Bechtel Tracks Man-Hours at Copper Mine

With the new system, each contracted worker will be issued a badge, manufactured by Smart Trac and containing a UHF EPC Gen 2 RFID chip. Bechtel will utilize a Zebra Technologies printer to print the employee's picture, name and company name, as well as Rol Único Tributario (RUT) number (the Chilean tax identification number), which is printed both as numerals and in the form of a bar code. Once the badges are printed, says Max von Dessauer, RFID Chile's technology director, Bechtel will utilize an Ensyc RFID Block—an RFID interrogator that plugs into a PC's USB port—to encode the badge's chip with the employee's unique RUT number, linked in the database with the worker's name and contracting company.

At the construction site, a timekeeper can approach within 5 or 6 feet of an employee and use the Motorola handheld reader to capture that person's RUT number. A screen on the handheld will display the employee's name and company, and the timekeeper can then follow prompts on the device to input the time and location where the individual is working, using a software system provided by RFID Chile.

After returning to the Bechtel office at the job site, says Javier Ignacio Torres, RFID Chile's commercial manager, the timekeeper will utilize a USB port to connect the handheld to the company's back-end system. There, the data will be displayed similarly to how it is displayed with the existing timekeeper system.

The company uses the timekeepers' data not only to track man-hours for billing purposes but also to monitor efficiency and ensure that projected work time is accurate. In the future, the company also hopes to use the badges to allow workers access to transportation or accommodations at the construction site. The badges' bar codes would not work well for access control, von Dessauer says, because they take too long to scan and are often rendered unreadable if they become dirty or damaged.

While the RFID-based timekeeping system is being deployed, RFID Chile is meeting with Bechtel's timekeepers to develop the best process in the software to make capturing data efficient at the construction site. According to Ramirez, Bechtel is monitoring the project's success and, based on that success, may decide to deploy RFID technology for tracking and locating small tools such as drills and other equipment used by construction personnel at sites throughout the world.