1. Trimble Solutions for the Independent Excavator Operator
Good afternoon and Welcome
To quote an excavator operator we had in our beta testing programme “Where have you been all my life”. I am 90% sure he was not actually referring myself or Matt Munro here but to the system we had installed on his machine.
I hope you here to find out what Trimble has to offer the independent excavator operator.
Trimble has been working hard to make a system that will make the independent operator become more productive and profitable.
My name is David Baird. I come from family line that has made its money out of dirt. I have been involved in the earthmoving industry for 14 years. Currently I work for the Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies group as a senior applications engineer. One of my responsibilities is running Beta test sites (that is taking our product out to select customers to test - some of which we will hear about later). Product improvement and Tier 3 product support to our parent company Trimble are a couple of other responsibilities I have. So if the customer has an issue that the dealer cannot handle, they take that to Trimble Support if they are unable to solve the issue they come to me for the solution. I was going to be a civil engineer but decided there were more than enough of them in the world so went and studied a Honors degree in Surveying from the University of Otago, New Zealand.
My co-presenter today will be Matt Monro who is a project manager at Ashburton Contractor Limited. Matt is here today to give a customers experience of using the product. He has spent his whole life in the civil construction industry with his father being a civil engineer and being on site with him, then had 15 years of paid employment in the industry. Previous to the product beta test his experience was with asphalt milling & paving using GCS / PCS. Now his focus is on implementing machine control solutions within his company.
David Baird and Matt Munro
HCC-20608

2. Agenda Trimble GCSFlex and GCSFlex with GPS Customers and Applications
Who uses
Components
Correction Sources
Installation
Customers and Applications
Bang for your buck
For the next 40 minutes or so we are going to be looking at …
What GCSFlex is and who uses it and how it works.
Then we will look at three customers (small to large) and how they have used their system.
Of course everything comes down to money at some point so we will also look at what you get for your investment.
Who out there is from a small earthworks and construction background?
What about the medium size operations?
Are there any large earthworks contractors?
The purpose of this presentation is to outline the Trimble GCSFlex guidance system and how it solves the issues the independent excavator has to make their operations safer, more productive, independent and profitable. You may be surprised to discover that the system is actually suitable for all size operations.
The slides will be posted to a site that Dimensions attendees can access using their Dimensions registration and password. It will also be posted to the Partners website for Dealers to access.
There will be opportunities to ask questions throughout the session as well as at the end.
The next few slides are going to introduce the GCSFlex systems.

3. Affordable, Flexible Grade Control for Excavators+
Trimble GCSFlex offers contractors a reliable, flexible and affordable option to get into machine control technology. It will change the way the operator will work making them and the machine more efficient and competitive.
It was designed and built for the small to mid-sized contractor but as you will see larger operations also found a nesh for its use. GCSFlex is the next generation of machine control, it is easy-to-install, setup and use!
The system is really broken into two main sets in terms of it’s core functions.
The base kit is for conventional 2D only guidance only. Then you can add the GPS Add-on for location based guidance.
The systems are designed to be fairly portable, so is not to difficult to move components between machines.
GCSFlex base kit
GCSFlex GPS Add-on

4. Who uses GCSFlex? Local Contractor / Owner Operator One man jobs
Footers, Pools, Utilities, Building Pads,
Simple Drainage
This core part of the system can be used on its own and gives you basic functionality. Primary it gets used on small sites, often a one man jobs that have basic or limited infrastructure. Jobs like Footers, Pools, Utilities, Building Pads and Simple Drainage.
Any job where knowing the depth, slope or where building a profile would help the operation.
Add the heading sensor or a GPS kit will add more functionality allowing more job types to be done.
GCS Flex is suitable for owned, leased or rented machines.

5. Who uses GCSFlex with GPS?
Owner - Mid size operations
All size jobs
Trenches, Waterways, Drainage Ditches, Pools, Access Roads/Carriage Way, Retaining Walls
Heading and Elevation Control
Location referenced
In-field designs created on control box
The GPS Add-on was released by Trimble about 3 months ago.
If you were to add the GPS add-on kit the system becomes suitable for all size jobs.
- Trenches, Waterways, Drainage Ditches, Pools, Access Roads/Carriage Way and Retaining Walls.
One thing the GPS add-on kit does is to make the 2D workflow easier by providing heading and elevation control.
This means you don’t need to re-bench, use a touch point or accept the laser as you move around, the elevation control is available anywhere on the site.
The system changes to give a GPS location Reference. This allows you to create simple in-field designs on control box in the cab and therefore able to do more complex jobs
Survey or Engineering designs are not needed but you can of course use these to help you create your designs.

6. Trimble GCSFlex Systems Components Excavators
HS410
Heading Sensor
(optional)
AS450 VA Boom (optional)
AS450 Angle Sensor
SNM940
Connected Site
Gateway
MS972
GNSS Smart Antenna
LC450
Laser Catcher
AS455 Tilt Bucket (optional)
CB450
Control Box
The machine based components that make up the system is broken into scalable kits. So lets have a look at the available kits.
The Base kit components
4 angle sensors with variable functions and a control box
Optional add-ons
One to allow for a tilt bucket, one if you have an excavator with a split boom and another if you wish to add heading information without going full 3D.
The GPS add-on kit
Consists of a GPS receiver and radio modem
The SPS985 Wi-Fi base is the recommended local base correction source options but is only one of the available correction source options
SPS985
Wi-Fi Base
AS455
Angle Sensor
AS460
Angle Sensor

7. DESIGNED FOR CONSTRUCTION! - Ideal for operations on small sites -
The SPS985 Wi-Fi Base
GPS corrections are provided via a Wi-Fi connection to the machine
Super rugged and compact design
50% smaller than SPS882
Range
m ( ft..)
One touch easy setup
Just power up
No Site Calibration
Increase the range with optional integrated radio
MHz
900 MHz US/Canada only
Configurable via Wi-Fi
I personally like this new receiver and so did the test sites we ran with during beta testing. I don’t know why you would buy any other base or rover receiver. Sites I used to test with would now not buy anything else and were NOT keen to give the receiver back when it was time to finish up the beta. The receiver is ideal for operations on small sites.
(1) GPS corrections are provided via a Wi-Fi connection to the SNM940 on the machine
(2) It has a m ( ft..) range
Line-of-sight
If a Repeater is required you just add a low-cost home router
(3) One touch setup, no site calibration is required.
All you have to do is to position the receiver and power it on to automatically establish a Wi-Fi connection and begin broadcasting corrections to the machine.
(4) A very rugged compact little receiver that has a quick release for ease of use.
(5) You can increase the range with an optional integrated radio
MHz
900 MHz US/Canada only
(6) You can configurable the receiver using a Web UI on your Smart Phone or Laptop
It is a nice little receiver that eliminates radio licensing requirements and has an entry-level price point
Quick release adapter
For one-click on and off the pole
DESIGNED FOR CONSTRUCTION!
- Ideal for operations on small sites -

8. GPS Correction Sources
Remote Base (Base Station free)
Cheap start-up option
No physical set-up
Local Base
No cellular or remote base coverage
For independence
On sites with multiple
machines
The SPS985 is not the only option you have for corrections.
There are really two possibilities for GPS corrections
Base Station free (Remote Base) a cellular correction source
Cheap start-up option
Usually a Subscription service
Used for easy deployment with no physical set-up required on site
Local Base
Used where there is no cellular or remote base coverage
For where you want to be independent from a data plan or
Where you are on a site with multiple machines and you want to use the same local base.
- I don’t want to imply you cant run multiple machines off VRS or IBSS, rather you would reduce your subscription and data costs

9. GCSFlex GPS with Cellular Corrections
Base Station Free Solution
GPS cellular corrections
Virtual Reference Station (VRS) network or
Trimble Internet Base Station Service (IBSS) or
Single internet published base
No Site Calibration
Work anywhere inside station and cellular coverage area
GPS corrections are provided via a cellular connection to;
A Virtual Reference Station (subscription)/
A Internet Base Station Service (also subscription) /
Or a Single Internet Base (this can be a subscription free option as they are a published broadcast in some areas)
You will, of course, have your cellular data costs. Usually a 300MB/month plan would be sufficient.
No Site Calibration Required
The system creates and sends an Automatic Coordinate System, in UTM, that is sent to the machines GPS receiver
This method allows you to work anywhere inside the station and cellular coverage area

10. Local Base SPS985 the simplest base station set-up ever
Set it up and just power it up
Bench the machine
Work anywhere
Other base options
Require a little more work
Using a local base frees up the machine from both the base station and cellular coverage areas. The cost of subscription and cellular data also goes away.
With the SPS985 you can work anywhere within line-of-site of the receiver
Wi-Fi has a range of ft. or using an internal radio at least 5 miles would be expected
Repeaters will enhance ranges for both
The receiver has to be one of the simplest ever to setup. This is partly to do with the way GCSFlex works, the way the machine receiver works and how the SPS985 has been designed.
There are other base options available but they require a little more work to assemble and configure.

11. Simplified GCSFlex install
Installation is easy
No welding or drilling
One man measure-up
Everything you need in the kit
Install the system and get up and running quickly
As for installing the GCSFlex system, the installation is easily learnt. Component installation is simple with no welding or drilling required.
The machine measure-up is simple too;
A one man measure-up is possible and everything you need is in the kit (except a ladder)
So you can Install the system and get up and running quickly.
Another advantage of this system is that it can be easily moved from one machine to another.

12. Simple GPS Measure-Up Procedure
Add a GPS receiver, the correction source hardware and configure
Everything is in the kit
Run a sequence of movements
To enable GPS Support on top of the GCSFlex system you;
Install an Option key, add a GPS receiver and the correction source hardware and configure.
Everything you need is in the kit.
Now we have a magnetic bracket that attaches the GPS receiver to the side of the bucket allowing a fast and accurate measure-up.
You just step through a sequence of GPS receiver positions that allows the system to calculate the required dimensions
You are then good to go.

13. Before we move on to hear about some customers experiences, Do you have any questions you would like to ask about GCSFlex and the GPS add-on?
Now for the tangible benefits seen by our three customer sites.

14. Customers sites Ashburton Contracting Ltd (ACL) Fulton Hogan
Medium civil works company
Effluent ponds to subdivisions
Fulton Hogan
Multinational multidisciplinary company
Quarries and forestry to airport runways
Taylors Contracting
Large earthworks company
Building pads to 250,000m3 cut 3D designs
Three customers were initially chosen as test sites to use the GCSFlex systems. We will now look at them to see what their experiences were and how they used their systems.
(1) Ashburton Contracting Ltd (ACL)
Based in Ashburton just an hours drive out of Christchurch’s shaky centre. ACL was established in 1995 and is a Medium civil works company with about 100 staff. Their core business is civil works (subdivision works), clearing land, building pads, forestry tracks, irrigation dams, water supply ponds and roads.
Changes in the marketplace, nature of works and awareness of machine control existence and need to keep pace lead to the investigation into potential solutions.
Previously the company had no experience with machine control / guidance.
(2) Fulton Hogan
Has a long history of operations and is one of the founding contracting businesses in New Zealand.
Its civil contracting and construction operations operate throughout the South Pacific with; forestry, land development, quarries, motorway and airport jobs running in New Zealand and Australia.
The company is broken down into small business units that are each responsible for turning their own profits.
Their previous machine control exposure was with Trimble Paver and Milling systems.
(3) Taylors Contracting
Established in 1971 Taylors and is now a Large earthworks company.
Their core business is clearing land and building; pads, forestry tracks, irrigation dams, water supply ponds, roads or other applications where a 3D design is required.
Taylors are one of the biggest users of machine control in NZ and have been one of Trimble's core beta customers for 13 years.
Around half their 40 machines are kitted with some form of Trimble machine control.
To give you a break from me and to talk about Ashburton Contracting Ltd I will now give Matt Monro a chance to talk.

15. ACL Requirements Trenching the catalyst
Traditional Methods Inefficient
Operator autonomy
Easily setup
Able to do his own designs
Operator selection
Trenching the catalyst
Significant amount required on a specific job
Inefficient with traditional methods
Investigation lead to Trimble GCS Flex with GPS add
ability to create alignments with profiles by the operator in the field.
Machine selection
Late model Komatsu PC200
Operator selection
Right attitude (Les example). Something to watch for so you are not disappointed.
Brief on Corey (2 years in a machine)
Braebrook subdivision project inefficient with traditional methods, obvious target for machine control.
Investigation leads to Trimble GCS Flex with GPS add on selected as the best option due to ability to create alignments with profiles by the operator in the field. Also looked at the GCS900 system but it was overkill…
Machine selection: Late model Komatsu PC200. Low hours machine in good condition.
Operator selection: Right attitude, embracing something new. Making life easier… and more efficient.

16. ACL Install Experience
Installed on a tight timeframe
Everything required for the install was in the case
Easy to follow installation instructions
All the Measure up tools and instructions in case
Easy to follow on screen instructions
Operator training
No previous experience
Not technically minded
Picked up basics easily
Quickly became proficient
Antenna's and receivers
Cables
Self install and calibration successfully ourselves.
Installation on a tight timeframe
Heavy workload for machine so installation done on a Saturday
Kit in a case
Components all in a case including brackets, fasteners tools etc. required
Hardware install onto machine
Easy to follow instructions to guide install
Written instructions and photo’s – not ambiguous
Measure up
Measure up tools and instructions in case, easy to follow on screen instructions to enter information into system.
Operator training
No previous experience, not technically minded.
Picked up basics easily, quickly became proficient.
Self-sufficient, no input required from management
GPS measure-up

17. ACL Utilisation Subdivision utility trenching
Intended system application
Instant results
Increased productivity, increased accuracy
Less surveyor and spotter resource
Less need for operator to leave cab
Many other everyday uses not previously considered
General subdivision works
Roadway excavation, footpath preparation etc.
Effluent ponds
Simple design, accuracy required on slopes and batters
Few Jobs that don’t benefit from using the system
Subdivision utility trenching
Intended system application, main job for this machine. Instant results, increased productivity, increased accuracy.
Far less surveyor & spotter resource required, far less need for operator to leave cab to check levels etc. 
General subdivision works
Roadway excavation, footpath preparation etc.
Effluent ponds
Simple design, accuracy required on slopes and batters
Many other everyday uses not previously considered
With the system on his machine the operator uses the system constantly to aid him in everyday tasks e.g. to ensure drainage ditches flow, site scrapes are level etc.

18. Function Mainly Used Alignments with Profiles Guidance Method
On-site design of trenches & carriage ways
Pegs and existing control to tie into
“Digital string line” with profile
Design and save alignments
Easy to resume work after interruptions
Other functions also used
The main function used was the Ability to dig to a profile with alignment
This capability is especially useful on more complex projects with multiple changes in grade and gives another level of In-field design capability
Pegs and existing control to tie into
Digital string line” with profile
Grade an alignment with a cross section which matches the operator defined profile
Work flow for using Alignments with Profiles
Create, edit and/or Select the desired alignment
Bench the alignment to define where origin should be located
not necessary if you have just created the alignment
Create, edit and/or Select the desired profile
Set desired elevation offset
Alignment and Profile points can be entered
Using the bucket
Manually if known dimensions are known
Has used the full suite of guidance methods.

19. ACL System Benefits Business Operator
Took an inexperienced operator to a higher standard
Usually achieved by someone with years experience
Took the load off the Site Supervisor and Project Manager
Less office support
Less field support
Jobs require higher level of tolerance
Before methods variable accuracy
Performance enhancement
200m to 800m
Dug to correct levels first time
Previously a weeks work took only 2.5 days
Operator
Wi-Fi base
Safety
Efficiency up
How the system benefited the customer
Business
Take a competent but inexperienced operator to work to a higher standard usually achieved but someone with years experience
“quote from Dave”
Took the load off the Site Supervisor and the Project Manager (less office support)
Less field support
Jobs these days are requiring a higher level of tolerance e.g. effluent ponds … past by eye now want …
Before methods 100mm accuracy
Performance enhancement such as 200m (acceptable) to 800m
Time to finish e.g. previously a weeks work took only 2.5 days
Operator
Wi-Fi base “quote from Corey” – where has it been all his life.
New solution to allow the system to work
Previously this was not a viable option as it was too hard to set-up.
Safety – self check, guy in trench checking
Efficiency up

20. Fulton Hogan Requirements
FH's requirements after the earthquakes
Rapid deployment
Site clearance and building pads
Quarry development
Benching and access road development
Easily setup by operator
Operator had to be able to do his own designs
Ideal application for GCSFlex using a remote base
FH's set of requirements came after the Christchurch earthquakes. What they wanted was to have an excavator that they were able to rapidly deploy to a site for site clearance and building pad development.
Because the excavator they had in mind was also going to spend quite a bit of it’s time in a couple of their quarries it also needed to be able to do benching and access road development.
The system had to be easily setup by the operator and the operator had to be able to do his own design work. There was going to be no office support.
(2) This was one of FH Canterbury's first machine control systems that was not a paver or mill. Because the workload was very high and the system was being used to make the machine more productive the system had to preform reliably and be easy to pick up and go. So this was an ideal application for the GCSFlex using a remote base.

21. Functions Mainly Used On-site design
Depth
Building pads
Profiles
Quarry bench’s
Alignments with Profiles
Roading and access jobs
Transformed the way the operator worked
In the time they got to trial the system FH used three main functions;
Depths and Profiles were used mostly for their building pads and quarry bench’s. The operator knew exactly what elevation to dig to. The reference elevation location is shown on the screen.
Because of the GPS add-on, bench’s do not need to be transferred when the machine is moved unlike the basic flex system where you have to transfer the bench elevation with you using touch points or a laser catcher. It was therefore easy to resume work after moving.
The operator was able to use the Alignments with Profiles function to quickly whip up access ways and trench's.
(2) Prior to having a machine guidance system the FH machine operator would have to get in and out of his cab to look at grade stakes and check his work. He also was often held up on jobs because no elevation control had been bought across the site. With the system he was able to spend more time at the stick and less worrying about getting the information he needed.

22. FH System Benefits Business Operator Small Issue
Instant operator autonomy
No office design work
A valuable addition to the machine fleet
Higher quality achieved
Reduced time to completion
Less rework required
Reduced survey set out expense
Operator
Easier operation of machine
Saved lots of time
Used for set out for other machines
Operator felt more valued
Small Issue
Remote data connection cut by provider
Ideal situation for the Local Wi-Fi base
The system obviously has many benefits but here is feedback from FH.
Benefits the FH Machine Manager reported
The system was installed and instantly the operator became autonomous.
The site foreman liked that there was no office design work needed as this would have added overhead and would have limited the systems operation as he felt there was no one who could have been set aside to do this.
The functional abilities of the system made a valuable addition to the machine fleet as more jobs were able to be attempted and completed.
- The operator had the confidence to create the designs he needed to get the job done
- On one night job the operator made a small roading design and was able to complete the job (almost to finish - without overcut) and the roading crew was able to spread, compact and seal the next morning.
Higher tolerance (quality) achieved
There was a reduction in the time to completion of many jobs especially seen on the building platform jobs. This was partly due to more efficient operation of the machine (level first time and less rework) and partially because there was less time waiting on the surveyor to turn up to set out more comprehensively. The system also reduced the cost of getting the surveyor out.
The Operator
The system made the machine easier to operate as the operator was able to get more information instantly
Saved lots of time as could cut to grade the first time so no rework was required
Used the system was used for some basic level set out for other machines like the grader on site by cutting some levels.
The operator felt more valuable on sites he worked on. He felt less stressed and felt he could work harder. He turned up and was able to direct the site operations within a few minutes!
Small Issue
In the centre of Christchurch during the massive reconstruction process, the temporary cell towers would become overloaded for a couple of hours over lunchtime. This meant that the remote data connection was cut by the provider in favour of the voice service.
This would have been the ideal situation for the Local Wi-Fi base had one been available. In this case a conventional base setup may have been too much for the operator.

23. Taylors Requirements System was to be used for No cellular coverage
Pipe laying, Nelson City Water Supply
No cellular coverage
Easily setup by operator
In-field designs required
Ideal application for GCSFlex with;
GPS add-on and
Wi-Fi Local Base
Taylors are the third and final company in this study. They have a lot of GCS900 systems installed on their machines.
For the Nelson City Water supply pipeline work there were a few problems with using a full 3D guidance system. There was a need to work in a different way.
The issues were;
The pipeline project, was up a remote and narrow valley that had no cellular coverage.
Any local base would have to be located close by as the roads were narrow and twisty and any type of radio coverage would be difficult.
They did not want the surveyor having to travel to the site to move the base all the time so the base had to be easily setup by the operator.
The design although specified had to be easily modified due to the terrain so in-field design was necessary.
Initially a concern with the GCSFlex system was the lack of space for the excavator to do a rotation in some areas up the valley. During the trial this was not actually an issue even in the confined workspace.
(2) Ideal application for GCSFlex with;
GPS add-on and
Wi-Fi Local Base

24. Taylors Utilisation
These photos are of two of the three jobs Taylors used the system for. What they found was once they got the system installed and running that they used the in-field design functions for much more than the originally intended work.
Other than the City pipeline the system was used for roading batters and a recreational lake development.
The recreational lake development was a fill-in job and the operator was give a fair bit of creative licence so had a lot of fun creating his own designs to build. His brief was something like; take what is there, move that over there and tidy up. The operator really enjoyed this one.

25. Function Mainly Used Alignments with Profiles Guidance Slope Mode
Laying Nelson City pipeline
Slope Mode
Roading batters
Dual Slope Mode
A recreational lake
0 degrees rotation
90 degrees rotation
(1) Taylors used three of the main functions in the time they got to trial the system.
Alignments with Profiles Guidance - for laying the Nelson City pipeline
Slope Mode – for roading batters and
Dual Slope Mode – for creating a recreational lake
You can of course save your designs as you go but for some designs such as dual slope to operate you need to;
(2) First bench the rotation.
This can be done by either the machines actual heading or by touching two points.
Then you bench your elevation and you are good to go. There is no complicated setup required.
(3-4) With heading and elevation defined the system calculates depth to grade and draws accurate grade and cross-slope surfaces in real-time as the machine rotates.

26. Taylors System Benefits
Business
Less field support
Less office support
Measured confidence in the end result
Improved Performance and Time to finish
Operator
Less hardware to carry around (SPS985)
Turn up and operating in a few minutes
Turn on, Bench, Rotate and Go.
Easy to learn and use
Efficiency up 1/3rd
Small Issue
Wi-Fi line of sight
Now have their own system
How the system benefited Taylors
For the Business
The Site Supervisors time has greatly reduced on the projects where the Wi-Fi base was used (less fields support). The operator has the ability to operate the Wi-Fi base with confidence, as a result of it’s simplicity.
It took the load off the Project Manager (less office support required for the designs for the machine).
It was a valuable addition to our machine control work. After a few checks by the surveyor the operator had the confidence to create the end result, without having to check batters and slopes/grades using older conventional methods.
It was noted that the system had roughly the same benefits for the jobs they used the system on as the GCS900 gear. For this they were impressed the lower price.
It was concluded that if there is no need to use GCS900 (for 3D designs, stake out and as-builts), the GCSFlex with GPS and Wi-Fi system is a valuable alternative.
The main benefit being they were able to get more work done in a shorted time.
For the Operator
The Wi-Fi base was very quick to set up and there was less hardware to carry around. He was able to turn up onsite and be operating in a few minutes. Turn on, Bench, Rotate and Go.
In-Field designs and the different guidance methods were very easy and user friendly. It took a day or two to fully get his head around the alignments and profiles but then was off flying.
Efficiency was definitely increased being able to lay an extra piece of pipe a day (up a third) on the City pipeline job. Two pieces of pipe a day was considered good in this rocky material before they system was installed.
Small issue
Wi-Fi is as you know line-of-sight. The operator did have some trouble up the Maitai Valley where the roads are very twisty because the truck (where he mounted his GPS base, the SPS985) could only be parked in certain locations. The issue would have probably been the similar with other radios. However the truck could shifted and it was not difficult to repower the base (required to reset up) so operations could go ahead more smoothly than before using a conventional base.
(2) As previously mentioned at the end of the Beta the Surveyor and operator were not at all keen to give the base receiver (SPS985) back. The machine components had been purchased after a previous beta but the SPS985 was just on loan for the beta period. The site supervisor has had budget approved for them to get their own for this machine and has currently got two more in the internal application process for other machines.

27. Before we move on are there any questions you have about the customer sites, how they used the system and the benefits they got?

28. Summary Transforming the way work is done
Targeted at Small /Mid size excavator Contractors
Reduced $$$ and complexity
Modular
Easy to buy, use, install, train, support and share
No Office Software Required
In-field Design
Depth, Slope, Dual Slope, Profiles
Alignments and Profiles
Reduced 3D infrastructure and setup required
Simple base solutions
No site calibration
Elevation anywhere
Targeted at the owner operator/Small – Mid size excavator contractors - Doesn’t mean large contractors won’t buy this as well
The GCS Flex system is designed to target the reduction in cost and complexity
Reduce the investment cost and the infrastructure and people requirements on a construction site
Simplify MC Complexity – infrastructure, design files, services
Easy to use, install, train, support and share
No Complex Office Software is Required
In-field Design including;
Depth, Slope, Dual Slope, Profiles
Alignments and Profiles
This capability is especially useful on more complex projects with multiple changes in grade and gives another level of In-field design capability
Reduced 3D infrastructure and setup is required
Simple base solutions, from Remote base solutions to simple, one button setup, local base solutions
No Site Calibration Required - using Automatic Coordinate Systems
With the GPS Add-on you don’t have to rebench or use lasers to transfer elevation across a site. This makes the 2D workflows easier with no change to the current 2D workflow. If you are already a GCSFlex user minimal training, if any, is required to run with the GPS add-on.

29. Bang for the Buck Direct from the customer
Resource
Removed workload off supporting staff
Reduced time to finish
Machine
Right the first time
Better accuracy and performance
Easier operation
Efficiency up
Multi use
Operator
Truly independent operation
Enhanced operator abilities
Safety
[Do notes]
Resource Savings
Significant reduction in survey and set-out resource/expense. Took the load off the Site Supervisor and Project managers.
No need to have a spotter to guide the operator for levels etc.
Machine efficiency
Right the first time - no under / over cutting. No need for operator to constantly leave cab to mark out or check work – more uptime.
Better accuracy and performance
Easier machine operation
Higher efficiency on the worksite
Many other uses found than originally anticipated (drainage ditches, effluent ponds). Not a site specific think. Very versatile.
- independent excavator floating from job to job. Extremely versatile.
Operator
Truly independent operation
Enhanced operator abilities
Safety
No need for personnel around the machine to guide the operator.

30. Questions
Just before we conclude I would like to thank you for coming along and listening to the session. Remember if you are interested in the material it will be made available to you via the Dim attendees website.
In a moment you will be able to ask questions.
Today we have talked to you about the solution that Trimble has to offer the independent excavator operator and we have covered;
What GCSFlex is, who uses it and how it works.
Then we looked at three customers and how they used their system to get bang for their buck and transform the way they worked.
By now you will have seen the benefits of the Trimble system. My challenge to you is to think about why this would not be the solution for you.
BTW The Photo is of the TNZ building being demolition after the earthquake and quake reated fire.
(1) Are there any remaining questions you have?
Feel free to come forward and ask any questions you may still have.
(2) Thank You
Thank you!