Surveyors @ Work specialises in civil construction surveying throughout the east coast of Australia. With some 25 employees, the company puts strong emphasis on staying abreast of the latest technology, including Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) surveying, to remain competitive. UAS manager Wade Mills is passionate about the opportunities this emerging technology will bring to the survey industry. “We believe that UAS will become an integral part of surveying in the future,” he said. “Surveyors @ Work is committed to the technology because we can see the potential for a UAS to collect the majority of survey data for all subsequent analysis work.” The biggest advantage, Mills explains, is the level of detail and the speed at which it
The hugely successful plant hire industry aggregator, iSeekplant, has released Australia’s first Plant Hire phone application, allowing the user to hire plant directly from their iPhone or iPad from any location. It’s the first of its kind in Australia, and a massive win for the industry. The Application draws its records from the thousands of items of plant for hire on iSeekplant.com.au, listed by plant hire companies from all over Australia. With simplified usability, it’s been designed for project managers who have urgent plant hire requirements onsite. The company built the application, because it knows how incredibly mobile its audience is. “25% of our monthly website customer traffic is coming from smartphones, principally iPhones and iPads. We wanted
The award was presented by Geospatial World magazine during its annual Geospatial World Forum conference and leadership awards ceremony in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. O’Connor was recognised “as the champion of surveying and positioning technologies in the world, having served in this industry for more than two decades. He has transformed Topcon into an acknowledged market leader in surveying technologies related to civil engineering, agricultural, mapping, and measurement applications.” In addition to receiving the award, O’Connor was a speaker at the conference and Topcon executives also participated in applications and technology workshops. About his selection as Geospatial Business Leader of the Year, O’Connor said, “To be selected by the leaders and visionaries of the industries we serve is an
Aptella is to offer Carlson’s machine guidance and fleet management solutions for mining, quarrying, dredging and landfill operations throughout Australia. Aptella will both sell and support the wide variety of software products. “We are thrilled to be introducing our solutions through Aptella, Australia’s leading provider of machine guidance and positioning solutions,” said Randy Noland, vice president of Carlson’s Machine Control division. “Carlson and Aptella have worked together for many years to supply the land surveying industry with software solutions so it was natural to expand our partnership to include Carlson’s machine guidance products.” Aptella will be offering Carlson’s complete range of machine guidance solutions for mining operations, including Carlson Grade™ for dozers, graders, scrapers and other surface grading
To ensure customers are running the latest Topcon solution and the right system for their work, Aptella is offering an exclusive buy-back program for existing 3D machine control systems already installed on their equipment. “We want to maintain our status as the number one service provider on job sites and Topcon as the number one machine control solution,” said Joel Seddon, National Product Manager for Machine Control. “Anyone who has a 3D system installed in their machine, no matter what brand, should get in touch to find out what we can offer – we’ll buy it back for up to $29,000 and get them fitted with the latest Topcon equipment!” Aptella offers a wide range of Topcon machine
Forbes Shire Council, in the central west of NSW, has been a pioneer among local government in the state in its use of GPS-based surveying and machine control systems – a move it has found has paid off in terms of efficiency and speed of works. Based around the town of Forbes, located about 400 km west of Sydney, the shire services a population of just over 9,000 people. Over the past five or six years, it has pioneered the use of GPS-based systems among NSW councils for its survey works, and as a result of the efficiencies and successes it achieved, has since moved into machine control systems for its road construction equipment. According to design engineer
While there has been plenty of attention in recent years on the productivity and performance advantages of the latest precision machine control technology in “high-end” construction projects and on large machinery, there are also huge benefits for smaller machines such as tractors and skidsteers. These cover applications as diverse as house pads, general earthworks, sports grounds and industrial construction. For the past 20 years, Aptella has been tailoring solutions for these smaller machines to meet the needs of customers around Australia. One such innovation is a “laser-tractor” system for small agricultural tractors, incorporating Topcon machine-mounted lasers, custom-fit hydraulics and electrics, and a specially designed blade to enable precision grading on a small scale. “Initially we manufactured a single
Aptella has announced that its construction product porfolio will now be distributed via a network of approved resellers – including general hardware stores throughout Australia – to improve accessibility for customers. The company offers a range of Topcon and PLS construction lasers and accessory measuring devices that cater for the building, interior fitout and plumbing trades. From now on lasers for building and consruction trades will be widely available in general hardware stores and specialty tool shops across the country, giving customers improved access to high quality equipment. “Ten years ago lasers were highly specialised tools that required expertise and enhanced support,” said Ben Davis, Aptella’ construction product manager. “Nowadays, they are part of every tradesman’s tool kit,
