Background:

CertainTeed, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, is a North American manufacturer of building materials that include roofing, siding, insulation, and gypsum. With more than 60 manufacturing facilities and over 6,300 employees throughout the United States and Canada, CertainTeed has played a pivotal role in shaping the infrastructure of homes and buildings across the continent for over 80 years.

Part of the CertainTeed mining operations in Canada, the Windermere and the newly-opened Kootenay West locations staked their team’s safety on old-fashioned and outdated technology. Since Kootenay West is slated to eventually replace the Windermere location as it nears the end of its expected lifespan, staff are regularly required to travel between locations. As a result, CertainTeed was looking to modernize outdated processes with electronic and innovative approaches that leverage technology as they transition to a newer, more modern mining operation.

Problem:

In order to keep track of employee whereabouts, CertainTeed’s Windermere location was utilizing a magnetic in out board system: a simple magnetic board divided into two parts, in and out, with magnetic pegs that an employee would physically move one way or another to match their current in or out status. “Our sign in sign out system at the first mine was pretty basic,” explains Alex Hogg, Mine Operations Manager for CertainTeed Canada, Inc. “You basically just moved a tag from the out position to the in position, or vice versa”.

Even with just one location, the old school, manual status board was far from optimal, but the Windermere mine made it work, much due to the location of the status board. “We were able to keep track of workers because the sign in and sign out board was located next to the office,” says Hogg.

With the new Kootenay West mining location in the process of opening, the management team needed a way to keep track of workers at both locations simultaneously. “With a second location opening up came the challenge of keeping track of workers who were working at both mines and traveling between the two, sometimes even in the middle of their shift,” Hogg explains. It was clear that the old, manual system, visible and updatable from just one location, would no longer cut it, especially when taking into consideration the frequent nature of travel between locations.

Search:

As the process to get Kootenay West up and running continued, CertainTeed set out to find a multi-purpose, digital solution that would allow them to:

1. Easily keep track of workers at the two locations, knowing where each person is, how long they work, and at what time they arrive at each location.
2. Do a roll-call during an emergency.
3. Handle payroll more efficiently, as well as feel more confident when it comes to hours actually worked.
4. Enforce the company’s Working Alone Policy, which requires staff to check in with someone every 2.5 hours.
5. Improve overall communication and visibility into staff activity and whereabouts.

In addition, CertainTeed wanted the new system to be easy-to-use, as well as backed by great customer support for any questions and concerns.

After googling “digital sign in/out board”, CertainTeed looked at multiple solutions before making the decision to go with Savance Workplace. Other solutions were not able to meet the organization’s requirements, and this included systems tailored for mining operations. “Strangely, other solutions we looked at, even some that were specifically geared towards mining, didn’t offer roll-call capabilities where tablets sync automatically when connected to WiFi,” Alex Hogg states. “Nobody other than Savance had that, and it was definitely a deciding factor.”

Solution:

The Savance Workplace system used by CertainTeed’s Windermere and Kootenay West mines consists of Savance’s Electronic In Out Board, Emergency Mustering, and Status Board solutions.

The setup itself is simple, yet effective: A custom-designed status board, equipped with a prox reader, not only displays the status of each staff member, but also acts as a check-in kiosk at each location. Upon arrival, each person scans their badge, and immediately appears on either the Windermere or the Kootenay West portion of the status board. As people travel between the mines, located about 7km/4.3 miles apart, their status location is automatically reflected to show which location they are working at right then. Once someone signs out, they are immediately removed from the status board.

The status board itself was designed to provide a complete overview of both mines side-by-side, as well as a Quick View showing a breakdown of the number of staff and visitors at each location. In addition to the wall-mounted status boards, supervisors are also able to view the status of staff from anywhere, using a browser interface, an app on their computer, or a mobile device. A few additional rotating badges are kept available for visitors, who, for quick differentiation, are marked with a small V on the status board.

“Savance did a great job coming up with solutions that meet all of our needs,” says Alex Hogg. “They are very knowledgeable and easy to work with. Kyle, our implementation specialist, is awesome and did an amazing job throughout the implementation process!”

To efficiently and accurately handle an emergency roll call to uphold CertainTeed’s emergency preparedness plan, CertainTeed decided to deploy WiFi-enabled muster tablets running Savance Emergency Mustering. As updates are made by staff, contractors, or visitors by scanning their badge to sign in or out, the Mustering software keeps an up-to-date, active roster list for roll-call purposes. “The primary reason for this implementation is for the emergency mustering and external tracking,” says Kyle Barszcz, Implementation Specialist at Savance Workplace. “Now CertainTeed can track where everyone is for the day from the comfort of their office, and, in the event of an emergency, they have a way to quickly and accurately perform a roll-call even if the WiFi and Internet is down.”

Results & Benefits:

Since implementing the Savance Workplace solution, CertainTeed has transitioned to a fully digital system that has greatly improved safety, visibility, and efficiency for the mines. Migrating from a solution where you only have visibility in front of a physical status board to having added visibility and insight from anywhere has made a world of difference when it comes to the day-to-day operations of the mines. “Everything is digital now, and we have the ability to access and manage the system from anywhere,” Alex Hogg explains. “Everything is more efficient, and we’ve been able to cut down on unnecessary communication.”

The system has also been helpful in increasing overall staff accountability and improving on time and attendance accuracy for payroll purposes. “The Savance system has definitely improved the visibility of our workers,” says Alex Hogg. “Supervisors know where and how much time people actually worked, and have the ability to log in from anywhere to keep track of staff activities at both locations, something that is much more efficient than before.” Hogg also brings up how people can no longer “cheat the system” by leaving early or signing in and out for each other. “Now it’s obvious when people try to leave early, and they know they’ll get in trouble if they try to sign in and out for each other.”

Finally, CertainTeed can now swiftly and accurately account for staff, contractors, and visitors in an emergency using RFID-enabled mustering tablets automatically populated with only those individuals onsite. Real-time mustering offline alerts proactively let them know if anything goes offline so they can immediately address the issue. “Proactive alerts help keep the system online and up-to-date 24×7, empowering CertainTeed to confidently count on the system as part of their emergency response plan,” says Steve Bardocz, President/CEO at Savance. “It is so rewarding when we can help an enterprise organization like CertainTeed switch from an error-prone, paper-based process to an easy-to-use, electronic tracking and mustering system that saves precious time when it matters most.”

Alex Hogg summarizes his overall experience, “The Savance team is really easy to work with, and Kyle was able to figure out everything I asked him. We also appreciate how they came up with solutions to save us money.” Kyle Barszcz reflects back, “Working with Alex was always a pleasant time – it was incredibly obvious that he shared the same passion for this project that we had. All in all, this is a perfect example of bringing key safety systems into the modern era to improve emergency accountability and response times.”

As far as the future goes, Alex Hogg can see the Savance solution being a great fit for other mines. “It’s an awesome product that works for us, and I will definitely be introducing the Savance system to other CertainTeed mining locations,” he says. “In fact, we’re hosting our Mining Forum next year where all the mines will come to our site, and they will all be seeing our Savance system in action.” CertainTeed is also actively looking into adding visitor/contractor self check-in kiosks. This addition would further increase conformance, efficiency, security, and communication at the mines. Until then, the Savance Workplace assigned vendor card system is sufficient, “Our contractors think it’s the best system ever. They really love it just as much as we do,” Hogg concludes.