这not-so-surprising secret to running a successful surveying firm

Author:Angus W. Stocking

PLS的David E. Titcomb在美国缅因州的法尔茅斯经营一家小但繁荣的调查业务。由大卫的父亲罗伯特·P·蒂科姆（Robert P. Titcomb）于1969年创立Titcomb Associateshas two offices, employs three professional land surveyors and six field crews, and has provided services to hundreds of clients in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, including numerous engineering firms and the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT). Among the company’s key business decisions has been an unwavering commitment to providing excellent service and using best-in-class technology. It’s a forward-thinking strategy that often requires making significant investments — the sort that give many small business owners pause. But David Titcomb takes a different view.

“我们一直在寻找如何使客户的生活更轻松，”他说。“For example, we’re one of the few surveying firms in our region that works in MicroStation as well as AutoCAD, and MaineDOT and a lot of engineering firms prefer to work with us because they get files in the format that’s best for them.”

实现更快的周转上高质量的熟食店verables is another way Titcomb Associates aims to provide better service. To that end, the firm recently invested in two new technologies after consulting with solution provider Maine Technical Source. One is the Leica GS18 T GNSS receiver, billed as the world’s fastest RTK rover, and the other is the Leica Nova MS60 MultiStation, which combines a laser scanner and a robotic total station in one platform. According to Titcomb, these investments have paid off in ways both predictable and unexpected.

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GNSS that’s twice as fast… and safer, too

这GS18 tGNSS漫游者是市场上最先进的接收器。It’s both the fastest RTK rover and the first to provide the first true“无铅”杆溶液- 也就是说，GS18 T使用GNSS和惯性传感器制造一个天线，总是知道它在哪里而且，重要的是，杆的末端在哪里。它在使用前不需要校准，在阅读之前不需要钢筋，而且是万无一失的磁性干扰。

对于Titcomb而言，这些功能加上“信任因素”，在考虑投资时比价格重要得多。

“爸爸从野生的理想者开始，所以我们一直对野生和现在的莉卡·地球系统乐器有信任 - 它们是防弹的。因此，我相信这个接收器的速度与广告宣传一样快，我知道速度会为我们带来回报。”

PLS项目经理Nicholas S. Elliston说，确实如此。

“我们已经看到与GS18 T能够在以前的接收器上收集其他星座和频率的区别。现在，我们在以前无法使用RTK的地方获取数据 - 这是一个改变游戏规则的人。”

鉴于缅因州的特殊条件，尤其如此。

“我们显然在这里有很多树木，我们对可以使用以前的RTK解决方案的位置有了很好的认识，而且通常在树覆盖中，我们做不到，”Elliston adds.“对于GS18 T，我们经常可以。这意味着我们不必回到整个车站，当然，节省的旅行是一个大的储蓄者。”

但这不仅是更好的覆盖范围和更快的阅读that make a difference. According to Elliston, the无校准杆是节省时间in itself.

“不必花几秒钟的时间来垂直杆（每镜头）speeds us up by 20-30 per cent。当我们可以将杆倾斜以在我们想要的点上拍摄射门时，这会产生更大的差异，例如，在护栏下构建角落或线条。我们获得准确的位置，而无需额外的测量或偏移或与Total Station一起回来。当考虑所有这些因素时，与以前的方法相比，我们现在在一半的时间内进行的一些项目。”

A surprise benefit to the tilt rover was safety.

“我们在缅因州收费公路上进行了许多道路测量，”Elliston解释了。“我经常在现场交通附近工作，现在，我可以通过靠杆子并射击而无需直接投射就可以走得更远。当然，提高速度很棒，但是更安全地工作可能是最大的优势。”

显然，对更高级的GNSS接收器的投资对于Titcomb Associates来说是一个很好的投资，偿还更快的工作，在缅因州森林中更有效的工作，减少的车站工作以及更大的安全性。该公司通过对Echosounder套件进行测深量调查的套件进行进一步投资，从而利用了新的接收者的出色性能。

“我们将GS18 T连接到了Echosounder，现在我们可以在进行测深的调查时每秒收集一枪，”TITCOMBsays.“It’s pretty slick!”

What about the Nova MS60? It was a bigger bet on another advanced technology. Did it work out for this relatively small surveying firm in Maine?

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扫描总站的回报

When asked if he had any concerns before investing in a MultiStation that was nearly twice as expensive as a really good robotic total station, Titcomb is frank.

“肯定是一个相对昂贵的选择small company, and I had questions about our field crews being able to get the most out of it.”

那么，是什么说服了他参加比赛？

“我父亲总是坚信，一家调查公司需要能够在最短的时间内收集大量信息，因为时间是金钱。我同意这一点，而且我还决定现在只购买机器人总站，因为它们为我们提供了如此之多的灵活性和力量，”bob appleTITCOMBexplains.“所以，首先，MS60 is a great, and very fast, robotic total station。Adding scanning to that made sense for us. It lets us do work we couldn’t do before, is快多了for some projects, and, most importantly, I already knew that there was some work we were doing that would be更安全with a scanner.”

这work he was thinking of was roadway projects, one of Titcomb Associates’ largest areas of focus. The company regularly surveys bridges, roadways and intersections for a number of engineering consultants.“For interstate or turnpike projects, they’ll always close lanes for us, but there are some places, like on ramps, where it’s just really hard to do a lane closure and make it safe,”explains Titcomb. Now, in those situations, Titcomb crews set up the Nova MS60 well off the road and use the scanning capabilities to perform a快速，准确的地形调查without getting anywhere near traffic.

在调查桥梁时，扫描的安全益处更为明显。

“当我们调查桥梁时，我们曾经在梯子上，交通附近。”TITCOMBexplains.“It was very unsafe. Now we’ll never have to do it that way again.”

相反，他的工作人员可以简单地扫描整个桥梁甲板几分钟的精度比以前更高and from a safe vantage point on the ground.

除了道路和桥梁项目外，Titcomb Associates还使Nova MS60忙于标准工程和建筑支持项目。该公司很早就意识到，大多数客户并不真正在乎数据的收集方式，而且他们地区很少有人希望点云作为可交付的云。但是，MS60被用作扫描仪，可以完成大部分工作 - Topos，at构建的调查，道路横切，现场监控，建筑物内部调查等等 -快多了than conventional surveying, more accurately and more safely, while gathering far more data。一个重要的方面好处是能够使用Leica Caintivate软件查看现场的点云数据，以确保机组人员在回到办公室之前捕获了所需的一切，从而消除了回程旅行。

Titcomb说：“如果我们能做到这一切，”“那么，客户是否知道我们正在使用扫描仪，我们仍在完成更多优质的工作并赚钱。”

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A solid approach to business

Commitment to quality and to always working with the latest technology is not for the faint of heart, and it is not necessarily the right strategy for every survey firm. But for Titcomb Associates, it’s a strategy that has proven itself over nearly five decades and made the company one of the most trusted surveying specialists in New England, USA.

“就像我父亲曾经说过的那样 - '你必须花钱才能赚钱，’”TITCOMBsays。“根据我们的经验，这是真的。从可靠的来源上花钱在高级设备上花钱一直为我们解决。”

该公司定期调查许多工程顾问的桥梁，道路和十字路口。Titcomb Crews在道路上设置了Nova MS60，并使用扫描功能进行快速，准确的地形调查，而无需接近交通。

这safety benefits of scanning are obvious when surveying bridges and overpasses. Instead of climbing on ladders to obtain the data, crews can scan the entire bridge deck in just a few minutes with greater accuracy and from a safe vantage point on the ground.

能够使用迷人的软件查看现场的点云数据，可确保机组人员在回到办公室之前捕获了所需的一切，从而消除了回程旅行。