Reporter 88

President’s Message

Many industries and companies describe 2020 as a “lost” year. We definitely do not! Though this year has dramatic humanitarian and economic challenges affecting us all, requiring a lot of flexibility and adaptability, we also see countless impressive success stories from our customers.

Throughout our long history, we have overcome many external market changes and technology changes, all while keeping a high pace of innovation. Customers are the focus, and we strive to never let them down. I have been able to participate in various leadership positions during the past 17 years, and now, as president of Hexagon’s Geosystems division, I present you my first Reporter President’s Message with a dedicated focus on the digitalisation boost, which industries are experiencing right now.

For a long time, and now reinforced, we are experiencing a digital acceleration within the industries. Companies are on a journey using digitalisation to automate tasks and quickly bringing all relevant stakeholders together in ecosystems, which lead to autonomous solutions. It is impressive how customers use our solutions to digitise their business models. In this edition of Reporter, we present companies that have left traditional paths and are successfully treading new ways in order to strengthen their competitive advantage.

Surveying methods enable digitalisation of real estate. Hollis, a leading firm of independent real estate consultants in the U.K., use Leica Geosystems 3D laser scanners and software to digitalise commercial and residential properties. The reality capture experts now manage vast amounts of digital data making it accessible across the company so CAD work can begin sooner. With point cloud registration times minimised, the firm delivers final scans to clients quicker and more cost-effectively.

Building construction benefits from streamlined workflows and faster interaction with customers. Kolb GmbH, a scaffolding provider in Germany, has modernised its consultation workflow with the Leica BLK3D real-time 3D measurement solution. Automating measurements on handheld devices, the company has reduced its time on sites by more than 80%. By connecting the field data to technicians back in the office, the company is now able to provide fast quotations.

Heavy construction historically has been a digitally underserved industry. Al Nisr, a world leader in the construction of airfields and supporting infrastructure in the UAE, turned to Leica iCON 3D machine control solutions to create digital construction sites that connected all project stakeholders. Moving to stringless paving, the company automated stakeout procedures while tripling its capacity length in paving airstrips and cutting project times in half.

HxGN Content Program supports automating tasks with maturing technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). These technologies, though, rely on consistent information to feed and train algorithms. With imagery being collected on a regular schedule and providing normalised datasets, the HxGN Content Program enables advanced analytics and automatic updates of location-based information. Updates are then performed efficiently, leading to automation of tasks like change detection.

The digitalisation journey is gaining speed and the momentum of the “next normal” will accelerate the convergence of real and digital worlds into autonomous solutions, providing and creating business opportunities. At Geosystems, experiencing the digitalisation boost ourselves, we will continue to strengthen our customers with innovative sensor and software solutions to lead by example and demonstrate what can be done. Join us in co-creating an autonomous future.

Have an interesting and enjoyable read.

Thomas Harring
President, Hexagon's Geosystems division

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