Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

In the Wizard of Oz, we were supposed to ignore the guy pulling the levers and mind the big machine on the wall. In our business, we seem to be experiencing the same analogy.

Some of our data (more every day) is being produced for the design engineer or the surveyor on a project. Once we build it the information ends up in the field in the contractors hands to be used for machine control and layout. That’s what the information is intended for. The question is about who built the file.

We do a lot of work for engineering firms because it is cheaper for them to hire us, than to try to do it in house. No surprise there, we are specialists and fill a specific niche. Any time you want me to look like a beginner, just ask me to try and make a set of paper plans. We are lousy draftsmen, but great at building data.

The fact that the information has passed through the hands of the engineer makes no difference to us. In fact we like another set of eyes reviewing the information before it gets into the field. Why am I even talking about this? The information you receive in the field may or may not be reliable, some engineering firms are outsourcing data in order to stay on top of the machine control wave. These firms have found it easier to partner with data companies than tackle it in house.

I sat in a meeting where a group of professionals could not even come up with the definition of “data”. My offering was “Data should represent the way the job looks when you go to collect the final check.” We are problem solvers. No matter who builds the 3D model, they need to see the end before the project even begins.