Bouygues Energies & Services and Colas innovate together to step up the digital transformation of their businesses!
Whether in the context of energy performance contracts for public lighting at Bouygues Energies & Services or road maintenance at Colas, the challenge is the same: enhancing the collection of georeferenced data to make the work of field teams easier.
Colas, a subsidiary of Groupe Bouygues and world leader in construction and maintenance of transport infrastructures, and Bouygues Energies and Services, energy transition and digital transformation partner to organisations worldwide, share a common challenge: improving the collection and processing of georeferenced data to make the work of field teams easier and to offer their customers an even higher quality of equipment management and maintenance.
Two different businesses, one shared challenge: the collection and analysis of georeferenced data
For Bouygues Energies & Services, the chief issue is assessing the quality and quantity of light at street level (lux measurement), for its public lighting energy performance contracts. For Colas, the aim is to collect data on the condition of road surfaces for its road maintenance: damage, cracks, and more. Locating, qualifying and quantifying this damage to the asphalt is a meticulous and tedious task.
In both cases, the challenge is to trigger the right interventions at the right time, in order to maintain the roads and public lighting as efficiently as possible.
An autonomous collection tool and cloud hosting for data processing
To respond to this shared need, Bouygues Energies & Services and Colas have combined their expertise to design an innovative solution that autonomously collects a larger amount of data more rapidly than is currently the case across both businesses.
The measurement and data collection tool that has been developed is modular and transportable. It takes the form of a box that can be plugged into any type of vehicle (car, trolley, bicycle) to record the amount of light on a street-by-street basis or to identify road damage, thanks to sensors that automatically record this information during the journey. It is easy to use and can be programmed from a tablet.
The data is then uploaded to a digital platform for analysis. Colas and Bouygues Energies & Services can thereby not only trigger the right actions at the right time but also advise their customers: “For example, we can recommend to our customers how best to adapt their investments in public lighting in a predefined area,” explains Franck Horton, innovation project manager at Bouygues Energies & Services.
An innovative AND scalable solution!
With this solution, there is no more loss of data, shorter processing times and an overview of the damage or action required in the area concerned.
“This innovation makes it easier for road and public lighting network managers to do their work, improves the operational efficiency of teams in the field and ultimately improves the level of satisfaction of local residents,” explains Emmanuel Loison, head of the “Pavement Testing” department at the Colas Campus Scientifique et Technique (CST).
The digital transformation of traditional businesses is constantly opening up new opportunities.
“This solution is scalable. We now use sensors to gather useful data for our traditional businesses. But we can contemplate recovering other types of georeferenced data on pollution or heat loss from buildings for example. We just need to include the associated sensors” adds Franck Horton.
From collaborative to shared innovation
Colas and Bouygues Energies & Services have embraced the maxim “Alone, we move fast. Together we go further”. Shared innovation, a signature of the Bouygues Construction group, really comes into its own here with employees who have chosen to work in a cross-disciplinary manner.
“Digitalising our businesses to improve performance, yes, but always by making digitalisation work for people, that’s what guides us! “
concludes Franck Horton.
