Field and Back Office Meet at Trimble Dimensions+ 2022

New tool management software was announced, and connected field equipment was displayed during a 15-acre offsite demonstration.

by Charles Rathmann

Trimble integrates data from its own connected equipment and from other Internet of Things (IoT) devices to suggest an increasingly interoperable construction industry. At Trimble Dimensions+ 2022, connectivity and IoT were centerstage, with ample usage of data from connected equipment.

While Trimble’s market leadership may have been carried by the ability to apply geospatial and IoT technologies at an industrial scale, the company has also acquired or grown back-office construction technology including: • Construction enterprise resource planning (ERP) via Viewpoint • Civil engineering estimating • Specialty and trade contractor estimating • Estimating for generals and subs through Viewpoint Estimating • EBuilder, a project lifecycle management solution for owners

Trimble Dimensions+ was the first event that united Viewpoint users and customers with the rest of the business. The exhibitors on site remarked on increased interactions with financial decision makers. But Trimble Dimensions+ was about more than connecting the front and back office on the conference floor.

Bluetooth Low Energy

One announcement at the event was an integration between Hilti’s On!Track tool management software application and Trimble’s Viewpoint Vista ERP. On!Track is now part of Trimble Construction One that combines Bluetooth tracking devices on its tools to a cloud application that captures the data every two minutes. The On!Track application monitors tool use, location and battery condition to support many business functions including maintenance and rental return dates. Hilti tools will come standard with the requisite sensors and Bluetooth Low Energy beacons and can install beacons on non-Hilti tools during a brief on-boarding process.

ON!Track combines Bluetooth asset tags, cloud-based software and field resource management software to solve problems related to asset and workforce management.

“We have a lot of customers with our ERP that have Hilti tools but do not have the On!Track system,” Trimble Vice President and General Manager, Construction Management Solutions (Viewpoint and MEP) Lawrence Smith said. “But for Viewpoint customers, this is a way to ensure that an element of project cost information gets matched up to the right phase.”

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Connected Equipment

The front office was covered by the inclusion of the Viewpoint users, but the field was represented by a 15-acre offsite equipment demonstration area where 3D paving; machine control; surveying; and the Trimble Quadri, Trimble Quest, Trimble WorksOS and Trimble WorksManager applications that connect the equipment to each other and the back office.

“Trimble has a footprint that spans different core technologies,” Trimble Senior Vice President for Construction Pete Large said in an interview with IronPros.

The B2W acquisition could also have importance for how Trimble routes data from connected equipment to back-office applications.

Charles Rathman is technology editor for AC Business Media.

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