The Beginning: 2017
One of the earliest drone programs in the Canadian insurance industry started with DSC’s most forward-thinking client: a global consulting firm that connected with DSC in 2017 with a clear strategy: train in-house pilots to fly property inspections.
Building the Program
Starting with 6 in-house pilots, DSC and their client worked together on progressively more ambitious objectives:
- A CAT plan built for short-notice national scalability.
- Asset digitization capability developed across all levels of the business.
- An in-house Operations Manual for Canada-wide Advanced RPAS Operations within Controlled Airspace (flight planning required more paperwork back then).
- Marketing strategy to establish the client at the leading edge of inspection technology.
In time, it made more sense to use DSC’s pilots for most drone scans. That freed the client’s subject matter experts to focus on the complex projects they excel in.
August 2024: Reality Met Capability
In August 2024 the record-smashing Calgary Hailstorm struck.
Residential units, strata units, 4-plexes, 6-plexes, 8-plexes, and 25,000 sq ft condo building roofs suddenly needed inspections yesterday. DSC’s dedicated team got down to work.
Some of the larger jobs took the better part of a day to complete. The biggest assignment involved scanning 30 townhouses and took 14 hours of flying for 1 pilot. Hundreds of images. Accurate measurements. Every facet covered 100%. No ladder setup, no roof-safety constraints, and consistent documentation on every slope.
The Partnership Today
Over time, the program has fluctuated between a dependence on DSC’s resources and the client’s in-house pilots. Whatever the requirement, DSC has worked with this valued client for almost a decade. Consistency, reliability, and scalability matter when dealing with the challenges of the insurance industry.
Forward thinking at its best.