Topcon showcases software solutions at bauma2016

July 18, 2016 – While Topcon’s 3D machine control capabilities are well-known in the construction industry, the company’s solution offering now extends even further, with a comprehensive array of software available to manage any job site of any scale. These solutions took centre stage in Topcon’s pavilion at the Bauma 2016 construction industry trade fair in Germany recently.

Automation is already happening in the field. The next step will be automating data collection, in order to fully synchronise the relationship between the job site and the operations office.

This was one of the key ideas behind several technologies Topcon showcased at the Bauma2016 construction industry trade fair recently.

Held every three years in Munich, Germany, Bauma is the world’s largest trade fair for construction and mining machinery and building materials and technologies. The 2016 show broke records for both exhibitors and attendees; 3,423 exhibitors greeted an incredible 580,000 visitors over six days.

Topcon’s pavilion featured a comprehensive display of the company’s geopositioning tools and machine control systems – including the debut of the new mast-less 3DMC dozer system – and an array of office- and remote-based software solutions designed to give management personnel 360 degree visualisation of the ever-changing job site.

“The way construction project data sets are managed and interact is constantly evolving,” says Mike Milne, managing director of New Zealand Topcon distributor Synergy Positioning Systems.

“Ensuring that machinery in the field is operating in an efficient manner is one thing, but now we’re seeing Topcon’s ability to offer end-to-end management tools growing too, with an increased and improved portfolio of software systems.”

Topcon now offers up to 20 different software packages designed to optimise every aspect of a project, from standalone designs right up to site traffic flow considerations for major multi-faceted infrastructure works.

Medium scale solutions include Topcon MAGNET Office; a desktop survey and drafting tool developed by Topcon for use by land surveying professionals, contractors and design engineering entities alike.

At the other end of the scale is the comprehensive Sitelink3D system. This builds on the capabilities of Topcon’s trusted 3D machine control technology, but expands the offering to remote machine support, job file transfer and real-time project information via desktop, tablet or smartphone.

Sitelink3D offers contractors web-based, real-time visualisation through Sitelink3D.net, which is a secure, subscription-based web portal providing access to remote job site data, allowing for newly created or updated job site parameters to be sent from the office to the screen inside the machine cab, the reviewing in real-time of cut/fill mapping, real-time visualisation of machine movement and the acquisition and storage of survey data.

Topcon and DynaRoad’s impressive production control scheduling software takes things a step further again; offering up an end-to-end holistic planning tool which allows for mass haul planning (based on manual data input or calculated from available resources) at a large-scale infrastructure level.

The DynaRoad system can provide time/location overviews of a project within a single map view. This allows for ultra-precise production orders, crew and machinery movements, haul distances, production breaks and risk zones to be fully assessed. The software even provides production forecasts and warns of potential impacts on productivity in advance.

“This software really offers up an intelligent toolbox of options,” continues Milne.

“With it the project manager is able to run various scenarios in order to maximise the efficiency of any site. It lets the appropriate personnel ask all manner of questions, such as ‘If we close this road here at this stage of the project, how will that impact on other areas?’”

Furthering the idea of total visualisation from the desktop to the cloud, Topcon’s MAGNET Enterprise software offers a web-based solution that allows for field management from secure cloud-stored data. This allows busy management personnel the luxury of accessing all project data in one place, in real-time, wherever they might need to access it from.

“Another aspect of this comprehensive range of software solutions showcased at Bauma, is that it highlights the continued relationship Topcon shares with Autodesk and the AutoCAD environment,” says Milne.

“The end-user really reaps the rewards of seamless workflow and integration with all of these programmes, as they have been engineered as a collaboration between Topcon and Autodesk’s developers right from the start.

“This means there is a real universality to Topcon systems that just can’t be matched elsewhere in the industry.

“I think the Topcon displays at Bauma really reinforced the idea – especially for us down here in the South Pacific – that Topcon is a globally-focused company working hard to ensure their back-end products offer clever and robust project management solutions for contractors everywhere.”

The next main Bauma event will be held in Germany in April, 2019. Bauma-China – which takes place biennially – will be staged in Shanghai in November this year.