What Can We Do to FiX What’s Going On?
Written by Steve Cummings at Carlson Software
A few weeks ago I wrote about our perceptions as professionals and how they change. Many people thought I was writing about Carlson Software and the advantages our customers have and, while I did use the examples of how we differ from our competitors to illustrate how you might be able to react positively when faced with the current adversity, I was really writing about perceptions and how they change:
“Oh man, oh man, oh man….
Just what the heck is going on? Well, a few weeks ago I had all this stuff going on: getting ready to travel from one coast to another for conferences, preparing class presentations, renewing my passport just in case.
Now, even though I’ve spent twice as much on groceries this past month as I normally do, I’m looking to cut expenses everywhere I can. Just in case.
I’m pretty sure you are, too.”
And:
“…bills that were “Just what it is” have become “Holy smokes, I’m paying that?!”
The article’s conclusion contained another example of perception. A case I hope none of you have ever experienced but I’m almost positive that you have – terrible feelings of insecurity, failure, lowness, depression, desperation. However, amidst all these, there came a light, a hope, a change in perception.
“Long ago I had an interview for a job. I’d been laid off just that morning. My prospective boss said to me, and I remember it word-for-word:
“The market is tanking, housing starts have dropped here 80 per cent, so you know what I’m going to do?”
I uttered the scariest word possible in a job interview: “No”, I said.
“I’m going to buy three cars of lumber and hire you, because I’m going to be ready.”
There you go. He and I perceiving the same things, feeling the same things, yet reacting in completely different ways. Imagine how I felt just then, the wild swing from failure to success, from loser to winner, from worthless to esteemed – but I took much more than this away from that afternoon. I learned that positive action during the worst of times has incredible value, both to the perception of the situation and, in many cases, the situation itself.
I had another boss, another mentor, who said two things that instruct my perceptions and subsequent actions:
“High sales hide all your sins” and “If you’re not a lumberman, a fisherman, a farmer or a miner, you’re just along for the ride.”
In these times, we find that truer words cannot be spoken.
As a business person, you’re almost certainly discovering your sins, places where a glance showed “room for improvement” are now massive liabilities. Acceptable costs are those history has proven to be justifiable and advantageous during economic uncertainty.
As a miner, you know you just can’t stop. There’s no time to rest because, if you do, everything falls as the foundation stones crumble, and negative moping has, at best, zero value. At worst, it can destroy all you’ve worked for.
I imagine myself as the manager of a mine. What would be the best-case-scenario for me? My answer is: Awareness of everything that is happening in all areas, at all times, quantitatively; Quickly identifying inefficiencies, also known as bleeding money, and fix them before they become sins.
Great idea! I can do this now, except for the very high cost of capturing and analyzing all this information. Recognizing that now is the time to reduce variable costs, Carlson offers a solution.
The FiX1 is in
Enter the FiX1, one of Carlson’s newest additions to our hardware line. ‘FiX1’ stands for ‘Fixed Installation Scanner.’
This scanner is permanently installed in a designated area with line of site and can be scheduled to scan and store volumetric results, creating a LIDAR point cloud for automatic reporting of pile volumes and their changes, as well as anything else you can think of to use an LAS point cloud for.
It stays there, on the ceiling, working 24-7.
It is self-contained. It stores your scheduled scans and, whenever you desire them, you simply link to it with your tablet, computer, or phone via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or cellular connection to view the results within the FiX1 Web UI. For most of what you want from the system, you won’t need a point cloud CAD guru. The things you would typically use it for, such as calculating pile volumes, is done automatically for you within the Web UI.
Additionally, the scanner can be used outdoors, in an open pit quarry or a partially open salt dome. The FiX1 has an IP67 moisture and dust rating, and an operating temperature range of minus 40°C to plus 50°C (minus 40°F to plus 122°F). Anywhere and everywhere I need to be scanning over and over again is the perfect place for a FiX1, or a team of them.
I finished that previous article by saying, “Stay safe. Plan with courage.”
I hope you see how I got here, not casting aside the negative things happening, but looking at them squarely and objectively, making the decisions necessary for positive future results. In my mind, as I imagine my mine, the FiX1 system would be near the top of my list of positive decisions, like buying three cars of lumber, “because I’m going to be ready.”
About the Author
Steve Cummings is a Photo Capture Product Manager, Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Scanner Specialist with Carlson Software.
About Carlson Software
Founded in 1983, Carlson Software Inc. specializes in CAD design software, field data collection, laser measurement and machine control products for the civil engineering, surveying, GIS, construction, and mining industries worldwide, providing one-source technology solutions for the entire project cycle. Carlson Software is headquartered in Maysville, KY., U.S.A., with branch offices in Boston, MA; Almere, The Netherlands; Brisbane, Australia; Ottawa, Canada; and York, England
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