Hoyst was first launched in 2017 to fulfill the ever-growing need for increased efficiency while cutting down average wait times around the modes of vertical transportation within the construction industry. As a result of this constant need to improve the efficiency and utilization of buck hoists and service elevators, Hoyst has devised a system that marries automated requests organization with the manual operation of the hoists themselves.
Buck hoists are known to be a very important tool to any vertical construction site as they’re responsible for moving many people and materials around the site every day. However, if asked how long the wait time is for an average buck hoist on a General Contractor’s (GC) site, many may not be able to provide this information as it is not often recorded. This is especially evident when understanding that many buck hoist operators communicate through radios and other less efficient means.
As Brett Dufford, Director of Sales at Voyage Control states in an interview, “Huge inefficiencies are surrounding [buck hoist operations] because it is very slow and a very tedious task. The methods done are also very archaic because most communication and operation is conducted through radios and call boxes”. With communication being more often conducted through these methods, this can subsequently result in the operator becoming overwhelmed and reverting to a style of operation where the hoist merely moves up and down the site, aimlessly collecting and dropping off passengers. This too results in ever-increasing wait times.
As Brett Dufford said, “we will ask clients how long their average wait time is for a buck hoist, and nobody will be able to answer because there’s no way to calculate it.” He goes on to explain that “with Hoyst, it’s able to calculate the average wait time, so you’ll know how long you’re waiting and be able to improve upon that.” This is Hoyst’s primary objective as prolonged wait times result in exacerbated job completion times and overspending projected budgets. One Superintendent at Lendlease remarked upon the implementation of Hoyst into their site as "We are now implementing something that has been long needed in the industry".
Hoyst recognizes the main challenges of vertical transportation revolve around poor communication which leads to waiting times in some instances being 40% higher than they should be resulting in trade inefficiencies. Other major challenges that Hoyst works to rectify include the elimination of big inefficiency claims and preventing trades from engaging in the ‘blame game’. As a result, “although we focus a lot on quantitative data, it’s very important to equally focus on qualitative data too. Like how the job site is tracking. If you have happy trades, then they will get the job done a lot quicker and more efficiently” said Dufford.
With these challenges being evident at many construction sites, Hoyst’s solutions include creating peace of mind for passengers as they will always know where the hoist is and in what direction it is traveling; improved efficiency as operators know where passengers are and where they need to go; Hoyst holds buck hoist operators accountable to retaining low average wait times and incentivizes improved operator performances. Lastly, Hoyst provides the industry with a cost-efficient solution that saves money and time both operationally and through the initial installation and set-up processes.
This brings us to the installation process of Hoyst. As a company, Hoyst prides itself in providing a quick to learn, simple-to-use methodology. This is clear in their onboarding process for the site’s various trades. When a site chooses to utilize Hoyst as their buck hoist and/or service elevator operation system, Hoyst provides the site’s GC with an initial set-up form that holds a QR code and 4-digit pin code which provides all trades and personnel the ability to easily onboard themselves thus relieving the GC from needing to manually input every trade’s details. Throughout every stage, Hoyst works with the user both in English and Spanish to ensure the system is easily understood by all trades and staff.
Hoyst comes installed with many fantastic features, two of which include ‘Field Blast’ and the Single or Paired Function. Firstly ‘Field Blast’ was initially requested by clients of Hoyst who often remarked on how most trades have group chats on WhatsApp and other services that work to send out mass communications and daily notifications about work matters and team events.
Due to this, Hoyst created ‘Field Blast’ which works with admins to send out mass communications within the Hoyst app. This relieves the strain on Project Managers and Superintendents from having to create bulk emails or massive group chats – rather through the interconnectedness of the Hoyst app, everyone with the app can read the notification easily.
Another great feature that is praised throughout Hoyst’s clientele is the Single or Paired Function. This function causes multiple bucks hoists and service elevators to connect through Hoyst’s cloud-based service to work in a manner akin to that of buildings containing multiple elevators. This is yet another way in which Hoyst strives to make vertical transportation increasingly more efficient as this function communicates with each hoist to locate where they are on the building and their proximity to the next closest passenger. The first hoist that can reach the passenger will collect them.
Hoyst’s system works well on all Apple and Android devices with its easy use and portability aiding in the overall efficiency throughout the worksite.
Hoyst’s desktop version naturally acts as the hub for the site’s data and analytics. With Hoyst’s analytics, all admins, GCs, and other important personnel will have ample clarity about who is using the hoists and can provide a means by which GCs can make them more efficient. To find out more about Hoyst and Voyage Control, you can visit our website at:
Voyage Control x Hoyst: https://voyagecontrol.com/hoyst
To find out more about how Hoyst can help improve the logistics of your construction site, buck hoists, and service elevators – please email: sales@voyagecontrol.com or head over to https://voyagecontrol.com/hoyst to book a demo.
Written By: Adrian Sakellaris | Published By: Cas Stillwell / 20th January 2022.
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