New Global Technology Collaboration Advances On-Site Construction Safety
From left, Scott Crozier, Senior Vice President, Civil Construction Field Systems at Trimble, and Nigel Shaw, Managing Director, Prolec, the UK based specialist in excavator safety technology. They met at the global headquarters for Trimble Inc, which provides technology solutions and products to the construction industry, at Westmoor Drive, Westminster, Colorado, USA.
Prolec in UK and Trimble in USA team up
Automatic excavator movement limitation on a site-wide scale
“Our groundbreaking safety solution operates discreetly in the background – just like the automatic emergency brake in your car – allowing operators to focus on the task at hand” – Nigel Shaw, Managing Director, Prolec, the UK based specialist in excavator safety technology, with global customers.
A UK specialist in excavator safety solutions has teamed up with global technology company Trimble to launch new site-wide plant safety technology.
Prolec, with sites in Hampshire and Dorset, has developed a new application for the Trimble Earthworks grade control platform: SiteGuard Pro by Prolec.
The new technology is fully integrated with the Trimble Earthworks grade control platform.
Trimble Earthworks is part of a wider digital construction ecosystem, giving planners, surveyors, designers, safety managers and operators a shared site view that connects design data, real-world conditions and machine activity across the job site.
SiteGuard Pro’s digital role is to halt heavy plant machinery when pre-programmed virtual barriers, providing a protective ‘digital net’ around critical assets on the site, are at risk of being breached.
Nigel Shaw, Managing Director, Prolec, said: “With this collaboration, Prolec is providing a height and slew limiter with automatic motion-inhibit capabilities – there is no manual setup.
“These include site-referenced avoidance zones and 3D grade control for excavators in one seamless solution; all operated from the Trimble Earthworks display.
“The solution prohibits the machine’s boom, stick, bucket or counterweight from entering restricted areas during typical excavation workflows. 3D avoidance zones are defined in the back office as ceilings, walls, floors or surfaces, providing enhanced onsite safety for large machines working in high-risk environments.”
Scott Crozier, Senior Vice President, Civil Construction at Trimble, said: “Combining a trusted system from Prolec designed for improving safety with Trimble’s highly reliable machine control technology represents one of the most advanced solutions for excavator operators.
“Restricting machine movement within specified working zones makes it easier for contractors to work more safely and with greater confidence in potentially high-risk situations, including near overhead cables and traffic.
“Any time we can provide technology that helps improve safety, while also improving project performance, we consider it a big win.”
SiteGuard Pro: A technology collaboration between Trimble and Prolec, a UK specialist in excavator safety solutions, has been unveiled.
Nigel added: “Building on Prolec’s trusted safety solution and Trimble’s cutting-edge machine control technology, we are setting a new gold standard for operational safety and efficiency in the construction industry.
“This unified construction solution reduces cognitive overload for operators by seamlessly integrating Prolec’s safety solution in the Trimble Earthworks display.
“Our groundbreaking safety solution operates discreetly in the background – just like the automatic emergency brake in your car – allowing operators to focus on the task at hand and aligning with health and safety and environmental objectives.
“This collaboration underscores our commitment to enhancing both safety and productivity on job sites worldwide.
“When combined with Trimble’s turnkey digital site management solutions, customers are able to easily survey real-world objects and turn them into avoidance zones, making work safer and more productive throughout the project’s lifecycle.”
The addition of SiteGuard Pro to the Trimble ecosystem allows users to define avoidance areas using Trimble Business Center software, creating digital safety nets around the critical assets on site.
It also allows contractors to bid on higher-value contracts in markets where a motion inhibit system is required, like nuclear power stations, projects near high-value infrastructure or in close proximity to the travelling public.
Nigel added: “One of the huge achievements we have conquered together is that SiteGuard Pro is one of the first third-party applications to run directly within Trimble Earthworks.”
Nigel confirmed that the first orders have been placed in the UK and that first customer installations are now complete and are being used on several prominent sites across the UK.
With 15 staff, Prolec is based at Benson Road, Nuffield Industrial Estate, Poole, Dorset, and is in its 44th year.
The business also operates a tech hub at Upham, near Winchester, Hampshire.
Kinshofer GmbH, incorporated in Germany and one of the leading manufacturers of attachments for loader cranes and hydraulic excavators, is Prolec’s parent company.