Further reading

Trimble Sync Manager in two minutes on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RAlZZ21hwKw

For a more detailed review, follow this link: https://youtu.be/ot_Y8J4J3hE

Full details on the Trimble Geospatial website: https://geospatial.trimble.com/sync-manager

If you need any assistance with updating or installing any of these software packages, please contact support@korecgroup.com or call 0151 931 670.

Setting out is a laborious, time-consuming yet vital stage of the construction process.

With our February trade-up offer, you can ensure you have the most robust, most productive and most cost-effect setting out workflow available.

To make things better, we’ll give you £4000 / €4500 to upgrade your old survey kit for a brand-new, setting out solution built for the digital construction site.

For more details of this limited time setting out offer, download our handy 1-page PDF.

Prefer to speak to an expert? Get in touch via our Contact page.

Find Out More

• Read how the RTS773 helped Felix O’Hare deliver a complex project 6 weeks ahead of schedule – Customer Story
• Read our handy blog ‘Visual Setting Out – 5 reasons why’
• Browse the full range of robotic total station solutions

Here’s a question. How do you continue to motivate, inspire, inform, or even just get your teams together during a national lockdown?

Whilst 2020 has been unusual (to say the least), for KOREC, we were already quite used to remote working & collaboration. Serving two nations, and with staff the width and breadth of the country, regular communication via phone, email, virtual chat or even Whatsapp was already the norm for many.

But for those used to office working or field working, now confined to the kitchen table at home, we realised that it was more important than ever to ensure everyone felt connected & informed.

That’s why we launched our virtual lunch ‘n’ learn series in October. The objective was simple – every 2 weeks, we invite everyone in the organisation to a brief overview of a product, solution or application. The vibe is informal – questions and interruptions are very much welcomed, prizes are awarded, and of course, lunch is munched.

It’s the perfect opportunity for a refresher on a particular product, an introduction to the latest piece of kit on the market, all presented by one of our in-house experts. For our people, it’s a reminder of the sheer variety & versatility of the solutions that KOREC offers, be it land survey, drone, rail, highways, mobile mapping…the list goes on.

It’s an excellent way for many of us to take 30 minutes out of our day, to get together, have a chat, and even learn something new.

So far, we’ve held 3 sessions;

An overview of our in-house, K-Matic software suite, presented by Darrell Theobalds

Introduction to the R12 & R12i GNSS systems & ProPoint, hosted by Leigh Rowell

Laser scanning made simple, with the X7, presented by Melvin Penwill

And we have many more up our sleeves going into 2021.

Trimble’s SiteVision is a geospatial tool created for today’s tech-savvy workforce.

Working in sync with your own mobile device, the unit utilises the very latest GNSS technology (including with the R12i – more on that to come) to pinpoint your design model down to cm accuracy.

This allows you to easily and accurately visualise your BIM design model in its true location, before a brick has been laid or concrete poured. What’s more, you can share that model, in real time, with your colleagues or with your client, wherever in the world they happen to be.

The solution is already in use across 1000’s of worksites globally, including here in both the UK & Ireland. Customers here include Gareth Price of O’Brien Contractors in the West Midlands, and the A14 Integrated Delivery Team (a JV of Costain, Skanska, Balfour Beatty & Atkins Jacobs) headed up by Mark Lawton – check out Mark’s thoughts on the device in the video below.

You can also read about the experience of O’Brien’s as they utilised the kit on a new stretch of light railway in our customer story.

The versatile and multi-featured tool lends itself to many industries including, to name a few; civil construction & inspection, building construction, utilities, urban transportation & planning, architecture & residential development, and more.

We’ve picked our Top 8 features of this extraordinary device, to show just how powerful and useful it is;

1. Simple, intuitive operation with your smartphone
2. Built-in data visualisation & modelling
3. Clear & Simple Communication with Trimble Connect
4. cm-accuracy thanks to GNSS integration – including the new R12i
5. Safely measure distances in hazardous spots with EDM
6. Easy & fast data reporting – notes, photos & assign tasks
7. Always On – load your model even in internet blackspots
8. Compatible with huge range of platforms & data formats

To see SiteVision for yourself, why not get in touch and arrange a demo with our friendly team? Contact Us

This September marks something of a milestone for Debbie Vincent, our Operations Manager (Huntingdon branch) – 10 years at KOREC.

Many UK KOREC customers may be familiar with Debbie and her team, but to mark her decade with the company, we asked Debbie to look back over her years working with us. Here’s what she had to say;

So, it’s been a journey, let me begin,

Back in July 2010 I was made redundant from a position I had held for almost 15 years, sadly the company was no longer and I found myself in the big wide world along with many others looking for work.  I just happened to bump in to a friend who said ‘they are looking for admin staff where I work I am sure you would fit in’ – this was the start of my journey.  I started with KOREC on the 8^th September 2010.

Covering maternity leave for the admin team working for the Machine Control side of the business – I loved this as it was similar to what I had come from, the majority of machine control kit had to be installed so you had a number of factors to consider on every sale.  At that time we covered the three operational roles which included sales, workshop and hire for the product area you were working in.

Debbie with some of her team in Huntingdon

After a couple of years a role became available in the hire department which I was fortunate enough to manage.  This role gave me a huge insight into the products, which has stood me in good stead throughout my career here.  Hire is extremely reactive so you have to be able to juggle a number of balls without letting any drop to the ground!

From the hire role I was promoted to Operations Manager at the Huntingdon depot something I continue to do to this day – this role allows me to oversee the day to day running of the depot whilst ensuring our clients get the best possible service.

How time changes things, I have seen the TSC2 now replaced by the TSC7, R4 GPS units now replaced with R12’s, and now a unit that calibrates itself, nothing stays the same for long in this fast paced working environment!

But, I can honestly say I have truly enjoyed my time at KOREC, the people I work with and have met along the way have been truly wonderful 😊

From all of us at KOREC, thank you Debbie for your decade of dedication!

Find out more about our world-class workshops & facilities on our Service page.

The Benchmark Surveys team; Josh Rogers, Sebastian Glover, James Richards, Sebastian Richards, Helen Richards & Dennis the dog

It’s been just 3 weeks since the R12i was launched to the world on 1st September.

But already Benchmark Surveys of Exeter have taken delivery of their new GNSS solution – the very first to be sold in the UK.

The team took part in trials with the new unit at the end of August, and it’s fair to say, they were blown away by the results they saw – watch the video below to see what we mean!

To see the R12i for yourself, take a look on the product page and sign yourself up for a demo;

R12i product page

Or find out more about Benchmark’s work;

https://www.benchmarksurveys.co.uk/

This week saw the launch of the next level GNSS solution from Trimble – the R12i. 

Featuring robust IMU tilt-compensation via their patented TIP (Trimble Inertial Platform) technology, you can forget about levelling the pole and focus on collecting points, faster, safer and easier.

Utilising an angled pole allows you to obtain previously impossible or hazardous points – such as corners of buildings, tree bases and by rivers/watercourses.

With no time wasted calibrating or levelling, you can be much more rapid when collecting points – check out the video here to see how the R12i compares!

We are hosting a special R12i webinar on the 10th, to give you the complete lowdown on the new features, the benefits to your business, and multiple applications. Sign yourself up;

Join our launch webinar on the 10th

Barry Burrows didn’t need to demo the X7 to see the benefits – we spoke to the UK & Ireland’s first Trimble X7 High Speed Laser Scanner owner on his very modern buyer journey

Ever since he was a kid, Barry Burrows wanted to get his hands on the latest technological gadget – from computer consoles to tech toys, he’s always had a strong personal interest in new technology.

In the Consumer world that we live in, people have strong associations to brands and are looking for brands that they can identify with. Barry Burrows is one of these consumers, and as the owner of a survey company operating in a very competitive environment, he likes to associate himself with a name he can trust. From his choice of vehicle (Audi) to the equipment he uses to drive his business (Trimble), Barry explains the importance of choosing brands that are “Trusted today and built for tomorrow”.

When founding his own survey company,  Barry recognised the importance of choosing the correct equipment so that when he went on-site he could overcome any issues with confidence,  investing in Trimble kit such as the S6 (total station), R6 (GPS)  and the revolutionary SX10 (total station/laser scanner hybrid) just months after their release dates.

So, it should come as no surprise that the founder & owner of BB Surveys has become the first customer in the UK & Ireland to own an X7 – the latest laser scanning solution which Trimble launched to much fanfare at Intergeo (Europe’s largest trade fair for geoinformation) in October 2019.

What is perhaps surprising is that Barry hadn’t so much as touched an X7 before making his purchase;

“I watched a few product videos on YouTube, read some online reviews and after about 15 minutes I knew that this was the right kit for me and my business”

Having already utilised laser scanning in his business for several years, Barry knew the benefits that the technology offers – for him, that means using the Trimble X7 to quickly and accurately collect external building data. But with his previous non-Trimble scanner, Barry found that many hours were eaten up processing unwanted data;

“With that scanner the amount of data collected was huge – I would easily spend 6-8 hours back at the office just processing the data, a lot of which was only needed for registration and would then be discarded”

In fact, Barry estimated that around 80% of his collected data was unwanted. With their average survey job requiring around 160 scans, that’s a huge amount of unrequired data. BB Surveys undertake around 60-70 jobs per month – a huge workflow for a small, 5-person team. So, for Barry and his team, time really is of the essence.

Barry noticed that after introducing the SX10 into their workflows, scanning jobs take 50% less time that they used to with the non-Trimble kit. It’s this huge boost in time-saving that convinced him of the merits of the new X7 scanner. That, and the pure simplicity and ease of use of the kit;

“Another feature that sold it to me was the auto-registration. Being able to complete hundreds of separate scans and not have to worry about tying them all together afterwards is a huge plus for us”

In its first few days of use, Barry has already been putting the new kit through its paces. His son carries out the bulk of the scanning for the company, and Barry has been impressed with how quickly the workflow has been picked up, with minimal training;

“He scanned a pub over the weekend, taking around 70 scans of the building. With no additional registration or processing needed, it took around 30 minutes to download and check the data”

What’s also crucial to Barry and his team is having hardware they can trust. With time being such a critical factor to his business, downtime due to instrument malfunction is wasted money. Barry has used Trimble for almost 30 years, and indeed, is still using the same Trimble software package today that he purchased in 1991!

The relationship with KOREC is no less important. Having been a customer for the last 12 years, Barry cites the people within the business, backed-up by technical & support expertise, as having sustained and grown this relationship over more than a decade.

It’s this combination of proven Trimble technology, backed-up by KOREC’s technical & support expertise, that make for a winning combination.

If you’d like more information about the X7 just let us know by clicking here

Our thanks to Barry Burrows of BB Surveys for this article.

Barry Burrows on Linkedin

BB Surveys website

For all those who use Trimble office software to post-process GNSS survey data there is now a new configuration update file available dated 20th May 2010.

This file updates the antenna and receiver information used in GPS post processing to ensure that the best possible levels of accuracy are achieved from your data.

As the Ordnance Survey take advantage of the regular improvements in receiver and antenna technology it is important to keep up to date with the characteristics of any new hardware in order to calculate GPS positions accurately and correctly.

The latest Configuration update file can be found at https://www.korecgroup.com/resources.php?cat=software within the “Utilities” section in a folder named “GPS Antenna Files”.