solved customers’ immediate needs while being set up for long-term potential. With this in mind, they needed the ability to start small but then grow the infrastructure as more customers and assets are acquired. SDG designed a solution that maximized value out of the gate, while able to scale as the company grew.

Agility through the cloud

SDG designed a cloud-native approach for AsseTrac’s product, leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the cloud provider. Through the use of capabilities such as Lambda and GraphQL, SDG was able to greatly reduce the development time and simplify long-term management of the software. In addition to that agility, the ability to scale the solution as the customer base grows better supports the financial model of a startup like AsseTrac.

From brand to deployment

While building its product and its technical infrastructure, AsseTrac needed to establish a brand, serve their customers, and produce technology that can expand with the business. SDG’s product experts helped AsseTrac establish a brand identity and a design system for the product, build the cloud-native solution, and transition the support of the system to a managed services provider.

 

Header photograph courtesy of Unsplash. Other photography provided by AsseTrac.