Shannonside grows a connected fleet with Leica Geosystems

For Solihull based Shannonside Civil Engineering, the last 12 months have seen another major transition since it was first founded in 2004 by Managing Director Brendan Carty as a single site operation with six staff.

The business has since grown to employ a workforce of close to 500. And now, it has also become a technology leader, thanks to a new partnership with On-Grade machine control and Leica Geosystems, managed by Engineering manager Shane Carty.

To find out how the business successfully operates a multi-connected site operation, I spoke to Shane and then visited not one but two sites, both for its housebuilder clients.

Shane: "Like most businesses, we are always trying to do things better by investing not just in the latest equipment and technology but also in our people. When you work in a family-oriented business that has grown quite dramatically, you want to look after your people as they support the business."

"We have made the move to a more connected site approach as we want our engineers to be doing the work they enjoy and not spending all their time going from site to site to check on progress or deal with issues."

"By modelling our whole projects with the clients earlier on in the construction process, we can also make changes to the earthworks model like cut and fill levels that save both time and money."

"This means we can then model the site itself, so we move material as efficiently as possible. This is a huge benefit for our operators as they know they can come onto the site, turn on the machine and the whole model it there, plot by plot."

"Since we have adopted this approach, we have become much more productive. There is less equipment downtime waiting for engineers to come to the site as they can remotely dial into an individual machine to solve any problems. Equally, when we have looked at idle time and fuel burn, we see some big improvements and savings. Each operator has been trained on the system and can move to the next plot or task, picking up the levels straight from the Leica tablet."

"At first, when you talk about bringing in new technology, there is always a worry about making a change, and this is why you need good partners like On-Grade and Leica Geosystems to support you through the process."

For my first visit, I went to a site near Cheltenham in Gloucester where the team was flexing its mixed and connected fleet of machines, which use the new Leica Geosystems MC1 machine control solution.

Here, I met Wayne Stephens of On-Grade, who was completing the installation of another system to Shannonsides Komatsu PX61 dozer. This joined a selection of other equipment onsite, including a Case CX210D, Hitachi 210LC and even a Hitachi 300LC, all controlled from a base station, positioned on the site offices.

Wayne has supported the businesss transition to machine control for its machines and any equipment it needs to hire into sites. Explaining how the journey has progressed, he said: "Shannonside has been expanding dramatically over the last few years. With its move into machine control, it needed to ensure consistency across its project portfolio. Part of this process was to pick a machine control and surveying solution, and they opted for Leica Geosystems."

"The practicalities of moving to machine control have involved retrofitting some of its machines with a complete system and enabling others to be machine control ready with base kits. A base kit install means the machine has all of the required sensors for the boom, bucket and stick fitted onto the machine. Its also fitted with a docking station in the cab that holds all of the calibration information."

This means Shannonside can enable numerous machines, including its larger 30 tonne Hitachi and hire or swap out the key components, like the in-cab tablet, GPS receivers and Leica iCON GNSS machine receiver. It also means its plant hire partners like Thomas Plant can also enable machines for Shannonside, ensuring every asset onsite can access the same 3D project models.

Having been rained off the first site, a few weeks later, I visited a new project just outside Stourbridge in the West Midlands where machines, including a Hitachi 130, a Hitachi 225 and a Case 210C, were working.

Previously an old factory, the site will take just over two and half years to turn into housing. For site manager Steven Knee, this project would normally have taken three years, but that has all changed, as he explained.

Steven: "This project will be one of our first and largest sites to have been 3D modelled from the very start. Before any machine arrived, all of the plots, infrastructure and roads were laid out before us in a 3D model. This was amazing to see, and as a site manager, I was even able to design the layout and positioning of our cabins and storage areas."

As we already have worked on our first few plots and started installing the key underground infrastructure, progress has been so swift that we are looking to finish the project six months early.

The speed with which the operators can complete work has really surprised me. Even with individuals who have never used the system before, after training from On-Grade they have really taken to it. All the levels are there on the tablet and information is fed to our engineers as the machines finish each plot.

If the engineers need to make any changes, they just send the revisions straight to the machines. Its a huge benefit for all of us, and everyone knows what they are doing at any time, which is just brilliant.

With other machines working on stockpiles and general site management, I caught up with experienced operator Tim Philpotts who was operating a new Hitachi 225-7 to install key infrastructure. The 225 is the perfect machine for these tasks as it can both dig trenches and also lift the precast manhole sections into place whilst being a compact radius machine.

His particular unit has the long undercarriage option, and he was suitably impressed by the new and larger cab when I spoke to him.

With the changeover from Red to White diesel, I was also keen to determine how fuel consumption had been impacted.

The 225 comes with Hitachis TRIAS III highly efficient hydraulic system and Stage V engine, which help reduce fuel burn up to 11%. This is compared to the previous model. With an overall operating weight of between 24,800 and 29,100 kg, depending on specification, its an Isuzu 4HK1 engine that delivers the 128.4 kW of net operating power that helps Tim perform his varying tasks more efficiently.

Tim: "This new model has performed very well, and when I look at the tasks I now do with the machine control, everything is just so much easier. Fuel wise, from the previous dash 6 model, which wasn't on the MC1 machine control, I reckon I would fuel up every two days, but now I get at least four days out of a tank. So it's a big improvement and obviously good for Shannonside when it comes to payback from investing in the new machine."

Having been a long time Leica user, I wanted to know how the new MC1 system was performing in comparison to the previous system. Tim: "It's just remarkable everything is right there. You're not working blind. It's all good and really sharp compared to the old system.

"And if I have to go and work on a housing plot like I did last week, I didn't have to go to any of the engineers. I just tracked over, and the model was right there, so I started digging. For me, it's much better as I don't like waiting around and just want to get on with the job. So now, in the morning, I do my daily checks, turn the machine on, and dig."

What I really liked about both my site visits with Shannonside is the positive response I got from everyone I spoke to. Whether they were operating machines or doing other jobs, everyone recognized the technologies value. And for the operators, having new machines is always a bonus, but when it comes to return on investment, there is now a clear benefit on fuel savings that can't and isn't being ignored.