The collaboration between the construction software of the two companies is intended to make it easier to manage mixed earthworks fleets.
As part of the collaboration, Trimble and Komatsu are working together to develop an application program interface (API) to enable compatibility between their software platforms. Komatsu's KomConnect platform and Trimble Connect software, a cloud-based collaboration system, will share digital construction data.
The companies said that the collaboration is in response to customer demand for mixed fleet interoperability as well as in support of Japan's i-Construction initiative, a plan to boost innovation productivity on ites through the use of information and communications technology (ICT).
Komatsu introduced Smartconstruction - an ‘internet of things’ (IoT) approach for construction site operations - in Japan in 2015. The system, which is designed to create a safer and more productive site, uses the KomConnect cloud-based platform and enables customers to visualize site operations using ICT about workers, machines and surfaces. It has been introduced to 3,300 sites so far.
Trimble Connected Site provides contractors with a view of site productivity including materials quantity and movement, volume and compaction data, and fleet and asset management information. It can be used regardless of machine make or model, according to Trimble, and provides a collaboration environment that allows customers to combine and share data from multiple sources, including those from outside of the Trimble ‘ecosystem’.
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