Pfaffinger: From pilot construction site to indispensable solution

With SitePlan, Pfaffinger digitizes construction processes from staking out to documentation - now established company-wide and indispensable.

Initial situation: Everyday life in pipeline and network construction

The Pfaffinger Group is a construction company operating throughout Germany with around 850 employees. One of the largest areas is pipeline construction, where Nicolas Penn works as a site manager in the Lower Franconia region. Every day, he and his team supervise a wide variety of construction sites in gas, water, electricity and district heating network construction.

The challenges in day-to-day business were clear:

• Time-consuming manual measurements with measuring wheel and paper
• Error-prone data transmission
• Unclear photo documentation
• Dependence on external surveying offices

These processes cost Hours of time - both during recording on the construction site and in post-processing in the office.

Getting started with SitePlan - from test to conviction

The first contact with SitePlan came about through a product presentation. Initially skeptical, the potential became clear after a short period of familiarization:

„I walked around the storage area with the app and GNSS antenna and quickly realized: it just works.“ 

During the pilot phase, SitePlan was tested on specific construction sites - for example on complex asphalt surfaces or cable routes with 20 kV lines. The result was clear:

• Measurements used to take 2-3 hours, now only 15-30 minutes
• Rework in the office drastically reduced
• Data loss was virtually impossible

Concrete benefits in everyday life

Measurement & billing

Formerly:

• Manual measurement with measuring wheel, notes on paper
• Subsequent transfer to Excel
• Plenty of room for interpretation with irregular geometries

Today with SitePlan:

• Real-time stocktaking accurate to the centimeter
• Data is immediately transferred to the office or web app
• Ready-to-bill quantities & PDF reports available immediately

„The difference between before and after is enormous. Time is money - and you save it here every day.“

GPS photo documentation

Formerly:

• Blurred image assignment, unclear location, missing reference information
• Images via WhatsApp or email with a time delay

Today with SitePlan:

• Georeferenced images with viewing direction
• Immediate availability for site management & foremen
• Seamless documentation for the preservation of evidence and billing

„I now know where the picture was taken at all times - even months later.“

Setting out & surveying

Formerly:

• External surveyors with lead time required
• Delays in construction progress due to missing stakeout

Today:

• Setting out directly by site manager, foreman or supervisor
• 95 % of the surveying work can be carried out internally
• Spontaneous, flexible reaction on the construction site

„We have become independent. We can now stake out ourselves - without having to wait for the surveyor.“

From pilot to broad roll-out

The successful introduction was passed on internally:

• Presentation in site manager meetings and the digitization working group
• Bachelor thesis by Nicolas Penn with measurable savings:
  → up to 80 % cost savings for staking out & documentation
• Conviction through practical relevance and concrete comparative figures

Today:

• 11 complete GNSS packages & over 60 SitePlan licenses in use
• Cross-divisional use: civil engineering, pipe network, renovation
• SitePlan is a standard tool in day-to-day business

Acceptance & cultural change

Of course, there were reservations at first, especially among experienced polishers. The decisive factor was:

• Simplicity of use
• A quick sense of achievement
• Integration through practical training

„The foreman who used to only work with paper now uses SitePlan independently - because he has also understood the added value for himself.“

Conclusion: SitePlan is indispensable today

„Take it, try it out - and you'll see how much easier everyday life becomes.“

✔️ Enormous time savings in measurement & billing

✔️ More independence on the construction site

✔️ Clear, comprehensible documentation

✔️ Cross-divisional acceptance and use

✔️ Economic added value with rapid amortization

Pfaffinger has not only introduced SitePlan - today it is a central component of the construction site processes.