President Owada: We often work on construction in mountain areas, and most of the sites are difficult to capture GNSS. That's why we have been investing in total stations and layout navigation systems and considering the introduction of a total station excavator system, but we had deferred a decision on purchase of the system because it was expensive. When I was looking for an inexpensive system,  "Layout-Navigator Excavator" was introduced. I knew how fast the layout navigation system would respond, so I felt that this is the timing, and I thought, "Let's purchase it right away!"

President Owada: I didn't participate at all. I made purchase decision with my intuition after seeing the catalog (laughs).

Mr. Nitta: I had never used ICT construction machinery before, but I had experienced in surveying with the LN-150, so I did not get confused. When I first started using it, I used to inspect several times with the LN-150 after cutting the slope, but now I trust it because it has ensured a precision construction.

Mr. Nitta: I think we have been able to reduce the number of man-hours for two people per day. There are undulations and curves in the mountainou areas, and in some places we had to hang the piles at 5m pitch.  With the introduction of the "Layout-Navigator Excavator," the monitor shows the difference between the cutout position and the bucket cutting edge and the design surface, which not only reduced the number of times we had to hang the piles, but also eliminated the need to measure the construction surface, which was necessary the closer we got to the design surface.

For this time, we used the "Layout-Navigator Excavator" not only for the slope, but also for the road body. We scooped the slope while checking the height of the bucket cutting edge displayed on the monitor, and finished the work with a blade, it was quick. I would like to bring this with me to every job site.

President Owada: To be honest, I had a very hard time at first. However, once you create the correct 3D design data, you can perform construction with the same accuracy no matter who does it, which leads to a reduction in man-hours on site. Even now, there are some hardships, but those hardships will be returned as money dozens of times by the end of the site.It would be a loss if you don't use 3D design data.

President Owada: It has definitely led to an improvement in productivity, so I think it would be a good idea to introduce another pile navigation excavator. As a result, it would be nice to have two days off per week.