Crane Inspection Software vs Paper-based Crane Inspections: What’s the Difference?
Routine crane inspections are integral to keeping active cranes in peak operating condition. They play a vital role in helping businesses achieve these four goals:
- Ensuring the safety of crane operators
- Strengthening compliance to OSHA, ASME, and CMAA standards
- Extending the life of overhead cranes
- Reducing costly downtime of cranes
Crane inspections are typically outsourced to professional crane inspection service businesses because these services help implement a laser-focused maintenance program, which can be hard to achieve internally since management tends to cater to other aspects of the business. With your expertise, you offer business owners peace of mind, assuring them that they have done their due diligence in keeping crane operations safe while also adhering to strict crane safety regulations. You also provide them helpful insights on how they can keep their operations safe and compliant in the long run.
There are generally two ways crane inspections are performed today: through paper checklists and through paperless means. Let’s take a look at these two methods in practice and see the differences between them.
What Crane Inspections Look Like With Paper
Here’s how crane inspectors often complete inspections with a paper checklist:
- Crane inspector uses a printed crane inspection checklist to log findings during inspection.
- If there’s a noted defect on the overhead or mobile crane, the operator immediately takes a picture of it with a camera or write a note to detail the findings. The operator then tags the cranes for downtime service.
- Once inspection is completed, the operator collates the information gathered during the inspection and manually re-enters them into a computer to create a crane inspection report.
- Once the report has been finalized and approved by the management, it is then printed and delivered to the crane owner for recordkeeping. The document also serves as a point of discussion so they can determine how to address the findings.
As you can see, paper-based inspection poses challenges which you may have already noticed in your crane inspectors’ everyday workflow. Challenges include the extra time spent collating necessary documents to create a report, piles of paperwork in your office, and delays in communicating crane safety issues.
As one of the main people who manage crane safety in your workplace, you may have asked yourself if it’s time for a change and considered a crane inspection software as a solution. If this is the case, we’ll share with you the advantages you and your crane operators can enjoy with a crane inspection software. With the demand for crane inspection services increasing every year, the importance of crane inspections can’t be emphasized enough. With a crane inspection software, you can finally help uplift the quality standards of your inspectors’ work.
What Crane Inspections Look Like With a Crane Inspection Software
On the other hand, here’s how crane inspections look like with businesses who use digital means:
- Crane inspector uses a mobile device (could be a smartphone or tablet) and uses a pre-uploaded, standardized digital crane inspection checklist for the inspection. Should there be any findings, inspector uses the same device to take pictures or write notes, which are automatically attached to the checklist.
- Once the inspection is done, a comprehensive report is automatically generated by the crane inspection software. With the software, a workflow can be set wherein the report can automatically be sent to the client and to other key recipients.
- The inspector can then immediately discuss results and provide recommendations to the client without spending extra time finalizing the report.
Based on this workflow, you may have noticed that the inspector saved time with the administrative parts of the inspection and was able to quickly focus on providing solutions to the client.
Crane inspectors have a lot to pay attention to on top of offering comprehensive inspections to your clients. They need to remain focused on their work as missing even a single detail during an inspection can result in catastrophe.
With a crane inspection software, your inspectors can experience the following advantages not possible with paper-based inspections:
- Easier crane inspections with less paperwork
- A more streamlined process, from inspection scheduling to reports generation
- Real-time data at your fingertips
Keeping up with increasing customer demands is vital in growing your crane inspection service business. You need to keep everything as efficient as possible so you can reach out to more clients that seek topnotch crane inspection services. As such, it is crucial to be equipped with technology such as a crane inspection software that helps you accelerate the business while also adhering to strict inspection standards.
