Industry veteran shares advice for implementing connected machine control technology

In an industry known for resisting change, being a leader who encourages out of the box thinking and innocation can be difficult. While it's no easy feat, trying new things is essential for overcoming challenges and driving growth. At the same time, change doesn't happen on its own; it requires people like Rory Prendergast who are willing to challenge the status quo. 

Prendergast is a machine control and survey superintendent for Amrize Canada. Amrize, which was previously known as LaFarge, delivers a wide range of paving, road, and heavy civil construction work and is a leading supplier of cement, aggregates, ready-mix, precast concrete, and asphalt.

Throughout his career, Prendergast has been a changemaker, driving the adoption and connection of technology and new workflows. His out-of-the-box thinking has been proven to drive value, bring efficiency to day-to-day operations, improve collaboration and streamline project delivery.

"Transferring data fast, but also ensuring everybody is accessing the right piece of data and can access it quickly, is what's advantageous about connected workflows and connected systems," he says.

Transforming field-to-office communication 

Before joining Amrize, Prendergast led a surveying team on Canada's largest civil infrastructure project, the Site C dam and hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeast British Columbia. The project began in 2016 and will provide power for 450,000 homes when completed. The volume of earthwork, tunnelling, and concrete required to complete the project is staggering, testing surveyors' planning, communication, and data management skills and compounding the value of technology-driven efficiencies and cost savings.

Across a footprint of eight square miles, crews on the Site C project will move just shy of 20 million cubic yards of 17 different material types and pour more than 1.6 million cubic yards of concrete. According to Prendergast, the drafting department will turn out close to 4,000 designs over the course of the project.

"Immediately, I saw that we needed a faster communication stream," says Prendergast. "Surveyors completed scans, exported them to a USB stick, and then drove them back to the office. Because we were working on an expansive job site with a river running through it, getting around the site took half an hour. Hand delivering the file was the biggest and most time-consuming aspect of our work."

Prendergast envisioned a future state of better data sharing between the office and the field, coupled with connected machine control and guidance, to minimize downtime and increase efficiency. He started by adding SIM cards to the Windows-based controllers so surveyors could immediately transmit scan data to the office. "They would let me know over WhatsApp when they were complete, and I would then process the scan," he said. "Using Trimble Business Center, I would isolate the high spots and upload the excavation design with cosmetic changes, so the operators could quickly address the area and move to the next excavation. This new workflow radically reduced turnaround time from 90 minutes to 10 to 15 minutes."

Although this simple improvement significantly improved the field-to-office collaboration, it was just the beginning of data sharing and communication.

Connected machine control 

The project also required the underwater excavation of a 600- by 200-metre area to a minimum line that would ensure a smooth release from the spillway. The excess raw material removed from the river bottom was also essential to building the dam buttresses.

Prendergast noticed communication barriers were impacting progress and preventing operators from getting the information needed to do their work efficiently. "We had to confirm the minimum line of excavation, but we also didn't want to waste each excavator's time across the day and night shifts," he explains. "Each operator needed to know where the previous excavator had excavated."

Each excavator was equipped with Trimble grade control technology, allowing operators to gather data, much like surveyors. "Even with grade control technology on the machines, we were limited to manual data transfer with USB sticks, but WorksManager streamlined that process very quickly," he says.

Trimble WorksManager is a cloud-based platform that streamlines communication and data management between the office and the field. "The operators manually recorded positions throughout the day," Prendergast explains. "At the end of the day, I logged directly into the machine grade control using Works- Manager, downloaded the data as point files (.PNT) and dropped it into Trimble Business Center, which is Trimble's constructable modelling, earthwork, and survey software. Each day, I compared the completed work to the 3D model to confirm it was below grade tolerance with the defined safety factor. I sent an updated perimeter model to the operators each morning through WorksManager. I adjusted the perimeter to include the previous day's excavation, so when the day shift started, they were not reworking an area that had already been excavated to grade."

With clear information on where to work, operators were confident they could work without stops and starts. "It completely revolutionized the job," Prendergast says. "We could concentrate on actual survey work rather than overseeing operators and driving around designs from machine to machine."

Exploring new ways to use technology 

Prendergast found that using technology for purposes other than its intended use can bring about positive change.

The company also uses SketchUp, Trimble's 3D modelling software. "We use SketchUp in a unique way that I don't think many people would consider," he says. "Our older-model controllers weren't 3D-capable. Our foremen and field engineers sometimes struggled to comprehend the complex 3D models, but the 2D plans provided limited help. I thought there had to be a way to display 3D models on a phone or iPad."

Prendergast's previous experience using Trimble SketchUp sparked the idea of exporting and sharing the SketchUp model on WhatsApp, where the foremen can view it on a phone or iPad. "This gives them a fully rendered 3D model," he says. "They can view and manipulate it, turning layers on and off to get the view they need. Once word of this new workflow got around, I would arrive at work and find a stack of iPads with requests from the night shift crew asking me to install SketchUp. It was the greatest answer to the problem we didn't know existed."

Technology champions drive growth 

Anyone can help shape the future of their business and the construction industry by taking the initiative to drive change. For Prendergast, this meant finding ways to connect, use, and maximize the company's existing technology for data sharing, which transformed workflows and saved valuable time.

"When everything is connected and an operator, for example, can see the grade and where they need to be, it pushes the company to the next level," he says. "We've seen tremendous time savings from using technology, which equates to revenue. Companies can't compete on these projects without connected machine control technology. Without it, they would need a never-ending roster of surveyors to constantly check the grade behind the dozer or stake out in front of them. If you're not on the cutting edge in adopting and using these technologies, you will get left behind."

Cameron Clark is the earthmoving director for the civil construction sector at Trimble. He is focused on delivering machine control innovation to the market.