Where Technology Meets Construction

We talked to Albert Bou Fadel of SmartBarrel about construction, and he had the following to say:-

Tell us about your career and founding journey so far. How did you arrive at this point?

Albert Bou Fadel: After working for over 10 years in construction and glazing projects around the world, I realized how inefficient workforce tracking was being handled by the construction industry. This sparked an interest in solving this pain point, so I set out to create SmartBarrel. First, I spent a year teaching myself coding and electronics, then I created the first prototype and immediately saw the value and potential for servicing the industry. After raising capital, I hired a great team and started growing the business.

What has been your greatest challenge during the pandemic, and how are you and SmartBarrel adapting?

Albert Bou Fadel: Building a hardware product remotely and having to rapidly pivot towards including COVID-19 safety integrations certainly kept us quite busy. During these challenging times, our team is doing a great job adapting to remote working and fast-paced product iterations. We are also helping the construction industry with solutions to keep job sites running and their workforce employed. 

How is Smart Barrel influencing change within the construction industry? 

Albert Bou Fadel: SmartBarrel introduces a new method of operational mindset and approach to construction management. We help the industry understand construction from a data perspective, which gives them a clear picture by the numbers to see if they are being efficient or not. There is a tremendous value in working smarter than your competition by not wasting resources, time, and money. Most importantly, we give the industry powerful insights into their most valuable asset, their workforce.

What are you most excited about for the future of SmartBarrel?

Albert Bou Fadel: The pandemic has expedited the adoption of technology in the construction industry. Contractors are becoming more aware that in order to survive the next decade, they need to become more efficient with their project management. The days of wrangling so many moving parts of a project manually are becoming obsolete; it was never the most effective approach. We see a better way forward with state of the art technological solutions such as SmartBarrel. 

How are you balancing personal time and work as a CEO?

Albert Bou Fadel: This year has been the most challenging; working from home made it even more complicated to separate work and home life, especially as a CEO with an overwhelming schedule. This year, most people had to redefine their definition of life and work balance; it has been a challenge indeed. The world became much smaller, and it made me realize what I need to focus my energy on in terms of friends, family, work, and activities in general. 

Your website?

www.smartbarrel.io