Your GNSS-Equipped Machines Can Do More Than Dig to Grade

For years, the business case for GNSS (global navigation satellite system) machine control was pretty straightforward: Put the design in the machine, reduce staking and grade checking, help the operator get to grade faster and cut down on rework.

Those are still good reasons to invest in it. But there’s a whole other world of benefits you may not be taking advantage of.

The same equipment you bought to improve digging or grading accuracy can now help you understand where a project stands, how much work is left and whether production is matching the plan before a small problem becomes an expensive one.

For a business owner, that’s where things get interesting.

The Machine Knows More Than Whether It’s on Grade

Modern machine control and guidance systems constantly map the current terrain and work so they can plan their next pass on the way to the digital plan. That’s not just factory-integrated machine control systems — it’s retrofit GNSS kits as well. 

What if you took that information out of the machine and rendered it with software? And then what if we put the final design file in that same software? You’d have a near real-time picture of what’s actually been done and how it compares to the final design. You could see how much material you moved today — or even this hour. And you could see what percentage of the job you have left to do without radioing everyone and sending someone to recreate the day’s work after production stops. And the operator doesn’t have to do anything differently.

Planning tomorrow gets a lot easier.

Of course, where your machines are working isn’t the full picture of the site status. That’s where drone flights, GNSS rovers and other vehicles fitted with GNSS surveying kits can fill in the gaps. We’re seeing more contractors add mapping capability to haul trucks, wheel loaders, supervisor trucks, even utility task vehicles. 

The workflow we are seeing is straightforward: capture a drone survey before work begins, load the digital design, continuously collect information from GNSS-equipped machines as work progresses, and finish with a final drone survey at project closeout.

That’s Where the Money Is

When I talk with contractors about technology, the conversation always gets to the same place: How is this going to help me make money or eliminate a headache?

Knowing more about the job sooner can do both.

Suppose an earthwork estimate assumes a certain production rate. If production starts falling behind, knowing it a few days into the work gives you options. You can look at the crew, equipment, haul plan or site conditions while there’s still time to recover. Finding out three weeks later may simply tell you how much margin you’ve already lost.

The same applies to quantities. When completed work can be measured against the design, a project manager has better support for progress reporting and pay applications without spending days assembling numbers from different sources.

That record is becoming even more important as large project owners and government agencies increasingly require detailed as-built progress and completion documentation. If your equipment is already collecting completed work every day, reporting becomes far less of a separate exercise. You’re building the record as you build the project.

It can also change how you use some of your most valuable people. Your superintendent or project manager should be solving problems, planning the next phase and keeping work moving, not driving to a site simply to figure out where things stand. The same goes for sending a survey crew back every time the office needs another progress measurement.

Surveys and site visits still matter. You’re simply using them where they add the most value.

Over time, you’re also building a better record of how your company performs. Knowing what crews and equipment actually produced on completed jobs can make the next estimate better. Today’s project data starts affecting tomorrow’s margin.

Get More From the Equipment You Already Have

For contractors who already own GNSS-equipped machines, I don’t think the next step needs to be complicated. I’d start small.

1. Pick one active earthmoving project. Choose a job where you’re already using machine control and where progress, quantities or documentation matter to the business.
2. Choose one question you regularly spend time answering. How much dirt is left? Are we producing what we estimated? Do we have the quantities for this month’s billing? Can we produce the documentation the owner requires without another manual process? Start with something that costs you time or money today.
3. Find out what your equipment is already recording. That data may come from integrated machine control, a retrofit kit or even GNSS-equipped support vehicles. Find out how it can be brought together with your design and other field measurements.
4. Put the answer in front of someone who can act on it. The goal isn’t another report. If a project manager sees on Tuesday that production is slipping, there should be something they can do differently on Wednesday.

That’s the test I would use. If collecting more project information doesn’t lead to a decision, simplify a required process or provide proof someone needs, it probably isn’t helping you. If it helps you catch problems earlier, support billing, satisfy reporting requirements, use crews more effectively or estimate your next job with better production history, there’s a direct business case.

The Next Return On Machine Control

The biggest value of GNSS machine control is still exactly what it’s always been: helping contractors move dirt accurately, efficiently and with less rework. That’s not changing.

What’s changing is that the same investment can now deliver value long after the blade or bucket has passed. The information your equipment already generates can help you make better decisions, document work more easily, protect margins and build a more predictable business. It’s another way to get a better return from the equipment you already own.

And as the industry continues moving toward greater automation and, eventually, autonomous earthmoving, that continuous understanding of where the machine is and what it has already built won’t just be useful — it will be required.

The equipment still has to move the dirt. You might as well get everything you can out of it while it does.