17th February 2014, 06:41 PM
Some companies are looking to embrace the technology, where hand planning as a rarity unless there is something of particular complexity or detail. Everything else is GPSd. The downsides of this are: cost - GPS is expensive both in capital and running costs, especially when coupled with the software needed to process the data; training/expertise; frequent down-time when the data connection is naffed (happens increasingly often as the more and more demands are put on the networks) and it's a right pain in the rump sometimes not having a paper record to look at, to place your own 'bit' in the wider context - you have to hope that someone has processed the data at the office and provided a printout that makes it back to site in time, at a scale that makes it legible and that doesn't just look like a kid's crayon drawing. But, when it works it's quick, efficient and produces a much more 'usable' end result. And that's as far as my knowledge on the matter goes at present...