"Technology penetration in the construction industry has traditionally been slow because few solutions are truly user friendly," until now, remarked David Dean, director of marketing for AirToolz, the company behind a new wireless application for the construction industry — AirWavz.

AirToolz, Inc., a joint venture between Unity Software Systems - an IBM Business Partners and LMC Construction, has introduced AirWavz, a business-to-business communication solution designed for the residential construction industry – general contractors and subcontractors can monitor and communicate schedule changes in real-time through standard Web browsers or handheld wireless devices.

AirWavz was built using a full suite of IBM e-business technologies.

• IBM VisualAge for Java
• IBMVisualAge Micro Edition
• IBM WebSphere Studio
• IBM WebSphere Application Server.

The central data repository is built on IBM DB2 Universal Database, with IBM DB2 Everyplace providing a local data store for mobile clients.

AirWavz creates a centralized schedule stored in DB2 Universal Database for AIX or Sun’s Solaris Operating Environment, thus eliminating the need for paper records or spreadsheets.

Supervisors on site can access and update the main schedule through wireless handhelds such as RIM’s BlackBerry, Palm- or PocketPC-powered devices running DB2 Everyplace.

The WebSphere Application Server detects each change and incorporates it into the system as it relates to the other tasks and then communicates the changes to subcontractors over cell phones, or via e-mail or fax.

AirWavz is integrated at the backend with the general contractor’s business systems, such as sales, financial and supply chain management applications. For example, customer specifications, such as type of fittings or appliances, are extracted from the sales system, integrated in DB2 and communicated to the superintendent at the appropriate time.

"By showing superintendents only what is relevant at each stage, we reduce the probability that they will overlook something. That reduces costs and time, because they don’t need to redo tasks later, and enhances customer satisfaction," said Phil Hartley, president, Unity Software Systems.