From Promotional Use to Business Development: How Drone Technology has Evolved Within KAST Construction

Photo Credit: KAST Construction

Evaluating New Technology in the Drone Market

John McDermott, Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Manager at KAST, along with his supervisor, Rob Sloyer, Director of Technical Services, are responsible for researching and implementing new technology on construction sites. Seeing a continual rise in drone use throughout the industry first alerted them to the possibility of regular drone use at KAST. Still, as their jobs dictated, they remained skeptical of the value drone data could provide. While they didn’t want to miss the opportunity to use new technology, the higher up-front cost of building a drone program remained high.

After educating themselves on the product and familiarizing themselves with the terminology, the pair decided to try out drone software. “Remaining educated on your topic of interest is still the most important thing in implementing new technology,” Rob explains. The next logical step was getting project teams to realize the added value of these services, without hard dollar amounts.

KAST joined DroneDeploy in December of 2019, after experimenting with numerous drone software and drone service providers. Critical to their decision was DroneDeploy’s integration with Procore and features desirable to KAST’s work, such as 3D models, panoramas, and project file overlays. Overall, the ultimate deciding factor was DroneDeploy’s Flight Services, a subset of the Professional Services team that elevates businesses with on-demand data collection. With this model, users can order drone flights and pre-vetted pilots to their site at a given time and location, with results delivered to their DroneDeploy app within a couple of days.

Photo Credit: KAST Construction

Utilizing DroneDeploy's Flight Services on Construction Sites

KAST immediately hit the ground running, working with DroneDeploy’s Enterprise Services Manager, Brooks Allwardt, to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for their company. Instead of spending months consulting with independent contractors and conducting their own research, KAST was able to get their questions answered in near real-time from an expert well-versed in DroneDeploy software and their organizational goals. “We gained intangible education given by DroneDeploy’s Implementation process, which can only be given and accomplished by an experienced person,” John states. While two employees are licensed currently, KAST feels confident that they’ll be fully prepared whenever they decide to purchase a drone – licenses, insurance, and SOPs included.

Photo Credit: KAST Construction

Building their Drone Program for Construction Processes

Recently, KAST has been awarded two new projects at over $250 million. Between the two, drone capture for site planning and DroneDeploy’s interface between architect and client, contributed to bid success. In this case, drone technology proved the full scope of KAST’s capabilities.

KAST is unique in that performance is evaluated based on personal growth and organizational advancement. While profitability and new clients are essential, the project-first mission statement of KAST’s Technical Services Department is supreme. Are you doing what’s best for the project? Are you working for the benefit of the project? These questions put adding value paramount to their drone program’s success.

KAST’s long-term goal is to have a licensed pilot on every job site. Today, even when project teams don’t request a drone on-site, KAST’s Technical Services team still evaluates projects via DroneDeploy. By the end of 2020, they hope to have bought their first in-house drone, so that they can continue building their program - with Flight Services’ help, of course.