How Mainland Surveying built mobility and competitive advantage into the business from day one

The Challenge

When Mainland Surveying was being formed in 2013, Scott Williams knew the business needed a document management system but was still working out what functions that system needed to support. It quickly became clear that the business required more than simple file storage. It needed a centralized system that could handle the heavy-duty, multi-file software environment used in surveying, especially 12d Model, which the team relied on for topographical maps, plans, subdivisions, buildings and infrastructure development.

Before 12d Synergy, surveyors working in the field had to download files onto portable hard drives, decide in advance what they might need, and move those files back and forth between computers and devices. This created multiple risks: using outdated files, misplacing files, overwriting newer information, and losing productivity because large 12d Model files took time to manage manually.

Scott also saw email recording as critical. With up to 50 project related emails a day, the business needed a reliable way to file correspondence, so it was accessible to everyone working on a project rather than trapped in individual inboxes.

The Solutions

Mainland Surveying adopted 12d Synergy as a central repository for reference material, survey data and project documentation. The platform gave the team one location where project information could be captured, checked in and out, and accessed by the right people whether they were in the office, at a remote site, working from home or travelling.

A major part of the value came from mobility. Instead of relying on portable hard drives, staff could access the same project information through the system from the field. This reduced the risk of file version confusion and removed a layer of manual data movement that had previously consumed time and created uncertainty.

The email recording feature also became a standout day-to-day benefit. After the initial filing of a project email, subsequent sent and received emails could be automatically managed and categorized by the software. That helped ensure project correspondence was not lost and was accessible to everyone involved in the job.

The Result

• Improved field mobility by replacing portable hard-drive workflows with remote access to current files.
• Reduced the risk of using outdated files or overwriting newer versions in the field.
• Enabled filing and ongoing automatic management of up to 50 project-related emails a day.
• Improved transparency across the business by showing who was doing what and the status of each project.
• Reduced pressure on the company’s network and freed up significant bandwidth.

A young business chose to build on the right system early

What makes Mainland Surveying’s story distinctive is that 12d Synergy was implemented right at the beginning of the company’s life. This was not a mature business retrofitting a better process later. It was a small, ambitious surveying company making an early decision to build its operating model around better data control, mobility and collaboration. That matters because early system choices often shape how a business scales. Mainland used technology not just to stay organized, but to help create a sharper, more responsive service model from the outset.

Mobility changed how surveyors worked in the field

For Mainland Surveying, one of the biggest operational improvements was mobility. Before 12d Synergy, surveyors had to predict what files they might need before leaving the office, copy them manually to portable drives and then transfer them back later. That approach created both administrative burden and version control risk.

With 12d Synergy, anything available through the office server could be reached in the field. That meant project work was less dependent on pre-planning file transfers and much less exposed to the risk of working from stale or incomplete information. For a surveying business dealing with large 12d Model files, that is a significant practical advantage.

Email recording became a daily productivity win

Another feature Scott Williams highlighted as especially beneficial was email recording. With up to 50 project emails a day, the ability to file emails quickly into project folders and then have subsequent correspondence automatically managed, made a noticeable difference to day-to-day operations.

This mattered because project information was no longer split between technical files and disconnected inboxes. Emails became part of the full job record, accessible to everyone working on the project and easier to retrieve later.  

Transparency and continuity improved across the team

12d Synergy also gave Mainland better visibility over its work. Scott noted that project information could be captured in one location, jobs could be checked in and out easily, and the business gained clearer insight into who was doing what and the status of each project.

That transparency helped projects keep moving even when someone was travelling, on leave or tied up in meetings, because the latest job file and current information could still be accessed by others. For a small team, that kind of continuity is particularly valuable.