One of our clients is a group of companies that delivers software solutions and expertise to automotive and navigation system hardware manufacturers. They needed us to build them a solution that would collect field data from hard-to-reach locations
Key Features:
- Efficient and accurate data collection from remote areas
- Fast onboarding and training of remote employees
- 20 TB of collected and processed data
Industry: Field Data Collection
Team Size: 10+ specialists, including Project Managers, Data Collection Engineers, and Data Processing Engineers
Business Challenge
Our client is a group of companies that provides software solutions and expertise to automobile and navigation system hardware manufacturers. In this particular case, the company had to create a digital mapping solution for automotive navigation, which required collecting data from numerous locations.
The digital mapping solutions for automotive navigation aimed to provide end-users with highway data – realistic and complete information about highways, including signs, junctions, exits, and lanes. This required the collection of accurate information throughout North American and European highways to enrich the end-client’s database.
The major challenge delegated to Intetics was setting up Build-in-Place teams to conduct photo surveys in remote areas. Besides gathering a team on-site, we had to find a way to onboard and educate the newly-hired employees remotely, as organizing business trips for a trainer wasn’t cost-efficient. Remote training, however, required specific knowledge and tools to facilitate the project development and avoid the risk of missed deadlines as a result of a long adaptation process. The biggest problem with human resources was faced in the USA.
The low amount or density of data posed another challenge. To provide high-quality digital mapping solutions, the client not only had to deploy on-site employees but also provide them with the necessary equipment. This included high-resolution cameras to receive high-quality images, GPS sensors, and more. Moreover, the equipment had to be easy to transport, as the team was moving from area to area. Potentially, the transportation problem could have resulted in extra expenditures on hardware because of accidents while traveling.
Apart from all these, Intetics also had to protect the collected information to avoid the risk of duplicates, inaccuracies, and data loss while traveling. The challenge was not only determining how to organize the data submission and storage but also choosing which tools and digital solutions to use to facilitate the process and foster project development.
Delivered Solution
Intetics was involved in the project development from scratch. We allocated more than ten employees, including project managers, data collectors, and data processing engineers, to map out the project and successfully implement it.
During three months, our team coped with an array of challenges like building sophisticated routes, developing relevant navigation, and implementing route control techniques. In the end, we managed to collect and process 20 TB of valuable data that drives meaningful business outcomes for the end client and an outstanding user experience for end-users. This is the result of the following delivered solutions:
Selecting and Purchasing Specific Equipment
We had to analyze the requirements of the remote data collections in terms of necessary equipment. Considering the complexity and scope of the project, the purchased cameras, GPS sensors, and other hardware were chosen based on two factors:
- The convenience of transportation for remote teams to be able to easily pack and set up the equipment on sites
- High quality of collected data to tackle the risk of working with a low amount or density of data
As a result of the re-developed stack of the required equipment, Intetics managed to facilitate crews’ training, simplify the work, and avoid the risk of data quality losses.
Rethinking the Standard Workflow
With 75,000 kilometers of European highways and 30,000 miles of North American highways, Intetics had to redesign the standard workflow – taking into account travel bans and other risks that could have undermined the successful conduction of planned surveys.
Our Offshore Dedicated Team (ODT) provided a detailed trip itinerary for crews for each working day. This didn’t just simplify the work for remote employees; it also minimized the number of decisions they had to make on their own.
Setting up Build-in-Place Teams
For field data collection, Intetics set up build-in-place teams that were engaged in the photo surveys. This was a successful solution that allowed us to reduce the project costs, as sending in-house field crews was too expensive.
Organizing Remote Training
Since we hired remote employees, they lacked knowledge and required training. Sending a trainer to every remote location was too expensive; therefore, we decided to hold online education. We developed an effective curriculum and allocated effective digital solutions to reduce the adaptation period from seven to two days.
Developing Results Monitoring Software
Field data collection required adapted results monitoring software. Intetics partially modified the existing system and also added some newly-developed components to meet the project needs. This allowed us to collect results on a regular basis: every crew reported about their activity every evening for team managers to ensure the completeness and quality of the data.
Business Outcome
Intetics was involved in the project from the very beginning and still remains in close collaboration with the client. Although the project is still ongoing, we have already delivered meaningful business outcomes:
- The client’s database increased by 7%: With 20 TB of overall data collected and processed, as well as 5,500,000 high-quality pictures received, we managed to enrich the client’s database with quality content.
- Savings up to 20%: Thanks to field data collection, where 15% of the total volume of work was covered by build-in-place teams and effective onboarding time was shortened, we have managed to fulfill 100% of the client’s objectives at reduced costs.
- Timely delivery of high-quality content: Intetics managed to effectively organize the remote teams in hard-to-reach regions, which allowed us to successfully cover 75,000 km of European and 30,000 miles of North American highways in time.
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