Saunders International

Saunders International is one of Australia’s leading civil infrastructure contractors, delivering large-scale projects across bridges, roads, marine works and industrial facilities. With hundreds of assets — including generators, excavators, light vehicles and thousands of hand tools — spread across multiple active project sites throughout New South Wales, keeping track of where everything was had become a serious operational headache.

The asset coordination team was spending an estimated one to two full days every week simply trying to locate generators across sites. Phone calls, text messages and spreadsheets were the primary tools, and none of them provided a reliable, real-time picture of what was where. When a generator went missing on a remote site, the knock-on effect was immediate: crews sitting idle, hire costs climbing and project timelines slipping.

Beyond location tracking, compliance was another growing concern. Pre-start inspections, service records and safety documentation were managed through a patchwork of paper forms and shared drives. Audit preparation was time-consuming, and the risk of a compliance gap on a major infrastructure project was something the team could not afford.

Saunders International rolled out MapTrack across their entire asset fleet, starting with generators and heavy plant before expanding to vehicles, tools and safety equipment. Every asset was labelled with a QR code, giving field crews a fast, reliable way to check items in and out of sites using the MapTrack mobile app. GPS trackers were fitted to high-value plant and generators, providing the asset coordination team with a live map view of every major asset across all active projects.

The transition away from spreadsheets was immediate. Steve McAllister and his team now use MapTrack’s dashboard to see exactly which assets are on which site, who last used them and when they are next due for service or inspection. Pre-start inspections for generators and plant are completed digitally through the mobile app, with automatic alerts when an item fails a check or a service is overdue.

MapTrack’s asset transfer feature also streamlined the process of moving equipment between project sites. Instead of relying on phone calls and manual logs, transfers are now recorded digitally with full chain-of-custody visibility. This has made it significantly easier to plan mobilisations and demobilisations for new projects, and has virtually eliminated the “lost generator” problem that was costing the business time and money every week.