Customer Stories

TRANSFORMING THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS overview For more than two decades, Boyé Geometre was a market leader in its specialty of architectural surveying. But in the years leading up to 2012, the surveying firm saw its leadership position begin to erode. Widespread availability of new technologies by its competitors made Boyé Geometre's traditional processes and products less competitive. Location BRANNE, FRANCE To address the new, more competitive environment, the company developed a new solution: Boyé Geometre introduced the use of laser scanning together with additional capabilities offered by advanced hardware and software tools. The decision paid off quickly. Boyé Geometre is a 30-year-old surveying firm based in Branne, France. In the architectural field, the firm ranks among the top firms in the Gironde and Aquitaine regions. Boyé has always worked with optical and GNSS instruments, providing its clients with 2D CAD plans, elevations and cross-sections of buildings and infrastructure. In the years prior to 2012, the firm's leadership in the market declined as geospatial technologies became more accessible. Many of Boyé Geometre's competitors adopted new instruments and capabilities that strengthened their market positions. In spite of its long-term experience, Boyé Geometre's final products were no different from those of its competitors. The tough competition was keeping the firm from achieving its financial goals. If Boyé Geometre was to maintain sustainable levels of growth and profitability in the face of new market challenges, the firm needed to make a change. CHALLENGE Managers at Boyé Geometre knew exactly how to face the problem. Their idea was to introduce a new operational approach that would present their clients with high-quality products that could outperform the competition. This new approach would take into account the role that three- dimensional information plays nowadays in the design, construction and management of buildings. Boyé Geometre's goals included: 1. Produce highly-detailed 2D products to satisfy his traditional clients' needs, and 2. Create state-of-the-art 3D deliverables for the rapidly expanding BIM market. To achieve this, Boyé Geometre identified laser scanning technology as a possible solution to the firm's needs. Their efforts began in 2013, when Boyé Geometre acquired a Trimble ® TX5 scanner. Almost immediately, the team realized that rather than selecting a technological solution, the real challenge came in developing the specific skills needed to implement the strategy. The team quickly learned to manage the field data acquisition and registration processes, but challenges arose during the post-processing of the point clouds. With their lack of experience in the 3D field, the time needed for processing was too long. The problem prevented Boyé Geometre from achieving the expected high-quality results within acceptable delivery times.

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