Xsite® MANAGE: An Efficient Tool for GRK’s Information Management

GRK is one of Finland’s leading companies in infrastructure construction, specializing in planning, repairing, and maintaining roads, pathways, railways, and bridges. The company undertakes projects ranging from less than 100,000 euros to over 100 million euros. GRK’s most significant project, valued at approximately 200 million euros, is in Sweden, where the company is responsible for foundation work for a new steel plant.

Krister Lönnberg, the surveying and modeling manager for GRK Finland, oversees the modeling and coordination tasks for the company’s projects and manages projects for other surveyors. They started using the Xsite Manage cloud service at the beginning of 2023 as Novatron Oy’s former data transfer service closed down.

“That’s when we decided to transfer all our projects to Manage. Still, we would have eventually transitioned to use it sooner or later due to the features Manage offers”, Lönnberg adds.

Data transfer between the office and the construction site and managing as-built data are crucial parts of GRK’s model-based construction process. Lönnberg highlights remote access to machine control systems, efficient data transfer to excavators, and collecting as-built data back to surveyors as the top three features of Xsite Manage.

“One of the most significant benefits of Xsite Manage is its role in GRK’s data transfer and remote connectivity. We actively use the cloud service to send machine control models to excavators and receive real-time data back to surveyors. When necessary, our surveyors also have direct remote access to operators’ machine control systems, greatly facilitating communication with them”, praises Lönnberg.

If data is transferred via USB drives, there would be concerns about whether the same information is on all machines. When all excavators are at the same construction site in Xsite Manage, every driver has the same files, models, and background images. All data is automatically updated for everyone every four minutes, eliminating the possibility of working with outdated models.

Xsite^® MANAGE Accelerates Workflow and Reduces Extra Work

The use of the cloud service also benefits the management at GRK. Through Xsite Manage, project managers can closely monitor the progress of projects.

“Project managers can access Manage to check which machine control models are used on the excavators and review the completed work. Without Manage, information could be scattered through emails, text messages, or other ways. With Manage, project managers can immediately see the status by clicking on the materials, eliminating the need for separate explanations”, Lönnberg adds.

In his speech, Lönnberg emphasizes the seamless collaboration between 3D-Win CAD software and Xsite Manage. Lönnberg has been using 3D-Win for 18 years, so integrating the software relieved GRK’s current workflow. In 3D-Win, Lönnberg can directly access the same project files as in Xsite Manage and download as-built data without needing a separate text format export or even opening Xsite Manage.

“We utilize cleaned-up data, for example, in land transfering, where transferred quantities are calculated for the client to give information on how the project was executed. It is also a rising trend in the infrastructure industry to use cleaned-up data as a basis for billing”, mentions Lönnberg.

Lönnberg warmly recommends Xsite Manage, especially for companies using Xsite machine control systems. Xsite Manage is a reliable internal tool for GRK where all the necessary information is always correct. 

In Xsite Manage, various map views, excluding the base map itself, are the result of collaboration with a Finnish company Vektor.io. Vektor.io enables clearer visualization and exploration of projects within Xsite Manage.