# PART 6: INTERNAL REQUIREMENTS

To serve this industry well, we must:

- Maintain strong RTK alignment month-over-month
- Prevent vertical shift errors
- Use ground control properly
- Deliver consistent file naming
- Maintain repeatable workflows
- Train pilots on plant layout recognition
- Understand material flow to interpret data

This is how we differentiate.

# Key Sales Concepts

## 1. Volume vs. Mass (The Core Education Piece)

Customers measure:

- Truck scales (in/out weights)
- Belt scales (production output)
- Loader bucket scales
- Sometimes multiple checkpoints per load

These all measure **mass**.

We measure:

- **Volume**

To convert volume to mass, they must apply a **density factor**, which is:

- Material-specific
- Moisture-dependent
- Compaction-dependent
- Variable throughout the pile

Example principle:

- 1 cubic yard = 27 cubic feet
- If material is 95 lbs/cu ft → 2,565 lbs per cubic yard
- ÷ 2,000 = 1.2825 tons per cubic yard (density factor)

Density is never constant:

- Wet sand ≠ dry sand
- Top of pile ≠ bottom of pile
- Bottom-feed conveyors change density continuously

This is why discrepancies occur.

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## 2. The Moisture Problem (Hidden Differentiator)

At sand plants:

- Belt scales measure wet material
- Water drains after stacking
- Drone measures post-drainage volume

So when customers say:

> "Your numbers don’t match ours."

The real issue is often:

- They measured water.
- We measured material.

**Sales Angle:**  
Volume rarely changes month-to-month.  
Moisture constantly changes.

We can show consistent ±1% volumetric tracking over time. That’s reliability.

# Strategic Sales Themes

### Educate without attacking.

### Emphasize consistency over time.

### Frame internal programs as hidden cost centers.

### Reinforce that we are specialists — not generalists.

# Competitor Breakdown

## 1️⃣ Internal Drone Programs (Biggest Competitor)

Most common threat:

- “We do this ourselves.”

Typical setup:

- Propeller
- DroneDeploy
- Dedicated employee
- Software subscriptions ($10k–$50k+)
- Vehicles, labor burden, equipment

Sales Positioning:

- They’re not drone experts.
- Inconsistency is common.
- Total labor + software + overhead is significant.
- We deliver consistent, repeatable results.

Simple framing:

> If you don’t want to change the toner in your copier, you probably don’t want to manage your own drone program.

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## 2️⃣ Firmatek

- Long-standing industry player
- Historically truck-mounted LiDAR
- Now using drones
- Heavy in utilities now
- Strong presence with Vulcan, Martin Marietta, etc.

They:

- Offer stockpile volumes, cut/fill, ortho, methane, etc.
- Are experienced but not dominant everywhere
- Still hiring frequently (possible churn or growth)

Sales angle:

- We offer the same services.
- We can be more responsive and consistent.

---

## 3️⃣ Wingfield (Scale Companies)

Primary business:

- Truck scales
- Belt scale calibration

Secondary:

- Truck-mounted LiDAR
- Volumetric scanning

Often regional.

Sales angle:

- They are scale experts, not drone experts.
- Their volumetric methods rely on assumptions.

---

## 4️⃣ StockpileReports.com

Approach:

- Contract pilots (FlyGuys, etc.)
- App-based phone scanning
- Fixed camera systems
- DOT contracts

Issues:

- Phone scanning incomplete (can’t see backs of piles)
- Fixed infrastructure expensive and unreliable
- Reports may look polished but have blind spots

Customer feedback:

- Systems unreliable
- Trust issues

Sales angle:

- We capture full geometry.
- No infrastructure required.
- Higher data integrity.