There is much written about lower productivity levels in construction compared with other industries. Manufacturing is acknowledged as more productive and much of its productivity gain is attributed to IT adoption driving automation. There are also claims that around 20% of construction costs go to waste. As a result, global construction is expected to become an industry that will benefit significantly from improvements in collaborative practices and technology innovation. In addition to the general uptake of technology in the construction industry, one key area for improvement is to connect various aspects of a project from initial design and mass haul planning through to haul progress and reporting, enabling different disciplines, contractors and subcontractors to collaborate across the job.
Topcon’s new HT-30 is a simple yet highly efficient system that automates haul counting and facilitates the management and tracking of material payloads across a project. The system features a small, portable, GPS-enabled control box that mounts into the haul truck cab. As the truck is loaded, data including material type, driver details and load quantity is input into the system. The load is then integrated into Aptella’ remote site management interface, Tokara Site (powered by Topcon SiteLink3D). Using Tokara Site, engineers and construction managers can track each load in real time for scheduling, rerouting and recording once delivery is made. “Topcon’s HT-30 system eliminates the need for manual counting and paper-based haul progress reporting,” explained Joel Seddon,
Brendan Cornfoot from Somerton-based Cornfoot Bros in Victoria, says they use a wide range of Topcon 3D GPS technology on the company’s two CAT D6 dozers, two CAT compactors, two CAT H Series graders and one M Series grader, two CAT and one Komatsu excavators. The business specialises in a wide range of earthworks applications, including final trim, bulk work, civil projects and landfill construction and capping. “We purchased our first GPS grader system around eight years ago from Topcon’s Australian distributors, now known as Aptella, and we haven’t looked back since,” Mr Cornfoot explained. “These days it’s a standard part of our business and every time we get a new machine, it gets fitted with Topcon.” When
Now celebrating their 10th year in business, David Kais founded Kais Contractors in 2004 with a single grader. Today the company owns 23 graders and has become the largest Caterpillar grader hire business in the state, specialising in final trim work using Topcon GPS and LPS technology. “We have had a close working relationship with Topcon’s Australian distributor Aptella from the very beginning,” Mr Kais explained. “We operate both LPS and GPS Topcon machine control across our range of CAT 140H, 140M and 14H, 16H and 16M machines. We’re 100% Topcon and we’re 100% CAT.” When the company first started out, LPS and GPS machine control was not as common on job sites as it is today. “We’ve
