AUSTRALIA & ASIA
employees is mitigated . The thinking is changing for the positive , I believe .”
Asplundh singles itself out further with a vegetation asset management system , known as VAMS , which Burt championed when he arrived at the company . A former officer in the military , and armed with a degree in IT , he asked himself how the business could add value in a tight market with agile competitors .
“ How do you do that when your main function is cutting trees next to power lines ? Well , you get into the mindset of doing that smarter , sharper , safer . In our space that ’ s gaining vegetation intelligence and delivering a better outcome ,” he says . “ To reduce our client ’ s network vegetation risk and deliver industry leading productivity , we capture the vegetation and cutting data , and effectively analyse it to ensure our programs see us sending the right people to the right job for the right outcome at the right time .”
VAMS allows the business to think strategically , looking ahead to a 5-10 or even longer cycle . “ Vegetation is not going to go away ,” says Burt . “ We have to make sure we ’ re not thinking short term and just going around doing the same old thing year on year .”
So successful has VAMS been that it is now being rolled out across the US . Burt is understandably gratified . “ The satisfaction is driven primarily because of the skill and ability of
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