Monthly Archives: September 2017

Utility of user manual towards fixing heavy equipment

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Heavy equipment owners perceive calling a mechanic equal to a nightmare especially when they do not have any collaboration with a specific mechanic to fix their heavy equipment. Machines are bound to have issues and it is the onus of the owners to get it fixed. Not having enough knowledge to repair the heavy equipment can have a backlash on their work. Finding a good mechanic has already been a big problem and on top of that they can’t sit with the unrepaired machine for days as it is clearly affecting the productivity of the company. In this situation if something that can really come to their rescue is the user guide which is also known as user manual. The user manual has everything that a person needs to know about his heavy equipment. It talks in detail about the machine and what one needs to do to keep the machine in good health. So the first thing that the owner of a heavy equipment needs to do is go through the user manual and try to understand what is written in it.

Initially he might find it difficult to understand what is written in the manual. He may see a lot of jargons in it but after going through it carefully he may get a hang on it and will gradually understand the language. Other than that if a person who is familiar to heavy equipment will not find understanding the user manual a mammoth task and will be able to comprehend the stuff written in it quite easily. The responsibility of repairing a machine falls more on the operator as he is the person who stays connected with the machine for most of the time. So if anything goes wrong with it, the onus straightaway falls on him. The user manual in such an instance proves to be quite helpful. He only needs to know the problem and can look for the solution in the book.

In situations where the heavy equipment has a major repair problem, the user manual may not be so helpful. At that time you have to get hold of a mechanic to fix the problem. Though the repair process will be mentioned in the user guide but it also requires experience of a person to fix a problem. One can’t just refer a book to find solution to the entire problem and have to depend upon a person’s experience as well. The user manual is quite helpful when it comes to solving minor issues and it also talks about the way one should be handling the machine. For instance, how frequent should one change the engine oil and how often one should clean the machine is all mentioned in the guide. It is just that one needs to follow the stuffs written on it religiously to ensure that their machine is productive and efficient.

In a nutshell one can take help of the user manual to fix any minor issues related to the heavy equipment and not have to depend on a mechanic for every small needs.

How profitable the construction industry is

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Many people are willing to be a part of the construction industry knowing how difficult it is to sustain in such a competitive environment. The reason that is flocking people to this industry is the chance of earning good income in comparatively lesser period of time. Today people are ready to take chances. They feel that in order to earn more you got to take some amount of risk in life and construction industry is all about risk and high income. However, a person should know his risk taking appetite or else he can land into a big mess which can even result him in winding up his business. There are numerous such instances where people have lost whatever they have earned by taking one miscalculated move which proved to be very costly to them. For some it resulted to selling their business assets and removing employees through means of cost cutting and for the rest it was more terrible. They had to shut down their business and were looking for something new.

For people who are ready to take the challenge and the various ups and downs of the business, they are in the game. You should know to strive and survive in this business. You will be hit by lot of forces that may compel you to back off but it is ultimately your character that will keep you going. There are also stories of individuals who had started from scratch and are now in the riches of the industry. They took the challenge after carefully scrutinizing if they will be able to take it on. They also took their chances but their chances were more calculated than others who failed miserably in this business. The one who were able to survive the tide made enormous wealth for themselves and also for their stakeholders.

Invest money for new projects:-

You can make millions if you hit the right note at the right time. For instance, buying repossessed heavy equipment at a comparatively lesser price, buying raw materials from guys who are new to the business and constructing a building on a land that has clear title are few of the facts that one should indulge in to earn more. By buying heavy equipment and raw materials at a lesser price you simply lessen the operating cost to the company and constructing apartments in a clear title will ensure smooth functioning without any legal hassles coming your way. Apparently, you will be able to invest your money that you earned through profits on newer projects. The thumb rule is never keep the money idle. It is advised to reinvest the business profits into expansion by keeping aside a sizable portion as contingency.

Try to maintain a profit percentage of 9% to 11%:-

Ideally for contractors who take contracts to build homes for buyers, they should assume a profit of around 9% to 11%. The profit percentage is excluding all other operating cost that goes into building a house. In other words, it is the net profit that one should expect to earn after paying all legal charges and fees. The contractor should have this figure into consideration while giving a quote to the buyer.

Highway construction with excavators

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Construction industry requires different types of heavy equipment for various types of works. They can’t limit their use to just one kind of machine for all the work. They have to bring in different heavy equipment that are capable of doing certain specialized work. For instance, you can’t make use of a loader for grading purpose. You have to use a grader for that work. Simultaneously, you can’t use any heavy equipment other than a water truck to spray water on the jobsite to contain the dust on the site. In the same way, when you are constructing a highway there are few heavy equipments that you need the most; without which you just can’t get the act right. You need a roller to crush the stuffs and make the road smooth and plain. Similarly, you also need an excavator at the beginning of the highway construction. Perhaps it all starts with an excavator which comes in handy for lot many activities.

A crawler excavator is perhaps the best heavy equipment that a contractor who engages in highway construction can have. A crawler excavator is quite similar to any other excavator which is exclusively used for excavating earth and rock and then loading them onto dump trucks. It basically has a boom which is attached to the front of the machine. At the end of the book, you will have a bucket with or without claws which is extensively used to pull out mud. The cabin in which the operator sits and operates the machine is just right above the undercarriage and is set on a rotating platform. The undercarriage of the machine has wheels or tracks which help the machine to move without losing grip. The attachment in a crawler excavator can be changed as per the requirement of the business. This means that you can now select from a range of options of attachments that you feel will get the work completed in lesser time.

The operator working on the excavator should be highly skilled and experienced as you can’t have someone who has little or no experience in highway construction. Operators who have worked for at least 5 years in constructing small roads can be signed up for highway construction. They should be under the supervision of senior operators who have loads of experience in constructing highways. Constructing highways is a tough job and it takes years for operators to clear the ground for the next level.

A contractor who has taken up the job of excavating should have more than 3 excavators working at a time on the site. They should set up a point till where the excavation work will be carried out and also a deadline should be given to the operators to make sure that the work is done within the given timeframe. Excavating work should be done in a phased manner and not dig up the entire place at one go. Once the excavating work is done, it should pave way for other machines to complete their part of job.

Periodical trainings may help employees to perform better

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It is perhaps not heavy equipment but the human resource that plays a pivotal role in the making of any successful business. The employees of a company can shoot their productivity to a new level if they are happy and content with the treatment that they get by the company and also by their bosses. The role of the management will be to ensure that the employees are well trained and can complete their work with utter accuracy. In an industry like construction, the role of the workers is very crucial. Right from the laborer to the civil engineer, they all require adequate training to understand what they are doing and how crucial their role is in the company. This also gives them a sense of importance and they take up their responsibility quite seriously. Even the guys who sit at the top require training on how to handle the labor force. The guys in the management have a bigger role to play in the overall performance of the company.

Construction laborers once they go skilled get ample of opportunity in almost any construction company. It therefore becomes the responsibility of the management to ensure that the guys do not leave the company for trivial reasons. Now to lower the attrition is a challenge that many top level managers find difficult to counter. In a construction business, it is not just the labor but there are many other people who hold such important departments that make the job of the top level managers tougher to hold them back. This is where their training comes into picture. These guys should be trained on a periodical basis on how to handle the vast labor force and ensure that they do not leave the company and stay productive. Keeping everybody happy is a difficult task and also requires lot of skill. The top level managers should be trained to acquire those skills and keep the guys happy.

Training the staff is another crucial segment that should not be skipped at any cost. The people from the Admin, HR and other such crucial departments should first understand the importance that the department holds and the positive impact that they can have on the people belonging to other departments. They should then be trained on how effectively they can make the working atmosphere in the company livelier. Organizing a small function or a health camp right on the jobsite can have a huge impact on the workers. The guys should be trained to come up with innovative ideas and put them to effect.

Lastly the laborers should be trained regularly on issues like health and safety. These are probably the most neglected areas that should be addressed. The trainings should be scheduled once every fortnight or once in a month and the attendance of all the employees should be mandatory. The employees will learn many things in this process that will help them to grow as a person and also in their career.

How do I find an Equipment Appraisal Service?

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Before you buy a used item you want to be sure about the price of the item that is being quoted by the seller. You just can’t pay any price for an item that is not even new. So how do you come to the point where you know the approximate price of the item? Well it is the appraisal company who does an appraisal on the item where they go through a lot of things in order to ensure that the price of the item that they appraise is correct. For every high priced item that has a sales value, we need an appraisal to be done on that commodity. Real estate is one such commodity. Before you sell a property it needs to be appraised.

It is the law that each one has to follow. Simultaneously when it comes to heavy equipment you need to get the appraisal done and once the appraisal agent determines an approximate price of the item, the seller needs to quote a price that revolves around the appraised price and sellers prefer to keep the price of the machine mostly below the appraised price. So the crux for the seller of heavy equipment is to locate an appraisal service agent who appraises the value of heavy equipment. In other words, you can’t go to an appraiser who is into appraising the value of real estate and ask him to do an appraisal of your construction machines.

Check on internet:-

To find an appraisal agent is not at all a tough job in today’s time. All you need to do is log into your internet and key in what you are looking for. You will be flooded with alternatives and then you got to pick the best alternative. There you have to do a bit of research. You need to check each websites individually and understand which appraisal service will be the best for you. You can check the reviews left by people who have used their services. This could be really helpful for you to take a decision. People believe in sharing their experiences on the net and whatever may be their experience they will put it out there for everyone to see. Go through the reviews carefully and apply your rationale to take a decision. You should go through maximum 5 appraisal companies reviews and try to take a call from that. Too many alternatives can also confuse you and your decision making ability can go for a toss.

Check with someone in your business circle:-

If you do not find a good appraiser on the internet and if your are the person who believes to follow more “word of mouth” then the best option is to check with guys in your business circle. We all buy and sell heavy equipment and before we sell any we need to get that appraised. All you have to do is check with someone who has recently sold heavy equipment. Once you know that you can easily know the name of the appraisal company. You can also know the person’s experience with the Appraisal Company which will help you to take a call.

Heavy equipment salesman should not run after commission

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Sales jobs are one of the most lucrative jobs that is always available and in demand in almost every field or industry. If you are good in sales and can achieve huge sales targets easily, you will surely flourish in your career. What makes most of the sales jobs so much popular is huge amount of commission that you are offered for every sale that you make.

This is exceptionally popular for selling the expensive goods such as the heavy construction equipment. The heavy construction equipment or vehicles are one of those things that can fetch a good deal of profit from a single sell, due to the high price of the vehicles. Hence, the sellers almost always can afford to provide commissions for the sale of these vehicles or equipment.

Why should you not run after commissions?

Often, commissions are considered to be a motivating factor behind increasing sales. However, the fact in reality is that these commissions do not motivate the salesmen at all. With every single commission promise, comes a high target of sales that the salesmen have to achieve. If they do not achieve the sales, they are not given the commission. Hence, they do not feel “motivated” with this commission; rather they feel burdened with this huge target that they have to achieve.

But, heavy construction equipment or vehicles are something that is not something easy to sell. These are quite expensive and unless it is a large construction business, there is very little chance that the equipment will be sold frequently. Moreover, the longevity of the heavy construction equipment is extremely high and they do not get damaged easily. Due to this reason, the scope of sales of the heavy construction equipment such as a hydraulic crane, a mixing machine, scissor lifts, pavers, excavators, loaders etc. is limited.

What should be the alternative?

As already mentioned, with sales commissions, comes the target or burden of high sales results, this actually disturbs the mood for good business. Hence, those, who are looking for a job as a salesman in a heavy equipment selling company, should not run after a commission. The aim should not be to gain maximum income from commissions; rather it should be on how to become a better salesman.

For that you need to focus more on the knowledge of increasing sales in your field. With more interest in the vehicle or equipment that you sell and with more focus on how the customers would be benefited by the heavy construction equipment, the sales would be increased. The sellers or the businesses should also concentrate more on hiring the skilled heavy equipment salesmen and not hire anyone, who is looking for a commission, without having the skills for selling the equipment. Businesses will gain more profit from good or skilled sellers; rather than by setting targets for new salesmen and promising to give them commissions for the number of sales that they make in every month or in a given period of time.

 

Your construction website should be catchy

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In order to have your presence felt in the construction sector, you need to have a website. Without a website, your company does not truly exist. Well it does exist on papers though but for people to know you, they can only do it with the help of internet. You can’t expect them to go to government office to know more about your company’s existence but have to create a portal where people can find everything they want to know about your company. Now the most important question is why they will see you when they have plenty of other options available. How are you different from others that you will manage to catch others attention towards you. For that you got to play a bit smart. In order to reach out to the mass, you need to have a catchy website. Now catchy does not mean that you go casual in your approach while you design the website but it means that you try to make it as attractive as you can. Bring in innovative ideas that were not used by others but make a lot of sense if it forms a part of your website.

Post pictures of your work:-

Put as many pictures of your work as you can on your website which will allow people to know the business you are in. However, while you pose pictures on your website, you got to be clear with one thing and that is you make your website look like a construction website and not something that gives a different meaning to it. The pictures that you put on your website should speak aloud about your work and your achievements. Also it should speak about the benefits of people who invest their money in your work. For instance, you are developer who constructs buildings and sells apartments. What will make your website attractive is how you market your products and what benefits you have for the end users. This makes a lot of difference and works as the attraction part in your website.

Easily noticeable on the search engine:-

Ideally there are two ways by which you can be easily noticeable on the search engine page. The first one is you got to be exponentially famous to come up on the first page of the search engine and the second is the content, phrases or keywords that you put on your website should be quite common one so that when people enter those words, it also throws your website on the search page. In case, you do not fit in the first option, the second one should be for you and you got to work things out to fall in the second bracket. You have to put those keywords and phrases that pulls the attention of the search engines and it throws your website to the viewer. Rest your website should be catchy enough to take it from there. The viewer should find it interesting enough to not to leave it after having a single glance.

Go for repo heavy equipment to get them cheap

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There are basically two to three ways to get heavy equipment at cheaper rate. The first one is to buy used machines that was with one owner for a long period of time and then went on to other and now again getting resold to you. So when the heavy equipment changes hands the price diminishes. This was one of the scenarios. However, in the first scenario the quality of machine is not at all up to the mark and you feel that it is better that you go for something that works faster than this. Heavy equipment that are faulty are also sold at a cheaper rate. The owner of the heavy equipment for some reason do not want to spend on the fixture of the machine and therefore would like to sell it at a lesser price so that the prospective buyer can take the onus to change the parts that has ceased to work and get it up and running. This was the second scenario and it is accepted by people who have technical knowhow of the machine. Rest does not want to get themselves involved in this.

The third and probably the most accepted scenario is buying heavy equipment from banks at cheaper rate. Now the question is from when banks started selling heavy equipment. Well, they are not here to sell construction machines but are bothered about getting their money back by selling the stuff at a dirt cheap price. What ideally happens is they sell repo machines. The heavy equipment whose monthly installments are not paid and the primary owner of the machine also does not have any intention to pay the money are repossessed by the banks who then auction it so that they can make up the cost by selling it in the open market.

Are there any buyers for repo construction equipment? Well there are plenty of contractors, rental houses and construction companies who are always on hunt of such deals. They have their men working in close nexus with the guys in the repo team who informs them about such machines and when the banks will auction them. Once they get the news about the auction, they keep the money ready. They know that they have to be there with the money and bag the deal. Some contractors even have tie-ups with banks who facilitates the machines at cheaper price. They obviously take some cut from the deal. This may not be as per the guidelines of the bank but things happen and this is how it works out there.

Almost all kinds of heavy equipment can be repossessed by banks as long as they are not paid by the owner. Many a time, in order to save their machine from getting repo, people take another loan with higher interest rate and pay the dues. But that can have a strong repercussion on them as they have to end up paying more to the other lender.

Tips to retain construction workers

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Like many other industries, the construction industry too faces a lot of trouble regarding retaining their employees, especially the workers. There is always a demand and scarcity of construction workers, especially the skilled ones. The problem of construction worker shortage is something that the owners always try to cope with.

Why is there a worker shortage?

Construction worker shortage is a persistent problem in the construction industry and there are many reasons, why this takes place. These include –

  • Lack of advancement and growth
  • The fear that this is a dangerous job
  • Being displeased with the job or the company and employers.

Some of these causes are general that any other industry would encounter and some of these are specific to this industry. Whatever the cause or type of cause may be, the employers need to take specific measures to retain the construction workers to the company.

Things to do to retain construction workers:

In order to retain the construction workers to do the construction work, the employers need to –

  • Offer Job Training:

 

The workers must always be offered job training. Job training is important for any worker in any field as it offers the employees and workers the peace of mind and confidence about their capability. This also gives them the chance of growth in the years to come. Without training, they will lack confidence.

Besides, the training – both practical and software related training, helps the workers to feel safe in the construction working environment. Otherwise, they feel vulnerable to work in this industry.

  • Offer Effective Communication:

 

In most cases, the construction workers have to work in the field. Hence, they often feel that their needs and demands are not being heard of. Hence, the employers need to make sure that the workers get to communicate with them. The managers and team leaders should be open to listening to their needs and demands.

Using monthly newsletters to communicate with the employees and welcoming representatives of the workers to be a part of the project meetings will help the employers to feel that they too are a part of the company and understand the projects well. There are various tools and devices that help in the communication and as an employer; you need to offer these things.

  • Pay Them Well:

 

There is no alternative to this tip. Regardless of the industry the workers are working in, good pay is the single basic thing that will help you to retain your workers and employees. Along with the monthly salary, you need to benefit the employees with bonus. This will keep them happy and satisfied and they will not think of leaving your company. In fact, pay time and attention to the other financial benefits like insurance.

If you keep these things in mind, you will not face trouble in retaining your workers. All that you should be careful about is that the recruitment of the employees is proper and you choose only the best, trained and qualified employees. This will help in the outcome of the construction job.

 

Manage your profits wisely

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It takes a lot of time for a person to start making profits in a business. It is evident that a person can’t expect to generate profits right from the moment he starts up with a business. He will take time to first understand how the business works and slowly he will begin to see monetary inflows. There may be situations when he will run into losses right from the time he ventured. But things will improve and most importantly the owner of the business needs to learn from each of his mistakes. That will take him closer towards his goals. Now by the time he/she starts earning profits, he/she needs to be more cautious with the money he/she earns as profits. Normally, we have the tendency to spend on ourselves and our loved ones the moment we find monetary gains happening in our business. Well, you can definitely spend some amount buying items for yourself and for the people you care for but you also should be cautious about your spending as you may need the money for future investment.

A person who is engaged with the construction business and is now at a formidable position can very well tell you how difficult it had been for him/her to reach where he/she is from nowhere. No wonder he must have been very hard working but there is something more than just being hard working. You also need to care for the hard work that you have done all the years. In other words, you got to respect your work by thinking what more you can do to make things simpler and achieve what you want to without having to go through the same trouble again. This is where managing your profits come into picture.

Construction industry unlike many other sectors is a volatile business. You may have a good time running the business and then all of a sudden things might turn upside down for you. The orders that you have in hand may get revoked and the prospect of your existing project may also get hampered. There are many such companies who have suffered huge losses from something that they failed to envisage and this can happen at any point in time in this business. In such a bad phase of your business it is perhaps the money that you have saved will come to bail you out.

A contingent fund is a basic requirement that should not be avoided. You make this contingent fund out of the profits in your business. Try to set aside an amount every time you get money after the completion of the project. You may unable to do it on a monthly basis as you may not even earn monthly. Do not end up spending on things that you have temporary use. Look at the bigger picture before you buy any commodity. Heavy equipments play a crucial role in the construction business and it should be well maintained. It might eat up a lot from your profits through means of repairs. Keep a tab on your expenses and save your profits for some better use.