21st Century Technology Makes Schneider Excavating More Than Just Another Company That Moves Dirt

“Nothing can replace the skill of a talented operator, but technology sure can make that operator a whole lot more productive,” says Steve Ristow, President of Schneider Excavating, Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “We’ve proven that over and over again on all kinds of equipment doing all kinds of jobs.”

Ristow is a classic example of an “early adopter” when it comes to technology, and Schneider’s graders, dozers, and excavators all have extensive arrays of GPS antennas, sensors, and computer-based control systems. But, perhaps the most striking example of Ristow’s dedication to technology is Schneider’s bright yellow Hummer H2 Quality Control vehicle, custom decorated with decals featuring the firm’s advanced capabilities. Many of those decals highlight the Topcon Positioning Systems Co. systems that support Schneider’s technology thrust.

“I want people to know that Schneider is not just another company that moves dirt,” Ristow explained. “We have a registered Professional Engineer on staff, and he uses the Hummer to visit job sites where our crews are working. We’re using 21st century technology on our equipment, and we want to convey that message to everyone who sees our vehicle at work.

“It took more than six months to design the decals that make our Hummer unique, and we’re very proud of it,” he added.

The Schneider Hummer delivers the message, but it’s the combination of skilled operators, top quality equipment, and leading edge technology that makes its promise real for Schneider customers. It all comes into focus at the jobsite.

“We’re among the first subcontractors on the jobsite, and we’re usually the last ones to leave it,” Ristow continued. “We do the site preparation, which often includes demolition of existing structures and remediation of contaminated soils. We dig the footings, and once the walls are up we install and grade the “TB” limestone base the supports the concrete on grade level floors.

“Then, when the buildings are finished we come back and grade the parking lots before they’re paved, finish grade the site, install the topsoil, and complete the landscaping.

“In the old days, a survey crew would first set the grade stakes and we would work around them. Some people still do it that way. You’ve probably seen job sites with stakes sitting on top of piles of earth,” Ristow added.

Schneider was among the first excavation specialists to do their own construction staking rather than depending on an outside engineering firm. That experience was part of the impetus for their first purchase of Topcon technology, an APL-1 robotic total station they used for grade control, construction staking, and verification of existing topography.

“In 1995 we began using Agtek software to topo, check topography and stake our construction sites while our competition relied on local engineering firms,”Ristow continued. “We would build a 3-D model and stake to that model with Graphic Grade which is an Agtek module.”

Today, Schneider often sets up a Topcon base station on the jobsite that contains the downloaded coordinates for the whole project. That saves them at least 30 minutes of set-up time every time the equipment is used, and also ensures that the same consistent, accurate data is used over the life of the project.

With that GPS experience under their belt, the next logical step for Schneider was to begin equipping their earthmoving vehicles with automatic machine controls that could also take advantage of computer-generated data. The Cat 140H motor grader used to grade the TB sub floor of the Willow Tree Internet Warehouse complex near Milwaukee provides a typical example.

“The left side of the blade has a Tracker Jack laser tracking system installed,” Ristow explained, “and the right side has a Topcon millimeter accuracy GPS system. They’re both connected to a Topcon System-5 control box in the cab that is also interfaced to the grader’s hydraulic system.

“The System-5 box lets the operator switch from the 2-D laser system to the 3-D GPS system as the job requires. Working inside a building, for example, we typically use the laser system because the structure often obscures the GPS satellite signals. We also don’t need millimeter accuracy to grade a 3/4 inch limestone TB sub-base,” he added. “Laser control gives us millimeter accuracy,” Ristow said.

Schneider actually purchased the Topcon GPS millimeter systems installed on their motor graders for a specific job, grading a new soccer field in preparation for installation of an artificial playing surface. The specification called for deviations of less than 0.125-inch over a 10-foot length, a degree of precision easily met by the Topcon millimeter machine control system.

“To make it even more interesting,” Ristow noted, “the field was crowned, not flat. The only alternative to the Topcon system would have been to grade the whole thing by hand, and nobody was interested in paying the bill for that”.

While that kind of precision is not a typical requirement, the ability to work in three dimensions does give Schneider a competitive advantage on many jobs.
“We can work from a 3-D model and grade an entire site,” Ristow said. “That includes features like catch basins, crowns, and slopes in addition to the flat work. Without the machine control system that kind of detail would take a long time to prep and complete. With it, it’s really not much more difficult to grade than simple flat work.”

Schneider’s Professional Engineer, Fred Hartzheim, does most of the preparatory work converting 2-D architectural and engineering drawings into 3-D models and TN3 files for the machine controls to follow. Hartzheim also uses his experience to check the supplied drawings to make sure the site will drain properly when it is completed.

“We could simply grade to the print, and then get paid to re-do the job when it doesn’t drain properly,” Hartzheim said. “That would be legal, but it’s not he way we do business. As a Professional Civil Engineer I have the training and experience to spot mistakes and potential trouble spots on a drawing and suggest the necessary changes before we move any dirt. We look at it as part of the value we add. It’s another thing that distinguishes us from our competitors.”
Hartzheim also visits each jobsite in the Schneider Hummer to provide quality control oversight and routine field service for the computer and GPS equipment. He is certified to verify and correct GPS system calibration, and has ample practical experience in “tweaking” computers in the field.

Schneider has also equipped their Cat D8R dozers with Topcon GPS systems similar to those used on the motor graders.

“Actually, the system on the dozers is completely wireless,” Ristow said. “It communicates with the base station via radio, and with the onboard computer via Bluetooth. We use the Topcon HiPer Lite+ interface to handle all of the communication from satellite to base station to onboard computer.

“That way, there are no wires to be cut or connections to vibrate loose,” Ristow continued. “A D8 Cat is not exactly a clean, gentle, computer friendly environment.

“The HiPer Lite+ is also capable of performing as a base station or rover depending on the needs, which can eliminate the need for a separate unit on a jobsite. Anything that reduces costs is a good thing,” Ristow added.

Schneider has also equipped its Volvo excavators with Topcon GPS systems. Each of these machines has a pair of satellite antennas attached to the counterweight, and a system of position sensors attached to the boom, the bucket, the control stick, and the excavator body. All of the signals are integrated by a Topcon MAG box processor located under the excavator’s cowling.

“Excavators are not like motor graders and dozers,” Ristow explained. The tracks are typically stationary when the machine is working, but the boom swings around and may extend 20 or 30 feet away from the undercarriage.

“You have to know where the bucket is, not the undercarriage. The pair of antennas on the counterweight let the computer sense machine rotation, and the position sensors tell us where the boom and bucket are. The computer integrates all of the data to give us an exact location. All the operator has to do is match the position readout display to the drawing on the computer screen.

“In the old days, you would have to stake a footing and run a string or paint a line on the ground. Now, you just position the machine and dig. No stakes, no lines, no strings and it’s accurate to within 0.02 inch horizontally.

“Not only that,” he continued, “but in a conventional operation you needed a “bottom man” or “pit man” to get down in the hole and make sure the bottom grade was correct. In many cases the operator had to do this as well as run the machine, and while the operator was checking the grade the machine was not moving dirt.

“Now, we just line up the machine and dig. On one recent job we dug a 150 cubic yard footing pad for a major construction project. Typically, you would expect to pour about 160 cubic yards of concrete into that kind of excavation simply to make up for the unavoidable variation in a hole that big.

“This one took exactly 151 cubic yards of concrete to fill. That’s how precise the Topcon system on these excavators is.”

None of Schneider’s machine control system came as standard equipment from the factory. Each of them was specifically selected and installed to meet Schneider’s needs and expectations.

“Our Topcon dealer is Positioning Solutions Co.in Waukesha, Wisconsin,” Ristow said. “They helped us install, configure, and trained us on the systems. More important, they also provide extremely responsive service, sometimes over and above the call of duty.

“Here’s how I see it,” he continued. “The Topcon systems have radically changed the way we do our jobs. We don’t stake a jobsite anymore, so if the system goes down we’re pretty much dead in the water until it’s fixed. There is no Plan-B, and downtime can cost thousands of dollars per hour.

“Both Positioning Solutions and Topcon are very aware of that situation and have gone out of their way to maximize our uptime. At one point we were having some trouble with the sensors on our excavators, and Topcon supplied us with several of them to keep in reserve ‘just-in-case’.

“Topcon also sent three senior people out to meet with us and get our feedback earlier this spring. Fred and I sat down with our operators and asked them to share their experiences with the systems, which we then passed on to the Topcon people. I can’t say for sure that it was our doing, but Topcon recently announced some product changes that just coincidentally address some of those operator comments.”

Schneider’s operators have been highly receptive to the addition of GPS technology on the machines they run. Ristow describes their reaction as “kids in a candy store” when new technology becomes available.

He points to a relatively new operator who became productive with a motor grader after only a few weeks of instruction as an example of how the technology can enable a relatively unskilled employee to be successful. But, he saves his greatest praise for the impact of this technology on the most skilled operators.

“When you combine the precision of the GPS-based machine control system with the skill of a first-class operator the results are truly awesome,” he says. “That combination sets a whole new benchmark for productivity and precision at a level that’s never before been available.

“It’s like you suddenly gave your best operator the equivalent of a Ph.D. education. In fact, the analogy works so well that we now actually call one of our senior D8R operators Doctor Dirt.”

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Schneider Excavating, Inc.   20079 W Main Street   P.O. Box 92   Lannon, WI 53046-9741   Phone: 262-251-4200   Fax: 262-251-4216
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