Underground mapping software specialist ProStar [CVE:MAPS] has just launched a dealer program for its flagship PointMan product. This should considerably boost its presence in the US market and indeed further afield.
PointMan is ProStar’s patented mobile mapping software application that captures, records and displays the precise location of surface and sub-surface infrastructure. Vitally, this includes buried utilities and pipelines.
We started following ProStar as soon as it listed in Canada. The company is US-based (Colorado) with a global client base that leverages its data to avoid striking underground infrastructure, most critically pipes (water, gas, sewage) and cabling. This is a common problem, especially for utilities, so it comes as no surprise that the company has already built itself a profitable niche working with utility companies in the States.
Listen to our podcast with ProStar CEO & President, Page Tucker
Sub-surface infrastructure strikes are a BIG problem
In the UK disruption caused by digging into critical underground infrastructure remains a huge problem. According to Ordnance Survey, it costs the UK economy more than a billion pounds a year. That’s before you factor in the considerable health risks and the inconvenience factor. It is an issue which is duplicated in almost every country in the world.
ProStar has partnered with several leading equipment manufacturers to integrate their hardware with the ProStar’s precision mapping solution in order to enhance the performance and user experience of the manufacturers’ products and to create a value-added partnership. The PointMan Dealer Program is a dedicated initiative for select dealers of GPS/ GNSS, utility data collection devices and engineering and survey equipment to promote and sell best in class products
“Our goal of the PointMan Dealer Program is to create a powerful consortium between ProStar, the equipment manufacturers and their dealer networks around the world,” said Page Tucker CEO and Founder of ProStar. “This launch follows a very successful pilot with the largest Trimble dealers in the world and is a major step in achieving that goal.”
The program enhances the sales and marketing of PointMan with world leading GPS/GNSS and Electro magnetic (EM) equipment manufacturers including Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), Vivax-Metrotech, Radiodetection, and Subsite Electronics.
According to the British Safety Council, which is consulted prior to over 70% of construction-related excavation in UK urban areas, there were still 1,230 safety-related electrical incidents in 2019. This was outlined in its recent Digging Up Britain report. There were 73 electrical incidents which were injury related. Gas-related incidents have been trending down, but again, there were still 1,248 reported in 2019. Data for last year is still being compiled.
According to the British Safety Council, “there is still room for improvement. People need to remember that by undertaking work with limited, or no prior knowledge of what is beneath them, there is a real risk of injury, or even fatality.”
The crazy thing is that it does not need to be like this. ProStar already has a solution which is in action with many engineering firms. According to research by the University of Birmingham, UK, the true cost of an asset strike is 29 times the direct cost – so for every £1000 of direct repair cost from a utility strike, the actual cost is £29,000. That is a staggering differential and a good measurement of the savings that this technology can offer.
