Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
❝ Definitely without a doubt. Looking back I really don’t think I’d do anything differently. ❞
What would you say to others thinking of working with Transfirm?
❝ I would tell them to seriously consider what they and Transfirm can achieve together. I’ve actually recommended Transfirm to business owners and I tell them that I never felt like I was being upsold anything – they just helped us solve one problem at a time as we needed it. ❞
CASE STUDY
Surex is an established Australian survey consulting practice, which specialises in major infrastructure projects. They are highly specialised being an industry leader in the areas of tunnel surveying and underground navigation.
What was happening when you engaged Transfirm?
Surex had built their own integrated management system (IMS) and although it was functional, we were having a number of issues, particularly as the business was growing and we had people working on major projects around Australia. We asked Transfirm to advise us on a better way, using the latest technology, so we could transform our ‘old IMS’ into a better one.
What was the first thing you did?
Firstly, Transfirm helped us decommission the data systems in the old management system and get that into a new platform. We then decided to streamline and digitise our processes for asset management, such as, calibration of surveying instrumentation, vehicles, and anything else that needed tracking. Very soon we had real-time data and automatically generated calibration reports, tracking reports and equipment history of reports.
Fairly quickly we moved onto streamlining and digitising our communication processes with online inductions and app-based toolbox talks. We looked at some induction software but instead, Transfirm helped us customise our own user-defined online training and development program, which is working really well.
How did you feel at the time?
I felt very excited by it all – it was way better than what we were achieving and something we could co-create with Transfirm to be exactly what we wanted. There didn’t seem to be any limitation. As we rolled out process improvements using apps, if there were any issues that needed to be resolved, or feedback incorporated, it was done straight away. This gave everyone confidence and no one lost faith in it.
What made the most impact?
As a surveying company, everything hinges on the skill and competence of our staff. Our staff ensure underground tunnels surface within millimeters of where they are planned. In that context what made the most impact was our online training and development modules with VOC’s (Verification of Competencies) – it took us to another level entirely. Also, the digitised diaries, timesheets, training matrices, and toolbox systems made a big difference. All of it significantly impacted our ability to manage the risk of staff working on projects.
If we tried to do this with our previous system it would have been so complex, but now it is a definite process. When someone gets a VOC it is automatically updated along with the skills database.
What did you achieve overall from working with Transfirm?
Our Integrated Management System is at a much better standard, more usable, more compliant, fail-safe. We have visibility on data via real-time dashboards. We have taken the manual work out of things and can manage risk more effectively.
Knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
Definitely without a doubt. Looking back I really don’t think I’d do anything differently.
What would you say to others thinking of working with Transfirm?
I would tell them to seriously consider what they and Transfirm can achieve together. I’ve actually recommended Transfirm to business owners and I tell them that I never felt like I was being upsold anything – they just helped us solve one problem at a time as we needed it.
Cameron Mills
Director – Surex Surveyors
