Survey Solutions: A Success Story on Embracing BricsCAD and KTF Pointcloud

Background

Survey Solutions is a leading UK engineering surveyor with a wide range of services including land surveying, hydrographical surveys, measured buildings, underground & utilities, structural and environmental monitoring, site engineering, drone surveys, RAAC surveys, and digital twin creation. They have a network of offices across the UK.

The Decision to Transition to BricsCAD

In the midst of the global lockdown, a significant shift occurred at Survey Solutions, marking the beginning of a new era in their surveying workflow.

Their Senior Trainer, Sandrine Whitmore, found herself working from home without access to her usual AutoCAD® tools. This challenge led her to trial BricsCAD, a decision that set a precedent for the company’s technological adoption. Sandrine told me, “The skills that I had gained over the years using AutoCAD® were transferred over to BricsCAD easily. I needed no training and experienced no lack of functionality.”

The Transition Begins

During her 30-day trial of BricsCAD, Sandrine found that her extensive AutoCAD® experience seamlessly transferred to BricsCAD, negating any need for additional training while retaining full functionality.

Her enthusiastic approval of BricsCAD prompted the leadership team at Survey Solutions to reassess their software arsenal. Recognising BricsCAD’s value and cost-effectiveness, they initiated the migration from AutoCAD® LT licenses to BricsCAD Lite, whilst maintaining their full AutoCAD® licenses.

KTF Pointcloud: Meeting Customer Needs

In response to another customer’s request for a streamlined solution for drafting floorplans and elevations from Pointcloud data, KTF Software developed the KTF Pointcloud add-on. This innovation caught the attention of Survey Solutions in late 2022.

A demonstration video sent to Monika Kuzniewska, Land & Measured Building Survey Manager at the Nottingham office garnered immediate praise, particularly for the add-on’s intuitive features like the adjustable slicing tool, which perfectly aligned with their daily tasks. “Thank you for sending the link over. I’ve just watched it, and I must say I am impressed. I love the fact that you can move the slice up and down and change it quite easily. This is basically what we do every day, creating floor plans and elevations for our clients.” She added, “KTF Pointcloud is brilliant! I would advise all surveyors to give it a try, it saves lots of time and is so easy to use”.

Soon after, Sandrine started using KTF Pointcloud which solidified its value to the company, highlighting features like the ability to nudge crops along the axes and the simplified ‘add door’ function, which transformed drafting processes.

Her endorsement was clear: “KTF Pointcloud is brilliant! I would advise all surveyors to give it a try; it saves lots of time and is so easy to use.”

Broadening Adoption and Overcoming Resistance

The initial success led to a broader adoption of KTF Pointcloud among Survey Solutions staff, meaning further cost savings with the migration of AutoCAD® licenses to BricsCAD Pro with its advanced functionality and machine learning tools.

In 2023, KTF Software was invited to the Survey Solutions company engagement day to showcase the synergistic potential of BricsCAD Pro and KTF Pointcloud to a wider user base. While decision-makers were convinced, some users had reservations about transitioning from AutoCAD® as they often have a mindset that they’ll have to learn a new product. After seeing BricsCAD and KTF Pointcloud in action, the majority were won over on the day.

Valuable user feedback during the engagement day prompted a need for targeted training initiatives, including a bespoke 3-hour course designed to highlight BricsCAD’s advanced features to AutoCAD® users and a BricsCAD Essentials course for newcomers to the CAD world.

A Partnership For Progress

Survey Solutions’ commitment to upgrading their technology stack with BricsCAD and KTF Pointcloud culminated in a company-wide rollout throughout 2023. This transition was supported by KTF Software through another engagement day, where users could directly interact with the new tools and address any concerns.

These sessions again revealed a crucial insight: many were not fully leveraging BricsCAD’s capabilities, leading to the development of specialised training programs aimed at maximising productivity and reducing reliance on peer training.

Looking Forward

Survey Solutions’ journey with BricsCAD and KTF Pointcloud is more than a story of software adoption; it’s a testament to the power of strategic partnership, innovative solutions, and the willingness to embrace change for operational excellence. As Survey Solutions continues to refine its training programme with the support of KTF Software, the horizon looks promising for both productivity gains and enhanced user satisfaction.

This case study is not just a reflection of technological transition, but a narrative of how shared learning between customer and supplier and embracing innovation can redefine industry standards and empower professionals to achieve more while spending less.

Like Survey Solutions, you can take advantage of powerful CAD tools with an easy learning curve that can help you create detailed and accurate plans that are compatible with your customers.