TracMap Australian sales manager Don Thorp, of Adelaide, delivered a trophy to theTracMap head office in Dukes Rd Nth on Friday.
Mr Thorp had accepted the trophy on behalf of the company when TracMap won the grape growing category in the annual Australian Wine Industry Impact Awards in Adelaide on October 18.
TracMap NZchief executive David Glen, of Mosgiel, said the award was ‘‘recognition’’ from the Australian wine industry that TracMap technology ‘‘could make a difference’’.
The technology provided grape growers with GPS guidance and mapping systems to manage activities on vineyards by tracking tasks such as pruning, spraying and the spreading of fertiliser.
The technology allowed growers to ‘‘plan the jobs, perform the jobs and report on the jobs’’.
If a grower had abad season or an issue with a block ofgrapes, they had data available to make better decisions next season.
Large wine companies had ‘‘vineyards all over the place’’ and the technology gave growers the confidence a contractor would be directed to the correct block to do the planned work.
‘‘It’s about using technology to work efficiently and accurately.’’
Stories of contractors operating without GPS technology and working on the wrong block, or completing the wrong task, were common in vineyards across the world, he said.
Treasury Wine Estates — the biggest grape grower in Australia — was using the technology.
TracMap was ‘‘pushing in’’ to the wine industry in California, United States, as they had in Australia about three years ago.
‘‘We’ll be taking the same story over there — we’ve proven ourselves, we’re not a start-up, we’ve got some runs on the board’’.
TracMap had employed 10 staff in the United States this year, he said.
TracMap chief operating officer Grant Gibson, of Mosgiel, said TracMap was employing more than 50 staff across the world including 35 staff in Mosgiel.
‘‘We’ve had rapid growth and this [award] is an indication of the good work the guys are doing.’’
TracMap was established in 2006 and specialises in systems for the agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and aviation sectors in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
