Using a database to organize a construction company's equipment
May 19, 2018 12:58 AM Subscribe
I have a passing familiarity with Microsoft Access and Libre Base. Should I use a database to keep track of my company's construction equipment and vehicles?
I was just hired as the tools & equipment manager at a large construction company, and my primary role will be to keep track of all the equipment--who is using what and where, when things need maintenance, how often things are being replaced--that sort of thing. They are currently using a spreadsheet system, but they told me they'd welcome any improvements I could think of. The first thing that came to mind was to create a database rather than trusting spreadsheets.
So I'm curious, have any of you had a similar job? Do you have any suggestions, any tips about how to impress my new employers?
I was just hired as the tools & equipment manager at a large construction company, and my primary role will be to keep track of all the equipment--who is using what and where, when things need maintenance, how often things are being replaced--that sort of thing. They are currently using a spreadsheet system, but they told me they'd welcome any improvements I could think of. The first thing that came to mind was to create a database rather than trusting spreadsheets.
So I'm curious, have any of you had a similar job? Do you have any suggestions, any tips about how to impress my new employers?
I did a similar thing in my job. It took quite a lot of effort to set up but was very useful. However as soon as I moved departments the person who took over from me wouldn't use it and it fell apart pretty much straight away
posted by KateViolet at 3:23 AM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by KateViolet at 3:23 AM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]
You may want to search online for inventory or asset management software to see what else is out there.
posted by Seboshin at 4:48 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Seboshin at 4:48 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think the field you're looking for is Fleet Management.
A lot of ERP systems (like Odoo) have fleet management plugins. It might be worthwhile to play with those to see what's useful and what's not.
The company that I work for uses Smartsheets for a lot of organizational tasks and sending automated emails, so that might be worth investigating.
If you're going to roll your own, my main suggestion would be to get familiar with the spreadsheets you have and how people use them - that domain knowledge is a big help, especially if other people have to use this.
posted by mikurski at 6:08 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
A lot of ERP systems (like Odoo) have fleet management plugins. It might be worthwhile to play with those to see what's useful and what's not.
The company that I work for uses Smartsheets for a lot of organizational tasks and sending automated emails, so that might be worth investigating.
If you're going to roll your own, my main suggestion would be to get familiar with the spreadsheets you have and how people use them - that domain knowledge is a big help, especially if other people have to use this.
posted by mikurski at 6:08 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Whichever technological approach you take, you will likely win points if your system makes it easy to track and quickly assemble information required for compliance (like with DOT inspections, or if environmental permitting requires machinery with biodegradable lubricants, say).
posted by Dip Flash at 6:15 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 6:15 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
The first thing that came to mind was to create a database rather than trusting spreadsheets.
Don't overlook the importance of good process before you pick a system. A well designed excel workflow will work better than a fancy database that introduces unnecessary impedance.
posted by each day we work at 6:42 AM on May 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Don't overlook the importance of good process before you pick a system. A well designed excel workflow will work better than a fancy database that introduces unnecessary impedance.
posted by each day we work at 6:42 AM on May 19, 2018 [4 favorites]
Take an afternoon and try making your database in Airtable. It's a nice way to prototype because you end up with either something good enough or knowledge of exactly what more sophisticated software needs to do.
posted by michaelh at 9:43 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by michaelh at 9:43 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
From looking at descriptions of AirTable, I thought I'd mention that I just noticed Tabular Data, a new feature / page type that appears to have been rolled out in the MediaWiki / Wikipedia software some time in the past few years. (example page)
(I expect this would only be the place to start if you're already familiar with sophisticated uses of Wikipedia and the feature set which comes along with it.)
posted by XMLicious at 11:43 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
(I expect this would only be the place to start if you're already familiar with sophisticated uses of Wikipedia and the feature set which comes along with it.)
posted by XMLicious at 11:43 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
KateViolet's experience is typical. Don't do this for brownie points; do it only if it makes your own job easier, and do it in a way that preserves the existing data collection arrangements for as long as humanly possible.
Both Access and Base can use existing spreadsheets as data sources, for what that's worth.
posted by flabdablet at 7:13 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Both Access and Base can use existing spreadsheets as data sources, for what that's worth.
posted by flabdablet at 7:13 PM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Definitely figure out the type of business questions that need to be asked of this system and why their current approach can't satisfy those demands. After all, spreadsheets are a form of "database". Don't change things just to change them but rather change them because it meets a need and the cost is not greater than the benefit.
posted by mmascolino at 1:47 PM on May 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 1:47 PM on May 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: A formal database might be a better fit than a spreadsheet for data entry if the spreadsheet solution requires that the same data must be entered in more than one place, resulting in the possibility of operator error causing inconsistency as well as costing time. Sometimes that issue can also be adequately dealt with using cross-sheet references in spreadsheet software.
Database software will also usually be a better fit if multiple sources of data need to update central records at the same time, though even then a collaborative spreadsheet like Google Sheets might well be completely adequate.
Database software might also do a better job than spreadsheet software of presenting information extracted from the data. But don't discount the power of spreadsheet pivot tables and charts, which might be all that's actually required.
Whether your data can be trusted or not has less to do with the specific application you keep it in than with the reliability of the people and systems that collect it. You won't improve data quality if you replace a spreadsheet that everybody understands with a poorly documented database application that's hard to use.
Finally, when considering any change to an existing business IT process, you need to understand that implementing any kind of custom software always and everywhere takes longer, costs more, and involves more complications than it looks like it ought to beforehand.
If your main reason for wanting to implement a database is a desire to turn a passing familiarity with Access or Base into something a bit more in-depth, then tinkering with one of those products is certainly a fine way to spend your own time. But if you have specific issues with the existing spreadsheets that you just have a hunch a database could fix, then the least-cost ways of implementing that fix for your business will involve talking to somebody who makes custom databases for a living and has already learned to skirt most of the pitfalls that lie in front of you. And what you will probably end up with, in 2018, is something with a web-accessible front end and an industrial-strength database engine on a server in the back end. It's pretty rare to find a database dev who doesn't believe that Access and Base are essentially made of pitfalls and will end up causing you more trouble than they save.
But they do have their place.
My local newsagency used to run a proprietary package for keeping track of newspaper subscriptions, orders and deliveries. This thing had some ridiculous multi-thousand-dollar yearly licensing fee when they first started using it in the Nineties, and the provider had subsequently gone out of business without making any arrangement for ongoing support of existing customers. So until the newsagency changed hands in 2007, it still had this creaky old Windows 95 box with an Epson dot matrix printer and boxes of sticky labels on fanfold, dedicated to running this proprietary package that couldn't be moved to any other computer because licence checks and wouldn't even start under Windows XP. Every time they called me in to fix this PC I'd advise them that it was not a sustainable proposition and that they should be looking to replace it as a matter of urgency, but of course they never did.
The new proprietor wanted this old machine gone. So after trying unsuccessfully to virtualize it I sat down with Base, and after a few weekends of fiddling about I'd taught myself enough about how it worked to come up with something that fit his business better than the proprietary package ever had, entirely open source and built from open source components so it will run on anything. It's not slick, but it's adequately tidy and is still in use ten years later. I've needed to fix it (in very minor ways) twice.
posted by flabdablet at 5:17 AM on May 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Database software will also usually be a better fit if multiple sources of data need to update central records at the same time, though even then a collaborative spreadsheet like Google Sheets might well be completely adequate.
Database software might also do a better job than spreadsheet software of presenting information extracted from the data. But don't discount the power of spreadsheet pivot tables and charts, which might be all that's actually required.
Whether your data can be trusted or not has less to do with the specific application you keep it in than with the reliability of the people and systems that collect it. You won't improve data quality if you replace a spreadsheet that everybody understands with a poorly documented database application that's hard to use.
Finally, when considering any change to an existing business IT process, you need to understand that implementing any kind of custom software always and everywhere takes longer, costs more, and involves more complications than it looks like it ought to beforehand.
If your main reason for wanting to implement a database is a desire to turn a passing familiarity with Access or Base into something a bit more in-depth, then tinkering with one of those products is certainly a fine way to spend your own time. But if you have specific issues with the existing spreadsheets that you just have a hunch a database could fix, then the least-cost ways of implementing that fix for your business will involve talking to somebody who makes custom databases for a living and has already learned to skirt most of the pitfalls that lie in front of you. And what you will probably end up with, in 2018, is something with a web-accessible front end and an industrial-strength database engine on a server in the back end. It's pretty rare to find a database dev who doesn't believe that Access and Base are essentially made of pitfalls and will end up causing you more trouble than they save.
But they do have their place.
My local newsagency used to run a proprietary package for keeping track of newspaper subscriptions, orders and deliveries. This thing had some ridiculous multi-thousand-dollar yearly licensing fee when they first started using it in the Nineties, and the provider had subsequently gone out of business without making any arrangement for ongoing support of existing customers. So until the newsagency changed hands in 2007, it still had this creaky old Windows 95 box with an Epson dot matrix printer and boxes of sticky labels on fanfold, dedicated to running this proprietary package that couldn't be moved to any other computer because licence checks and wouldn't even start under Windows XP. Every time they called me in to fix this PC I'd advise them that it was not a sustainable proposition and that they should be looking to replace it as a matter of urgency, but of course they never did.
The new proprietor wanted this old machine gone. So after trying unsuccessfully to virtualize it I sat down with Base, and after a few weekends of fiddling about I'd taught myself enough about how it worked to come up with something that fit his business better than the proprietary package ever had, entirely open source and built from open source components so it will run on anything. It's not slick, but it's adequately tidy and is still in use ten years later. I've needed to fix it (in very minor ways) twice.
posted by flabdablet at 5:17 AM on May 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:01 AM on May 19, 2018 [1 favorite]