Customer interview: 3D machine control brings clarity and reliability for earthmoving

Kaivinkonepalvelu Kemppainen Oy is a one-person earthmoving company whose operations are largely based on subcontracted projects. The CEO, Mr. Pentti Kemppainen mostly works on house foundations and their surrounding excavation projects.

His career as an excavator driver began when he first worked at Maansiirto & kuljetus Lehto Oy, until he wanted to start his own company, Kaivinkonepalvelu Kemppainen Oy. He currently has two machines: a wheeled Liebherr 309 and a crawler Doosan DX 235 LCR installed with Xsite PRO 3D machine control. Kemppainen started using Xsite machine control system in 2015.

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“I didn’t have any experience with machine control systems in advance, except once in school when we got to try it. I don’t really remember anything from that time. Though I have seen a few drivers using different machine control systems”, comments Kemppainen.

After seeing how the Xsite machine control works, he wanted one for himself.

“The installation of Xsite PRO 3D went very quickly. The installation dates were agreed upon when the old machine was replaced, and in two days the new machine was ready for use”, Kemppainen praises.

Supporting the operator in the middle of constant change 

During the interview, Kemppainen works as a subcontractor for a modular school and kindergarten in Uusimaa region in Finland. The project is scheduled to be completed on a fast schedule by the end of July 2022. Kemppainen’s task is to dig the school yard and drainage. Kemppainen receives the models for his construction site via cloud service, and he has collected data points to make his own work easier. 

“There are some old wells that should be joined later on the site. I’ve saved the locations of the wells as data points, so they are easy for me to find them later”, Kemppainen continues.

When asked how Xsite’s 3D machine control system has affected on his work, he emphasizes that he can do his job more efficiently, without any extra work.

“The given 3D models are a bit insufficient, which makes the excavating uncertain time to time. With the help of 3D machine guidance, I can minimize over or under cuts”, Kemppainen adds.

Kemppainen highlights the benefits of documenting point data and seeing the current bucket height. At the construction site, Kemppainen has taken data points also from every discovered pipe. With the point data he’s able to ensure that the bucket stays in the desired line throughout the excavation. At the same time, the Xsite system’s screen shows Kemppainen the sea level which he compares to the original plans he has received from the contractor.

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