Business challenge
Energy producers constantly strive to improve safety, reduce operational costs and monitor hundreds of pieces of equipment in a compressed, weather-dependent construction season.
Solution
The Trimble GuidEx Machine Guidance System uses GPS/GNSS machine tracking and guidance along with custom built maps and data collection to enable operators to navigate accurately through remote areas and document machine activities while generating back-end mapping and activity data to drive operational cost savings and efficiency.
Results
- Reduced risk of regulatory trespass beyond permitted or approved boundaries using geofence boundaries and exclusion zones
- Emergency response mapping to enable faster response times
- Substantial reduction in the costs of surveying
- Improved equipment productivity and visibility from remote offices
- More accurate cost tracking
A race against time
Every year, while most construction companies are wrapping up the season for winter, energy producers prepare to deploy an army of surveyors, heavy equipment, and drilling rigs into uncharted regions in Canada.
Mulchers, dozers and drill rigs navigate deep into the woods to build 14-inch-thick ice roads. Once the roads are finished, they start constructing drilling pads, which must support rigs weighing as much as 38,000 kg.
The season lasts only as long as temperatures drop below freezing and stay there, generally between November 1 and April 1. Not surprisingly, energy producers are always looking for technology that can help them accelerate the process.