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.

The story of 2 customers

Cast your mind back to September 2019, when trade events were in full swing. At INTERGEO, Trimble announced the launch of a new type of laser scanner – one that delivers powerful performance, with simple operation.

The X7 promised fast, simple and accurate laser scan results, but 1 year on, does the product live up to the hype?

Barry Burrows takes delivery of his X7 from KOREC’s Barry Monk

Barry Burrows of BB Solutions didn’t have to think twice before making the purchase and became the first customer in the UK to own an X7. Since then Barry has put his new kit to the test on multiple occasions and has found that it was the perfect piece of kit for him and his business.

“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.”

“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 August, Survey Solutions took delivery of four brand new Trimble X7 laser scanners to use across their UK offices. The ongoing investment in the latest tech will insure that they continue to supply their clients with the best possible data as well as meeting important project deadlines.

“Laser scanning is a huge part of our measured building service and the new scanners further help our teams carry out their on-site survey and office processing.”

The Trimble X7 has most definitely lived up to expectations and gone above and beyond in just 365 days and we can’t wait to see what the X7 will get up to next.

To see for yourself just what the X7 can do, click here

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