The Benefits of Implementing TILOS: Insights from FND’s Global Survey

In today's fast-paced construction industry, delivering complex linear projects on time and within budget is essential. Traditional project scheduling tools are often inadequate for managing linear projects such as highways, railways, pipelines, and tunnels, where the sequence and timing of activities are highly dependent on location. This is where TILOS (Time-Location System), developed by Trimble, offers a transformative approach.

As the global distributor of Trimble TILOS, Future Network Development (FND) has delivered more than 1,000 successful projects using TILOS in over 80 countries. With more than 15 years of experience, FND has supported some of the world's largest metro, pipeline, highway, and railway projects. To further understand how TILOS benefits users, FND conducted a comprehensive survey involving over 800 professionals across 230 organizations.

Survey Insights and Results

The survey gathered data from projects across 38 countries, and the results reflect TILOS’s extensive impact on the global infrastructure market. The usage of TILOS is distributed across several key project roles:

• Clients: 20%
• Contractors: 30%
• Subcontractors: 30%
• Engineering Teams: 15%
• Suppliers: 5%

These numbers illustrate that TILOS is a versatile tool adopted by various stakeholders in linear project development, from planning and procurement to execution and commissioning.

Major Issues in Linear Projects

Respondents of the survey identified several critical challenges encountered in linear projects:

• 87%: Poor planning processes lead to project inefficiencies.
• 78%: No integration between design, procurement, and construction schedules.
• 72%: Disconnected schedules across different teams and a lack of standardization.
• 67%: The complexity of the work and the project environment.
• 59%: Unexpected design changes impacting the schedule.

These challenges highlight the need for an integrated solution like TILOS, which can optimize project sequencing, resource allocation, and communication between stakeholders.

Key Benefits of Implementing TILOS

1. Improved Planning and Visualization: TILOS’s time-location charts offer a unique, integrated view of the project timeline and location, enabling better coordination of activities and identifying potential conflicts early. 98% of respondents stated that TILOS helps speed up project planning and updates.
2. Optimized Resource Allocation: By merging time and location data, TILOS ensures resources like manpower, machinery, and materials are allocated effectively. 87% of users reported improved resource management, while 89% highlighted that TILOS helps identify the need for resources more efficiently.
3. Increased Collaboration: TILOS improves communication and coordination among project teams, with 84% of respondents stating that the software facilitated better collaboration between stakeholders.
4. Cost Reduction: 86% of respondents reported reduced project costs due to the optimization of planning and execution processes. Early conflict detection and more efficient resource allocation contribute to lowering overall project costs.
5. Faster Project Completion: 83% of TILOS users experienced shorter project durations, thanks to more efficient scheduling, better coordination, and faster decision-making.
6. Quick Return on Investment (ROI): Survey results indicated that 44% of organizations achieved ROI from TILOS within 1-3 months of implementation, while 27% saw ROI within more than 3 months. This demonstrates the rapid impact TILOS has on improving project outcomes and efficiency.

Survey Highlights:

• Time to Implement: 45% of users implemented TILOS within 1-2 weeks, and 37% within a month.
• Decreased Planning Hours: 27% of users reduced planning hours by 16%-20% after implementing TILOS, and 19% saw reductions of 21%-25%.
• Avoiding Planning Mistakes: 33% of respondents reported a reduction in planning mistakes by 16%-20%, while 27% saw a reduction of 11%-15%.
• Reduced Project Meetings and Paper Usage: 41% of users were able to reduce project status and progress meeting time by 16%-25%, while 51% reduced paper usage for printing project plans by more than 35%.

Why TILOS is the Best Solution for Linear Projects

TILOS’s ability to integrate time and location data provides unparalleled advantages for linear projects. It addresses key industry pain points such as disconnected schedules, resource mismanagement, and unexpected delays. Users reported that TILOS provides the following key benefits:

• 97%: Helps eliminate planning mistakes.
• 98%: Significantly faster in creating and updating project plans compared to other tools.
• 86%: Decreases overall project costs by optimizing scheduling and resource allocation.
• 83%: Shortens project duration, improving overall project timelines.
• 93%: Enhances the reliability of planning in projects, leading to higher project success rates.

Industry Adoption

TILOS is widely adopted across the global infrastructure industry:

• 90% of ongoing metro projects use TILOS.
• 87% of pipeline projects and 73% of railway projects are utilizing TILOS.
• 67% of ongoing highway projects are managed using TILOS.

Additionally, 7 of the top 10 NFR Construction Companies and 23 of the top 25 NFR Construction Companies are TRIMBLE TILOS customers. 90 of the top 100 Biggest Infrastructure Project also use TRIMBLE TILOS, demonstrating its widespread adoption and effectiveness.

Conclusion

Trimble TILOS is more than just a scheduling tool—it’s a comprehensive solution that addresses the unique challenges of linear projects. Whether you’re managing a highway, railway, or pipeline project, TILOS’s ability to integrate time and location ensures that projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest standards of quality. Backed by the global experience of FND, TILOS continues to help organizations optimize their planning processes, reduce costs, and achieve faster project completions.

For any organization working on complex linear infrastructure projects, implementing TRIMBLE TILOS is not just a choice—it’s a strategic advantage.

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