Be inclusive when it comes to technology adoption

Technology can be a real enabler for businesses of all sizes, increasing productivity, efficiency and ultimately helping to enhance safety, whilst controlling cost and increasing profits. The challenges of rolling out new systems and solutions can also take time and resources. You need to get the process right and manage the changes required if you are going to be successful.

This is why every business should have a technology champion or two. Civil Engineering and Earthworks contractor D Morgan plc, Engineering Manager Dan Wilkinson is one of those individuals within the Innovation & Technology Team on a mission that continues to positively impact the business. Peter Haddock met with Dan at the launch of their latest Operator Training Programme and company-wide technology awareness initiative using 3D machine control.

Dan: "As an engineer, I have used surveying equipment from Leica Geosystems for over 15 years to support setting out and surveying across  our Civil Engineering and Earthworks projects. In 2011 when Leica introduced D Morgan to its 3D machine control solution, my colleague Adam Onyett recognised this could be a real game changer.

I joined the business in 2012 and immediately realised this technology was the only way forward. With support from our Directors, we started our journey of adoption, leading to over 40 machines across our fleet of more than 200 now being fitted with the latest Leica MC1 system as our standard.

We now have excavators, dozers and even rollers using the system, and we take a fully connected site approach utilising Leica ConX. We have the capability to assign and automatically share design data and updates and export as-built survey data. ConX enables us to carry out remote support to minimise operator downtime with real-time communication between the office and machines for troubleshooting, on-the-fly training and setup without travel costs and delays.

To succeed, we need to ensure all of our operators are fully trained. This includes teaching them how to dig, doze or compact to the model, use design offsets, and use the machine to record survey data, for example, formation levels.

As the technology is continually updated, we have also recognised the need for more individual operator training and support for new and existing users. To do this, we have recently launched a training initiative for operators giving two individuals at a time an intensive training session.

For example, we first spend time on a simulator explaining how the technology works and carry out practical tasks. This allows us to introduce the technology safely and, of course, not incurring any fuel costs onsite. It is important to note that I am not a plant operator. We use our own experienced operators to support our training, especially for our new operators.

Adam Arathoon who originally joined D Morgan in 2014 on our Operator Training Programme plays a key part in this process providing guidance and acting as a mentor to those less experienced operators.

Once each individual is ready, we then take them into our neighbouring Field Training Area. The model used on the simulator is replicated to give real world experience of what has been learnt in Virtual Reality. Here, we are able to show the operators how to work to the model and also show the second operator not in the seat, how their colleague is progressing.

This is made possible via ConX, with the model shown on a tablet, which enables us to view exactly what the operators see inside the cab on the MCP80 screen, in real-time.

Operators find this really useful as they can picture the model and the real world together. It's also a process that starts more meaningful conversations and allows us to support the learning process better.

For example, if an operator is a fraction out of tolerance on the model, we can see that on the tablet and visually in our Field Training Area, working through the training to ensure their confidence in using the system.

It's proven to be very impactful, and when we marry new operators up with more experienced mentors onsite, the training continues. In addition, because we can remotely access the machine and upload or change models over the air using the 4G network, we can provide remote support to each team member. This is particularly important for helping new users on their journey.

For me, one of the most important aspects of our approach to training has been introducing the technology to all of our people, not just the operators onsite. This has been a real eye-opener as everyone can understand why we are investing in new equipment like Hybrid Excavators from Komatsu and adding the Leica Geosystems 3D machine control.

They can even try their hand at being an operator on the simulator, highlighting the skills needed to do the job. This training helps us be more inclusive and explains why we continue on our technology journey.