The John Deere Operations Center™ is the digital solutions platform for optimising processes, machine utilisation and services. These days, many construction companies already rely on telematics and process solutions for monitoring construction sites as an aid to meeting growing demands with regard to productivity, efficiency and process documentation – and Belgian milling contractor Topoff is no exception. On a construction site in Leuven with an extremely tight completion schedule, the family company demonstrated the benefits offered by the John Deere Operations Center™.
The John Deere Operations Center™ enables precise, smooth and seamless operations on the project site.
To enable customers to overcome the growing challenges of fleet management and site logistics on milling projects, the Wirtgen Group provides the support required by companies like Topoff with the John Deere Operations Center™. Stef Vastmans, the project manager responsible for realising the current road rehabilitation project in Leuven, Belgium, explains:
‘Here in Leuven, we are using the Operations Center with our milling machines to track data and more precisely monitor our construction sites. While we are milling on this road, the machine gathers data about how much fuel and water it’s consuming and how many metres it has milled. All these data are sent to me to let me see how far we’ve progressed and what we can do next.’
The John Deere Operations Center™ is the central location for all current and future digital solutions from the Wirtgen Group. Users have access to a future-proof system that is always at the cutting edge of technology, ensures that they benefit from all the latest developments and secures them a sustainable competitive edge.
The John Deere Operations Center™ shows the current location and the entire location history of each machine and navigates users to the machine even when they are on the move, which is particularly helpful in the event of machine malfunctions or breakdowns. What’s more, the continuous documentation of the location and the machine status allows for a comprehensive analysis of individual machine deployments or entire projects, which, in turn, ultimately facilitates the planning of future projects. For Stef Vastmans, however, it is primarily the benefits available to him on the spot that make his work easier.
‘Since we began using the Operations Center, we have been able to do many things more efficiently and faster. Usually, we would wind up the job on the construction site and then plan things like transportation and replenishing our stocks of fuel, etc. With the Operations Center, we can do all that when we are still on site, and even while our work is still in progress. And that means we lose less time.’
Everything under control
Tom, CEO John, and Stef Vastmans monitoring a project at the Topoff headquarters in Houthalen, Belgium.
Founded in 2011, Topoff is a specialist contractor providing milling services for infrastructure projects in the Benelux countries. With branches in Houthalen-Helchteren in Flanders and in Wallonia, today the company is ideally positioned in its market segment. With a fleet of around 25 road milling machines of all sizes, the company can ideally fulfil any requirements their customers may have. However, when working on so many projects, it’s essential to have a clear overview of what’s going on.
‘We have been using the Operations Center since the beginning of 2023 and have currently integrated 22 of our machines into the system’, says Tom Vastmans, who, amongst other things, is also responsible for resource planning at Topoff. ‘The system helps us to determine the current locations of our machines, their fuel levels and the working mode they are in. In the relatively short time we’ve been using the system, we have already been able to identify positive developments in our efficiency and productivity. Another positive aspect that must be mentioned is the support and assistance we got from the Wirtgen Group while we were integrating the Operations Center into our processes. That made the transition from the old systems and the first steps quite easy for us.’
Increased efficiency through optimised maintenance schedules.
