Big construction companies should take participation of small companies

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Construction projects are usually profit making ones and bigger the project the amount of profit that one can expect increases manifolds. However, the risk attached in a bigger project is also high. It is practically not possible for any might construction company to invest all it has into one project as they have their hands into other projects all around the city. So for instance, if a construction company is constructing a township in some city of Florida, it is not necessarily the only project under its belt.

The same company may also be working in simultaneous projects in some other city of the same state or in some other state as well. One can simply understand the amount of men they need to complete the projects all across the country. This also bring forth the question of investment that the company has to put in. it makes no point in making such huge investment because at the end of the day if you tally your total expense and the profit you have made, it will result to a minor difference. However, if you want to see the profit margin higher you can involve other construction companies or contractors in your work and just pay them for their services.

This is what many big construction companies have been doing for the last many years. Rather than working on a big project alone, they involve the participation of other small companies and give them their part of work. This means that the company does not have to deploy additional men and heavy equipments for the work. As a matter of fact, it does not have to deploy anything. The small construction company to whom the work will be assigned will take charge of the project and will do everything to ensure that the work is completed as per the instructions given to him by the big company and also that it is finished on time.

The project taker will thereby deploy its heavy equipment and men and work on the project. In this way, the big company can concentrate of other projects and can also simultaneously hunt for more projects and the small companies also get work. This means that the small companies do not have to spend their time and energy to hunt for new projects and if at all they do to get some extra work, it is completely fine as long as they are able to manage both the work at the same time. The big construction company should ideally not have any problem as long as his quality of work is getting unaffected.

This is a kind of win-win situation for both the big construction house and small companies and contractors who ideally have a hard time to get some work. The big companies also find it immensely difficult to manage the entire project single handedly. Now with the involvement of the small companies things will for sure move for better.

Selling becomes easy with branded heavy equipment

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You be the one of the best seller with superb convincing skills, you will always find it difficult to sell a product that not many people have heard about. People normally like to purchase things that have a brand name attached to it or else they would be skeptic to go for it. For instance, if you check the stuff that you have in your house, there may not be a single item that does not have a brand name. You must have bought all the branded items however big or small the name of the brand must be. The same thought is applicable with people when they go for buying heavy equipment. As a matter of fact, there may not be single heavy equipment that gets sold without a known brand name attached to it. Construction companies irrespective of their size will always go for machines that at least have a reputation. They will not buy stuff whose manufacturers name has been unheard on not known to many.

Heavy equipment that is followed by a famous brand name sells like hot cake. Many sales men earn huge commission by selling machines that are known to many. However, they can earn more commission if they successfully sell brands which are not so famous amongst people. It is because the not so famous brands want to establish their presence in the domestic market for which they are ready to shell out more percentage of commission to the salesman who are able to sell their products. Salesman in turn gets lured with the high percentage of commission and they try to give it a shot.

After trying to sell heavy equipment of brands that are not so famous, it has been known that they faced serious hurdles and at times were also on the verge of losing a customer with whom they were doing business for long. It is not that the new brand is not a good enough stuff but it is just that the buyers do not have the confidence to go for it. It makes the work of the salesman tougher to sell new brands. Buyers will ask them to come up with products that they have been buying and may not show much interest to even know what the new brand is all about.

There are few salesmen who took this as a challenge and started promoting the product first and then went to sell it. It is important to first market the heavy equipment well so that people gets aware of the brand and gets known to the values of the company. After this, they can fix an appointment and straight away go for a demonstration. Only when the buyer checks out the demo that he may get convinced to buy the machine. In this entire scenario, the salesman need to play smart and try to co-relate the wants of the buyer with the features of the machine and then it will sound just perfect to the ears of the buyer.

Wanting to make a career in selling heavy equipment – Read the tips

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It is believed by many that one can have a wonderful career if he knows how to sell things. We all are sellers but very few are good sellers and only the few good sellers make the most out of anything. Selling has always been referred to an art which needs to be sharpened in order to make maximum revenue or to get utmost advantage. One such industry that pays a lot is of selling heavy equipment. The reason it pays lot is because it is not an easy job at all. Heavy equipment is in itself a complex subject and people who are into the profession of selling these complex subject needs to understand it well so that they can pitch them to the consumers with confidence and can also sell them the right stuff without misguiding them.

People who want to make their career as a salesman selling heavy equipment should for sure follow these points as it will help them big time to climb the success ladder.

Knowing the technical aspect is important:-

In order to become an ace salesman, it is crucial that you know a bit about the technical intricacies of heavy equipment. Not knowing anything about the technical aspect can cost you dearly when you start facing different types of clients and especially the ones who knows about the stuff you are dealing with. Just because you can speak well and not have much knowledge about the machine you are trying to sell will not help you to bail out from the grasp of the client who knows the in and out of the equipment. You will definitely see yourself to be trapped. Therefore spend some time to learn the stuff you are selling.

Do not try to fool the client:-

Many beginners commit the mistake of trying to play around with the client’s intelligence and thus also end up paying a heavy price for it. Trying to fool the client can have drastically adverse effect on the company for whom you work. The client will completely lose his confidence from the brand and he will feel that the brand is misguiding people to sell its product. You can’t play around with things like this. In case you do not know something that was asked to you, be strong enough to answer the truth and say that you will gather more information about it and will get back to him. The client will appreciate this and you may do well in the next meeting.

Give demo to the consumer:-

When a new product is launched in the market which the consumer has not heard of or perhaps have never experienced it, you should give a live demo of the machine to him. In this way, you attract most of his attention and can also leave a positive imprint on him. Try to explain the benefits of the equipment in his business and if he finds it worthy, he will take it for sure.

How to hire competent heavy equipment mechanic

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A manufacturing company can thrive only if it has a proper team of professionals who are competent in providing after sales service. They should be good at their job because it is perhaps the after sales service guys who are majorly responsible for the goodwill of the company. If the product goes faulty, the customer hunts for someone who can get that fixed and if he does not find anybody then he will never go for that brand in his life and will also suggest others to not buy product of that brand. This can prove really costly to the manufacturing company. The after sales team therefore plays such an important role in the growth of the company. The company therefore has to play a more crucial part by hiring competent workforce who knows about the subject well and will take less time to resolve the problem with the product.

Heavy equipment companies manufacture really expensive items and it is quite likely that a product may stop functioning after few months of its purchase. This is why you need to have men who can go to the clients’ jobsite at the word go and can check the problem. The construction business owner are usually loaded with too much of work and are also heavily dependent on heavy equipment and if any of the machine stops working, it costs them dearly. This is why they need a mechanic right away when they experience issues with their machines. It becomes the responsibility of the heavy equipment companies to hire the best mechanic. The crux of the matter is that they should be able to identify who are competent mechanics and who are not.

Check their qualification:-

The heavy equipment companies should check the qualification of the candidates at the time of the interview. They need to check the academic scores and ask questions by giving them different scenarios. This will let the interviewer know the exact standing of the candidate. If the candidate has studied hard to secure good marks, it will reflect in his academics score sheet. However that should be taken as the sole criteria to judge the competency of a candidate. The interviewer should keep this as one of the parameter.

Experience plays a mighty role:-

The experience of a heavy equipment mechanic increases his price in the market. Heavy equipment companies are ready to pay him a higher package if he has good number of experience up in his sleeves. Your experience should be also followed by a good track record wherein you are always punctual and do not take unnecessary leaves. Your overall conduct has been good in the past companies that you have worked and should not have stability issues.

The machines he has worked on:-

It is important for the heavy equipment companies to check with the mechanic on the kind of heavy equipment he has worked on. A mechanic who has only worked on graders and has no working knowledge of loaders or excavators is not a viable one for you.

What does construction industry have for new entrants?

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New entrants are always posed to higher risk in any form of industry. Newbie who lack experience to handle volatile business are prone to risk that can lead to winding up of the business once and for all. This is the reason why when you think of trying your luck in an industry, try to gather as much knowledge as you can to help you analyze the scope you have to stay afloat and the risks attached that has the potential to sway your business forever. Take advices from people who have been in the industry for long. Their tips will definitely help you for good. When we talk about volatile industry, we can never skip talking about the construction sector. It is considered to be one of the most volatile sectors. It is also known for rewarding people for their good work and ability to strive in high tides.

New entrants in the construction industry have to witty, sharp and sensitive towards their business. Any form of casual approach can cost the company dearly and end their hopes to make it big in the sector. Market experts believe that the construction sector in a nutshell is doing better that most other industries and the reason behind it is the boom in the economy.

The world economy is improving and so are the industries that are closely associated with a growing economy. It is therefore the right time to get into the construction business and try to achieve success with hard work and dedication. However, you got to decide the genre that you want to take. For instance, you need to decide if you want to get into forestry or road building or construction of residential property or commercial houses. This decision is quite imperative for you to get hold of the business and later consolidate it.

Housing sector is at its peak:-

New entrants in the construction industry can try out in the housing sector which is at its peak for the time being. You will not find much competition there as long as the size of the project is small. Companies that are into this business for long do not want to end up in small projects. They basically eye for work that will last for a couple of years. It undoubtedly has more money for the builder which is why many companies compete to bag the work. Quite contrary to this, small housing projects are not a highly profitable zone that one would like to enter and therefore it gives new entrants the opportunity to take the work and strengthen their position. They can continue to pick smaller projects as long as they are not confident to go for a bigger deal.

Construction of amusements parks and resorts:-

Constructing a holiday home is the next big thing that the construction industry has for new entrants. However, a company with no experience of building such projects can have a hard time to complete it and therefore it is recommended that they get into a partnership with a more experienced company which is smaller in size and is ready to partner with a company that is a newbie.

 

Starting an excavation company

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Starting a construction company is way different from starting an excavation company. Though both are very closely associated with each other but still there lies a chunk of difference when it comes to operating the business. A successful construction company may not put his hands in the excavation business as well. They might find it a bit uneasy to operate that stuff. They got to learn whole new things if they intend to lay their hands in starting an excavation company. Firstly, it has to do much more than just operating heavy equipment. Here you need to know the guys whom you should hire and whom you should fire. Not knowing that part can have a drastic impact on your company. Moreover, you should also know the laws of each state. You will definitely not be restricting yourself to just one state and if required you will move out to other states as well for the growth of your business. There it becomes instrumental for you to know the law of the land.

We will be discussing few important points that are required to analyze before you start an excavation company.

Knowledge about the business:-

Before you start doing any form of business, it is important that you know a bit about it beforehand. Depending on others for your business can prove to be harmful. You have to depend on their decisions and will not have a choice of your own. It becomes suffocating when you are not allowed to make decisions on things that belong to you. Taking advices from others is different from accepting and following other’s decisions. Apart from that, you never know if the person on whom you are so dependent is taking you on a royal ride. Knowing a bit about the excavation business will be a healthy sign towards making your company a formidable one. You can attend few training sessions that are conducted by business leaders where they share their ideas to the mass. Such sessions can be really helpful. Other than this, you can also work on the field in order to understand the business better.

Hire competent attorneys:-

You may not be able to understand the legality of each and every state and therefore it is advisable that you hire an attorney who has loads of experience in dealing with matters of your domain. He/she will be the man or woman who will guide you on legal issues. So before you set forth for a new project in a state, you try to get all the necessary sanctions with the help of the attorney so that once you begin your work, you do not come across any legal hassles from any part of the government.

Handling payroll of your employees:-

You should have designated staff who will handle the payrolls of the employees. Try and create a log in your computer and share the details with the department who handles the payroll part of the company. People work for money and if there are discrepancies in their salary they feel de-motivated. This is a danger sign for the company.

 

Kevin Cook Heavy Equipment Guy

Mini excavators work efficiently in small projects and smaller space

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A mini excavator or compact excavator is used for digging or demolition works in construction projects or as a part of repair and maintenance. Mini excavators are specially manufactured for comparatively smaller projects but these machineries need expert hands for flawless and safe operation. Mini excavators are available with different attachments meant for digging and demolition. A mini excavator comes with a small cab where the controller sits comfortably for driving and controlling the machine. These days, highly sophisticated electronics devices are used for maneuvering and controlling the machine. Mini excavators either have wheels or tracks.

What kinds of jobs require mini excavators?

A mini or compact excavator can accomplish a multiple of tasks, some of which are as follows:

    • Digging Holes on the ground, walls, or hills
    • Digging ponds, or reservoirs
    • Demolishing a small structure
    • Removing concrete or natural obstacles
    • Removing snow from the road or garden
    • Creating trenches
    • Removing debris
    • Digging irrigation channels
  • Cleaning drains
  • Flattening uneven landscape

 

Mini excavator models possess different benefits and they are specialized in handling different types of projects. Before, buying or hiring such machinery, the user needs to think about the availability of space, and type of job where the machine will be employed.

Types of mini excavators

Two types of mini excavators are available in the market:

Tail swing excavators – These excavators are popular for their greater lifting capacity, and arm breakout force, comfortable cabs, and easy to control option. The rear counterweight is specially designed to provide more stability to the whole system while excavating or lifting theweight. The machine requires some extra space for movement, so it is not suitable for a narrow area.

Zero-tail swing excavators – As the name suggest, this machine is just suitable for a narrow area. Its counterweight moves within the width of the excavator making it adjustable in a small space and keeping thefocus of the operator just on the job. The maintenance expenses of this excavator are also lower than tail swing excavators.

Zero-tail swing excavators have become more demanding than the traditional mini excavators as they are easily operable in urban and populated areas. As the counterweight radius is minimized within the width of the machines there remains less chance of damage to other properties.

Attachments for mini excavators

These machinery are extremely useful as the users can apply these in different works with different kinds of attachments like buckets, chuck blades, rippers, blades, grippers, grapples, and much more. Again, each of these attachments has different specifications which are used in different situations. For example, buckets have a multiple of categories like digging buckets, tilting buckets, tilting buckets, rotary tilting buckets, etc. and grapples have categories like rotating lock grapples, rock grapples, wood processing grapples, etc.

For an efficient use of a mini excavator, the operator needs to be trained on this machine. Otherwise, work hour and quality of work may be lost and damage of property or other kinds of accidents may occur. Mini excavators are optimally expert in multiple jobs where promptness and expenses matter a lot.

 

Nothing can compete the CAT M series Motor Grader

The importance of a motor grader can never be ruled out in a big construction site. You will get to see a lot of debris lying all around the site and it becomes difficult for workers to move around the site amid of those debris. In situation like this, it becomes crucial for the construction company to deploy machines that are capable of moving the debris and load them on a truck. If the debris is lying at a place for good number of days it becomes all the more difficult for heavy equipment to move it. This is where the role of a motor grader comes into picture. With the help of the blade that is attached at the bottom of the machine it can break away the hard mud and carry it to the truck. Moreover it has those claws that are attached to the end of the machine and it exclusively used to break down the mud.

Introducing the M series Motor grader, Cat has brought in a revolution in the construction and heavy equipment manufacturing industry. People who were not CAT brand lovers moved to CAT as they found the extra bit what was missing in graders of other companies. The M-series Motor Grader is not only excellent in terms of performance but is also quite a reliable one and consumes comparatively less fuel. Other features are more or less similar to graders of other companies. The price of the machine is what sets it apart from the graders of other heavy equipment companies. CAT being a branded company also believes in providing quality machines at affordable price. This is perhaps the reason why they are still such a big name in the heavy equipment market. Other companies are already taking the beating due to intense competition but CAT is giving fierce challenge to other domestic as well as international players.

Moving to the specification of most of 140 M Motor Grader which is a part of the M-series grader, the model engine is C7 ACERT VHP. It has 6 cylinders in all and net power with gears 7 and 8 is 183 hp. The operational weight of the front and the rear axle is 8123 and 14950 kilograms and its total operational weight is 23077 kgs. Moving to the fuel capacity of the machine, the total fuel capacity is 416 liters which includes cooling system fluid capacity of 47 liters, hydraulic system fluid capacity of 60 liters, final drive fluid capacity of 65 liters and tandem case fluid capacity of 64 liters.

The total number of gears available is 8 (forward) and 6 (reverse) and has a maximum speed of 29 mph (forward) and 23 mph (reverse). Moving to the dimension of the grader, the height of the machine to the top of the cab is 11 ft in and its overall length is 28.6 ft in. The wheel and blade base is 20.1 ft in and 8.4 ft in. he front and rear ground clearance is 1.9 and 1.1 ft in respectively.

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Construction companies can’t afford to compromise on safety

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The construction industry is one of those industries that do not have any chance of facing a downfall in the near future. This is because of the constantly growing demand of new buildings, offices, residential complexes and so on and so forth, for the growing population all across the globe. However, despite this constantly growing demand, there is always a scarcity of skilled labours or workers in these construction companies. One of the primary reasons behind this is the lack of safety or security for the workers.

Importance of safety in construction companies:

Safety is a major concern not only for the construction businesses, but also for every single business that you run. If there are too many people working together and using tools and machineries, there is always a chance for accidents. When it is a construction business, the chances or exposure to accidents is even higher. This is because, the construction companies use –

  • Heavy equipment and machineries
  • Electronic or power tools
  • Use of fire ad gas cutters
  • Working with concrete
  • Working at an elevated site with great height.

Hence, there is always the possibility that accidents may occur. Hence, it is a must that proper safety measures are taken. Otherwise, this will lead to severe fatal damages or cause lifelong difficulties for the workers.

Safety measures that need to be taken:

As already mentioned, there are so many accident possibilities and health hazards possible in a construction site or for construction industries, they simply cannot afford to compromise on the safety matter. There are a number of things that need to be ensured. These include –

  • Following the rules and regulations:

 

Every state and country has specific safety measure rules and regulations that the construction companies need to follow. Otherwise, conducting the business is an absolutely illegal act. Hence, know the safety rules for construction businesses of your state and country and follow them.

  • Use railings:

 

This is a very basic safety measure that needs to be taken, when your workers are working at a site. Regardless of how elevated the construction site is, using railings is a must. This will prevent a number of falls that are possible to occur at any point of time.

  • Fall prevention tools and measures:

 

Apart from the railings, there are many other fall prevention tools and machines that need to be used by the workers. From using the fall prevention nets to the use of harnesses, there are various tools that can be used and should be used.

  • Presence or water supply and fire extinguishers:

 

Fire hazards can occur at any time and in a construction site, there can be electrical lines, supplies and materials that can spread the fire fast. Hence, having adequate extinguishers and water supply is a must.

  • Proper training:

 

Be it working on an elevated platform or the use of heavy construction equipment, proper training is a must. With proper safety training, a number of accidents can be prevented.

For the wellbeing of the construction workers and also for the successful functionality of the business, following good safety measures is a must.

 

Are two-way radios still use on a construction job site?

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With the world constantly moving towards technological advancements, there is a huge tendency of users to switch over to the use of smartphones in comparison to any other old and traditional methods of communication. However, the question is, whether the smartphones are always the best choices or not, remains.

At a construction site, where there is a continuous need to communicate with each other, it becomes absolutely impossible to complete any task if the communication is hampered or hindered. Hence, proper communication methods or medium should be used to ensure constant communication between all the workers.

About Smartphone and Two-Way Radios:

Traditionally, the tool that has been loved and vastly used by most of the workers at almost every construction site is the two-way radio. It is a handy tool, something that looks like a walkie-talkie and helps the workers to stay connected at all times and with everyone in the loop. But, its usage is limited only up to communication.

As the technology is ever growing and advancing in its features and facilities, even the heavy construction equipment and machines can now be synced with smartphones and operated well. Many other machines, contacts, alarms, notifications and apps can help you to make your construction work easier with a smartphone that is the reason why many of the construction site workers as well as the leaders, managers and executives are switching towards using the smartphones as their mode of communication.

Which One is the Better?

Now that you have known about the two most popular modes of communication at a construction site, it is now a question, which one is better. There are a few factors that need to be taken into consideration then.

  • Ease of use:

 

One of the most important factors that need to be taken into consideration is the ease of use and that is great in case of the two way radios. With just a single push, you can communicate with one or more workers at the construction site at a time. The smartphones do not give the facility of communicating with every person at the construction site a single go.

  • In case of emergency:

 

There can be emergency situations when the cell towers or networks of the smartphone operators stop working or responding. The two way radios work even in such emergency situations.

  • Affordability:

 

Yet another important factor that needs to be kept in mind is the factor of affordability. Since you will be purchasing them for all the workers at a construction site or for you on-site construction workers, you need to buy something that is cost-effective. The two way radios are way cheaper than the smartphones.

Hence, it can well be said that the two way radios have a great acceptability at the construction job site and its popularity is not going to lessen any time soon. With the world famous companies such as Motorola making great two way radios for the construction job sites, you can be satisfied that the performance of these radios will be unparalleled.