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TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse

March 4, 2019/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Colin Hoskins

TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse: The prospect of at least 30% time savings by using a robot line marker compared to manual line marking – plus the resulting additional benefits in costs and labour resources – proved irresistible to Medway Norse, as the Kent-based grounds and facilities management specialist has become one of the first users […]

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues

March 4, 2019/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues: Now in its 74th year, SALTEX is continuing to grow from strength to strength at the NEC. In fact, already 70 per cent of the SALTEX 2019 floorplan has been allocated with more than 180 SALTEX 2018 exhibitors returning. Over 40 of these exhibitors have increased the size of their stand […]

TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse

March 4, 2019/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Colin Hoskins

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues

March 4, 2019/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

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TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse

March 4, 2019/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Colin Hoskins

Launched at last year’s SALTEX exhibition, TLM can mark a full-size football pitch in just 20 minutes, compared to around 1.5 hours manually. And for Medway Norse, which has a grounds service remit that includes the maintenance of all of Medway Council’s grass playing surfaces, including 68 football pitches, “that will mean we’ll be freeing up our grounds team from line marking these pitches for at least two days a week”, says Colinda Le Gall, Operations Manager – Grounds.

“I’m being very conservative with these estimated savings, too, because I fully expect the rewards to be much greater!”

Colinda continues: “Also, as a result of needing just one person to mark the pitches using TLM – instead of two by conventional transfer wheel methods – the investment will also mean that the available resource will be able to be redeployed on other pitch maintenance tasks,” she says.

“So, for example, we will be able to carry out additional pitch maintenance all year round, rather than just the annual end-of-season renovations, and that will surely lead to better quality playing surfaces. It’s all about improving and adding services to users within the same budget model.”

The benefits of TLM don’t end there, either, says Colinda.

“Because TLM uses Rigby Taylor’s ready-to-use Impact paint [producing bright white lines that last longer than other paints], our operators will have virtually no contact with the paint either, as a flow tube is simply inserted into the paint container.

“So, we will also eliminate the need to both de-canter line marking paint from a 1,000-litre tank and mix it with water. That equates to further savings in time, labour and water, and it will make for a much cleaner, greener operation.”

Lightweight and easy to transport, TLM utilises the latest GPS technology with RTK receiver and antenna that connects with global satellites and mobile network connections. It takes the input of pitch line dimensions and multiple pitches via an App and re-positions them to best fit the site using Google Maps. Once stored, the lines are never lost, even if they disappear if a pitch is not used for any length of time.

Initial marking of a standard size football pitch takes less than 20 minutes – “our initial marking of 68 pitches used to take around four weeks”, says Colinda, “but will now take just one week” – including all perimeter lines, penalty boxes, the ‘D’, centre circle, corner angles and penalty spot all with just one touch on the tablet control. Even pitches with fixed post sockets can be marked.

TLM is able to mark football pitches (any length/width), and rugby union and league pitches as well as multi-lane athletic tracks, tennis, lacrosse and American football pitches, all with no need for formal measuring which is the big time saving.

TLM can just arrive on site and mark standard and bespoke shapes, which is often required for some smaller locations and events such as school sports days, fetes and even boot fairs, marking car parking on the fields.

“TLM operation is so simple,” she adds. “Our operators were very confident after just a few minutes of tuition on the tablet.”

Medway Norse – a joint venture with Medway Council and the Norse Group – has been watching robotised line marking developments for the past few years, says Colinda, “and we are confident that Rigby Taylor has arrived at the ultimate cost-effective and highly-efficient solution”.

She concludes: “While we also expect that TLM will eventually also be applied to the two grass tennis and the pair of cricket pitches we maintain [two bowls greens are also under Medway Norse’s wing], we are also confident that the expertise of our line marking and overall grounds maintenance will attract additional business, from local schools, sports clubs and our neighbouring councils”

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

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SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues

March 4, 2019/in Events, News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues: Now in its 74th year, SALTEX is continuing to grow from strength to strength at the NEC.

In fact, already 70 per cent of the SALTEX 2019 floorplan has been allocated with more than 180 SALTEX 2018 exhibitors returning. Over 40 of these exhibitors have increased the size of their stand and a further influx of debut exhibitors are looking to engage with the show this year.

Campey Turf Care Systems will be building on its success at SALTEX 2018 by upgrading its stand and showcasing an even wider range of turf machinery.

“The SALTEX exhibition has proved it is still popular with the professional groundsperson attracting visitors from both here and abroad. Last year we trialled a smaller stand with an area for seating and refreshments for our visitors. This was very successful, so this year we are taking a larger stand to create an even more welcoming space for our customers while at the same time increasing the number of machines on display,” said managing director Richard Campey.

AS Communications, a provider of industry-leading technology to the amenity and agricultural sectors, has enjoyed many successful SALTEX exhibitions over the years and according to marketing manager Holly Jones, now is the time to maximize its show presence.

“We’ve been exhibiting at SALTEX a number of years now and have always found it to be a good event. SALTEX allows us to meet numerous turf professionals across the grounds industry in a very focused environment. The show is going from strength to strength, something we are aspiring to do too, hence investing in our stand space and design.”

Lister Wilder is a new exhibitor for 2019 and division sales director Phill Hughes revealed that the company will be using its first appearance at the NEC as an opportunity to promote its impressive hire division.

“I’ve been monitoring show attendance and feedback prior to making a commitment. My view of last year was that it felt like there was a level of excitement around the manufacturers. The customers attending appear to be of good quality and in good spirit, something which I believe has been achieved by combining the IOG Awards with the show.

“Over the last few years we have seen a rise in the number of commercial fleet customers looking for both long and short-term hire as an alternative to purchasing assets and we look forward to promoting our commercial hire division to a wider audience in order to increase our current customer base.”

For Arysta LifeScience, a global agricultural company specialising in the marketing and distribution of innovative crop protection and biosolution brands, the opportunity to meet distributors and end users was a major factor in deciding to exhibit at SALTEX for the first time and following the acquisition of Arysta LifeScience by UPL in January, the two companies will become one, with Arysta LifeScience presenting itself as UPL at SALTEX.

Campaigns & communications manager Janine Heath, said: “As we continue to drive into new cropping sectors we thought it would be a good idea to exhibit at SALTEX.

“Although we sell through distributors, we also aim to connect with end users. If we raise the brand awareness amongst them, then it’s more than likely to drive back up the chain.

“We’re always looking to expand our customer base and build business and SALTEX is a great occasion to meet everyone in one place.”

SALTEX 2019 takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on October 30 and 31.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

Follow SALTEX on Twitter @IOG_SALTEX and Facebook – www.facebook.com/IOGSALTEX

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues

TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

TinyLineMarker At Medway Norse

SALTEX Exhibitor Growth Continues

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