For our latest survey contract Envivo scanned the Golden Bay Cement silos in a completely new way. We used the laser scanner because:
- Speed – scanning is much quicker and therefore disruption to the site is reduced.
- We didn’t have to physically enter the dark and dusty silo in order to measure its contents, (our field teams appreciated this).
- It’s an extreme high dust environment which is not toxic, but once dust is swirling it becomes very difficult to get precise measurements, so the less movement and disturbance the more accurate the end result.
Mark Finlayson, Survey Director, said “We were really pleased with the results. The 3D dynamic PDFs helped to explain why the readings Golden Bay Cement were seeing from their stock controls varied in some conditions. Due to the shape of the stockpile, with much of it heaped against one side, the analysis resulted in a far greater amount of stock-on-hand than expected.”
The major benefit from laser scanning is the accuracy. Compared to traditional surveying where a theodolite may capture 50 shots, the laser scanner is capturing millions. This makes it ideal for anybody who wants to stock-take stockpiles or any irregular surface.
Sean Dillon, logistics manager, said “the stocktake went very well, the information provided by Envivo was of a high quality and the customer service was excellent. The results provided were in line with those anticipated by GBC Winstone. We have had success over the years with the use of laser scanners for surveying of silos at Auckland and are very comfortable using this technology into the future. The results provided were comprehensive and gave GBC Winstone comfort in confirming internal inventory management processes.”
