06.22.2021 | Kespry

What are Smart Inspections for Drone Technology?

If your business is still in the business of performing manual inspections such as roof inspections or stockpile inspections, we’re here to tell you there is a better and smarter way! Smart Inspections is a term coined to reference the future of data collection in various industries. With the use of drone technology, cloud-based analytics and high-resolution imagery, industries such as mining & aggregates, insurance and industrial can now perform fully touchless surveys and inspections in half the time and with worker safety in mind.

The benefit of a Smart Inspection is in the name. If your business wants to stay in the running with competition, adopting a new, safer and more efficient way of performing inspections is the best way to do it. With the combined use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), drone technology and the cloud, smart inspections can make your workflow easier from first steps on the worksite to decision making in the office. 

Smart inspections allow you to overcome boundaries that otherwise might have stopped your inspection in its tracks. Was there a storm recently and the roof is too wet to safely climb? Is there a limit to how many high resolution images your team can take? Are you confident in the accuracy of your data? Below are just some of the top features and benefits of a smart inspection, highlighting how applying innovative technology to age-old manual processes can significantly impact your business to save both time and money:

  • Drone Technology: Dispatch an autonomous drone to provide a completely touchless survey or inspection and limit interactions with workers, occupants and property owners. Drone technology can be used for insurance adjusters at a customer’s home, or in the mining and aggregates industry to measure the size and volume of stockpiles. In the realm of customer experience, drone technology has also improved the customer experience. Specifically, the pandemic has brought on a new preference of social distancing for many clients and smart inspections allow adjusters to be even more effective at inspections while abiding by social distancing guidelines. 
  • Cloud-based analytics: No need for complicated data conversion applications – with cloud-based analytics, the data and images from your inspections seamlessly upload into the Kespry cloud and to teammates off the field. Get rid of joysticks, SD cards and streamline the workflow with little to no manual work.
Kespry Cloud for Smart Inspections
  • High-resolution imagery and data: Data is arguably the most important asset in making business decisions. Smart Inspections allow for the collection of high-resolution imagery and accurate data sets to take the guesswork out of decision making. Drones can capture aerial data, get large coverage, create 2D or 3D mapping models and accuracy all at once for confidence-driven results. 
  • Overcoming boundaries: Manual inspections have limitations, whether that be a natural occurrence like weather or a physical boundary like human error. Smart Inspections can keep workers and adjusters safely on the ground while they pilot above wet or steep terrain. Smart Inspections can also provide faster and more accurate data sets than traditional methods.

There are plenty of industries that can benefit from utilizing smart inspection technology, and the list is only growing. The main industries and early adopters of this innovative application are insurance, mining and aggregates, pulp and paper and the process industry. Below we list specific use cases on how smart inspection is being used today:

  • Insurance
    • Transforming how companies inspect roofs by dramatically reducing the time spent on each building
    • Improves employee safety
    • Reduces loss adjustment expenses
    • Delivers more accurate risk assessments
  • Mining and Aggregates
    • Simple and accurate inventory management and mine planning
    • Easily accessible data for the entire team
    • Produces data that is up to 80% more accurate than manual measurement
    • Can capture data sets, with survey-grade accuracy, in as little as 30 minutes
  • Pulp and Paper
    • Improve process through quick, cost-effective, and accurate surveying of chip and roundwood sites
    • Maximize profitability across production and supply chain operations
    • Allow managers to better analyze stockpile inventories for accuracy within 1-3%
    • Eliminate third-party services to perform regular surveys
  • Process Industries
    • With processing facilities running 24/7, make daily and regularly scheduled site inspections for oil and gas, chemicals and energy industries easier with drone-based solutions
    • Automatically collect flight data and have it processed in a single, secure online cloud location
    • Create 2D and 3D models used to safely inspect sites without putting employees in danger
    • Use artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically detect and calculate roof dimensions, damage, and accessories
Drone Pilots
Drone Operators

Smart Inspections are not a technology of the future, but a necessity for today’s modern, digital, fast-paced world. The main business initiatives of any leader are to cut costs, improve efficiency and better the work environment for their employees. Adopting smart inspections can help businesses effortlessly achieve these goals and then some. 

If you’d like more information on smart inspections and Kespry, please reach out to us at hello@kespry.com or check out the How it Works page on Kespry.com