The incredible one-man band
Tony manages 100+ monitors – 350 kms apart!
After studying acoustics and vibrations Tony Larsson got his engineering degree in 2004. The same year he founded Vibroakustik, a consultancy company specializing in vibration and acoustic monitoring, together with three partners. Today, he runs the thriving business with a wide range of customers in northern Sweden and Norway, all by himself. Says Tony Larsson:
I am capitalizing on sophisticated software for analytics and report writing
“The same year that we started the company, a number of new regulations and limits for noise and vibrations came into play. So the timing was really perfect. Now I am capitalizing on sophisticated software for analytics and report writing, and the rapidly developing battery technology, which enables me to control more than a hundred Sigicom sensors remotely.”
Vibroakustik mainly serves private and public customers in and around the city of Luleå as well as the mining town of Kiruna, some 230 kms away. He is also running monitors in Narvik, the major mining port in northern Norway.
6-7 months between recharges
Our continued investment in modern digital equipment is really paying off”, Says Tony Larsson. “Right now I am operating 110 units in a number of locations single-handedly. The batteries in the monitor units will run 6-7 months between recharges, and the centralized system makes all analytics and reporting very time- and cost-efficient. But I must admit that, with the large distances between sites, it takes a lot of driving. Last year I drove some 110 000 kilometers.
In a typical workday (if there were any such things) Tony Larsson could receive a phone call or an alarm signal in the morning, drive 350 kms to Kiruna, inspect the site, move or install another monitor, set the alarm levels, and drive back to the office in Luleå.
“But every day is unique”, says Tony Larsson. “Last winter, for example, I received a rather strange alarm signal. It turned out that a snowplow had come to close to the wall where the monitor was installed, ripped it off and catapulting into several meters deep snow without even noticing. Luckily it was not damaged, and we could later locate it with the help of the built-in GPS unit.