We've all seen QR Code before - especially since the Covid-19 Outbreak made them the 'Go-To' tool for restaurant menus. Take a phone's camera, scan over a code, see a hyperlink appear, tap on it and go straight to a website. It's a simple shortcut, a connection between digital and physical, a reliable technology that hasn't changed for decades.
But QR Code is so much more than a quick way to get to a restaurant menu. Imagine a worksite littered with QR code - making the connection everywhere you see. One quick scan could populate a punch list, an instructional video, a set of personal qualification records, or an interactive spreadsheet tracking inspections.
Instead of navigating through dozens of pages looking for the relevant information, QR could do it instantaneously. The right information pinned to the right place ... no wasted time cross referencing, no human error calling up the wrong information. A study found that shaving just 10 seconds off each data call-up for a 190 day project saved over $30,000 in man-hours. The small wins matter!
So if QR is that powerful, why does it rarely get used in dynamic environments like construction?
We think it's simple - it takes a ton of time to setup, and it's a fragile system. That's where BitRip comes in. We haven't changed up the premise of QR, just the delivery mechanism.
SETUP TIME. You are staring at a desktop with 50 different links open. You've got to translate them to QR code, organize them on a sheet, title them to make sure you know which QR code goes to which link, print them, cut them, laminate them, then carry all 50 labels into the field and match them up manually with their physical counterpart. That's not fun, no matter how much time it could save down the road. Now imagine this - Rip a piece of tape, Stick it, Scan it, Upload information from your phone. No office, no prior configuration, no printing. Ready-to-go in seconds.
CAPACITY. Remember that part about manually carrying 50 individual labels out into the field!? That doesn't seem a sensible way to do things. With BitRip, imagine 600 unique codes condensed into a roll of tape that fits in the palm of your hand. That's a lot of capability for something so small and light.
FLEXIBILITY. A QR code is hardwired to ONE digital address. And if that address changes, you have to go back to the office and repeat all those time-consuming steps from before. BitRip is not a single digital address, but a 'container' for any type of information. One BitRip label can hold an unlimited stream of photos, voice memos, PDFs ... even hyperlinks. Why settle for one hyperlink when you could upload a dozen? Not only that, but you can edit, erase, and even start over again. BitRip code is fluid and completely reusable.
RESILIENCE. In light of flexibility, imagine this scenario; someone rips down your QR code. It's going to happen all the time. What do you do!? You guessed it - back to the office, back to the printer. So much back and forth just to keep a QR system alive and running. But with BitRip, you can pull up the digital twin on your phone and paste it onto a brand new piece of tape in seconds. It's that easy to patch up a common error.
WRAP AROUND. How many surfaces on the jobsite are clean, flat, and big enough for a QR label? What if the surface is dirty or non-flat like a pipe or wire? How does QR code work then? The answer is it doesn't. Flimsy labels are just not made for the harsh outdoors. But BitRip's patented 'variable-size' barcode means one powerful thing - it can wrap around anything. It can clasp to itself like a luggage tag wraps around a handle. And because of that, it sticks to anything, and it stays stuck! There's a theme here - BitRip is highly reliable in rugged environments.
The efficiencies inherent in the Digital to Physical Connect are only just being realized in many different verticals. It's a conduit that brings the two worlds together. But until now, there was never a quick and easy way to make this connection in seconds and harness the efficiencies of getting the right information tied to the right spot.
All it took was a delivery mechanism. BitRip is Digital to Physical Connection in the most practical way possible.
