This article has been published by OTAR Magazine in April 2022.
The need to map out cables and pipelines quickly and easily is rapidly advancing in the infrastructure sector. Indicate centimetre accurately where they are located already or where they need to be dug without causing excavation damage. GOconnectIT and marXact offer an interesting combination in which easy-to-use software and solid hardware give you that possibility. We asked Tim Vrijsen, key account manager at GOconnectIT, and marXact founder Tommy van der Heijden about the how and why behind this collaboration.
Industry in motion
“GOconnectIT sets the cable and pipeline industry in motion. We do this by making our current and potential customers aware of the digital difficulties they encounter now or in the future. We really take them on board, using our various software programs and showing the specific options that apply to that company. Software that allows you to get information from the field. In the pas when laying a gas pipeline, for example, paper and pencil were used, information about the (new) location is entered digitally from now on. Field workers can survey this information digitally themselves, which makes them more productive and faster,” says Vrijsen.
Van der Heijden: “Your digital receiver receives satellite signals that allow you to measure points, lines, and polygons with centimetre accuracy. This data helps you during all phases of an infrastructure project. From thorough preparation to correct implementation, and effective evaluation afterward. By plotting your own designs or surveying points, you can make an accurate planning and situation sketch. You know the current situation already before you indicate where cables or pipes should be, or you make an overview of what was installed (years) before to prevent annoying excavation damage. marXact has developed an easy-to-use receiver for this.”
Question from the field
Van der Heijden: “There was a demand for integration with the GOconnectIT software in the field, and we and they were happy to comply. The integration was made quickly, thanks to our own API and open-source approach, allowing you to link with other apps and programs swiftly. It helps when you have two parties who both believe that the customer comes first, that their work process is the most important.”
Doing business with people
“My personal view on work and actually also on this collaboration, is that people don’t do business with companies. People do business with people and want to see or speak to a person. Fortunately, marXact thinks the same about this, seeing and speaking with each other and actually experiencing products. We as GOconnectIT visit our customers regularly, in addition to acquisition talks with potential users, of course. We talk about their needs during these appointments, about experiences, results, and whatnot. Now my colleagues and I can take a UNI-GR1 digital receiver from marXact with us and show customers how easy digital surveying is and what that data looks like in our software. I think that’s a big advantage,” Vrijsen continues.
Van der Heijden: “Tim puts that well. Personal contact is very important, you get to know your (potential) user best and they get to know you. At marXact, this is reflected in, among other things, on-site demonstrations, and our monthly Demo Drinks where current and potential customers can come for a refresher course and answers to specific questions. You can see that in the periodic customer visits and customer days at GOconnectIT. When you look at this specific partnership, you see that the person behind the user is centre too. What does their work process currently look like and how can we optimize it together? That is different for everyone and every organization, which keeps it challenging and fun!”
No ‘one size fits all’
These men think it is only good news that two companies are working together to allow organizations to follow their own digital path. “What we notice is that many companies, many infrastructure professionals, are still looking for a process that works for them. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, because everyone has to deal with specific assignments or a difference in internal knowledge about digital solutions. Through this collaboration with GOconnectIT, we can join forces and help the industry further. Support in taking the next step towards digital working, centimetre accurate data, and avoiding excavation damage,” explains Van der Heijden.
“What I think is an additional advantage for our customers, is that this surveying equipment is a good choice from a cost point of view too. Easy to use and at the same time, there are many options, whereby the user chooses those possibilities that suit his or her work processes best. You actually create your optimal work process yourself. That is what we believe in, that is what marXact believes in. and it is important that other parties start to believe it too,” concludes Vrijsen.
