Tag Archives: construction

Five Ways Construction Technologies Can Improve Profitability

By: Jason Hurdis–Sr. Market Proffessional for Caterpillar Inc.

How many times have you heard the saying, time is money? That old adage has never been truer in the construction industry than it is right now. But today we can update that passage to say, “tech is money.”

Every construction company owner faces pressure to control costs and operate at lower profit margins. As you evaluate your own business operations, technology is something you should consider. By identifying areas where you can become more efficient, you can determine the types of technologies that will bring the biggest benefit to your organization’s bottom line.

Based on customer experiences and data, Caterpillar is constantly developing and refining advanced technologies to help make your equipment more cost-effective and efficient. CAT Connect technologies and services such as, LINK, GRADE, PAYLOAD and EMSolutions all help increase profit margins and worksite productivity. Here are several ways the right technology can help make your company more profitable:

  1. Control fuel costs

Fuel consumption information is some of the most valuable information you can collect and use as a construction company. Idle time can represent 40-50 percent of a machine’s total running time. Tracking and reducing idle time in your machines with CAT technologies can reduce fuel costs by as much as 50 percent.

Such technologies enable insights that wouldn’t otherwise be available to you. If fuel consumption goes up suddenly during a job, it could signal a bigger issue. Here are just a few problems CAT technologies can flag and help you uncover before it becomes a real problem.

  • Dirty fuel injectors
  • Plugged/Contaminated air filters
  • Defective sensors
  • Faulty Engine Control Modules
  • Worn piston rings or leaky valves
  • Slipping clutch or transmission
  • Improper lube oil viscosity
  • Undersized machine, bucket or work tool
  • Low tire pressure or worn tires
  • Aggressive or untrained operators
  1. Manage maintenance intervals

Analyzing the data our technologies provide can help business owners increase the efficiency and cost effectiveness of your maintenance schedules. The longer you can effectively stretch maintenance intervals, the more time and money you can save. The importance of planned maintenance – and the profitability it enables – cannot be overstated. CAT technologies can help you interpret your data, provide monitoring services and help you develop the most profitable maintenance schedules for your fleet.

  1. Increase machine utilization

It’s hard to see patterns or trends when you have multiple machines working at multiple worksites. With data produced from CAT technologies, business owners can make decisions on machine activation and optimization from one central point. If a truck is sitting at idle too long waiting to be loaded, you may find there is so much idle time between trucks in your fleet that you can park one of them.

The data produced by CAT technologies can identify underutilized assets in your fleet, and can help managers eliminate the need for rental machines while also providing them with the information they need to forecast future equipment needs.

  1. Increased uptime

CAT technologies can provide companies with fault code alerts, which are messages delivered when a machine is working outside a predetermined set of parameters. These alerts cover machine-specific situations including engine over-speeding, high-speed directional shifts and changes in temperature and pressure. The benefits of receiving alerts like these are that they notify managers when maintenance and repairs are needed, which reduces unscheduled machine downtime and equipment repair costs.

  1. Improved bidding accuracy and competitiveness

CAT on-board systems allow companies to submit tighter, more competitive bids because of the data they provide. Companies today don’t need to pad their fuel numbers when bidding for a project; they can calculate exactly how many gallons per hour they need to get the job done.

Such technologies also are proven to increase materials savings by up to 10 percent, and decrease rework by as much as 50 percent. Using fewer materials and spending less time on rework allows companies to lower their bid prices, therefore, giving them a leg up on their competition.

CAT technologies are reshaping the process of using, managing and owning construction equipment. Construction companies that want to stay ahead of their competitors for projects both now and in the future must adapt and implement the proper technologies. It’s the best way to become more efficient while maintaining margins, quality and safety. Why give the competition the edge when the technologies present profitable opportunities? Because tech is money, and a more efficient fleet equals a better bottom line.

GUEST POST

By Jason Hurdis

Sr. Market Professional

Caterpillar Inc.

 

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Welding Heavy Equipment

In a heavy equipment company, people from all departments have a specific role to play. For instance, the engineers and designers role is limited to giving a new shape to the heavy equipments and to install new features that makes things comfortable for the end user. Similarly, the role of a welder is also significant in a heavy equipment company. He is the one who gives the ultimate shape to the designs made by the designers and engineers and therefore welders are in huge demand all across the heavy equipment industry. They are not only employed with fat packages by the heavy equipment companies but also by some construction companies that have variety of machines under their fleet and which needs repairs and maintenance on regular basis. The role of a welder can’t be ignored as he is an equally important person as any other person in the overall sector.

Welding is ideally done when you need to join 2 sheets of metal into one. You weld them and stick them together without using any sort of glue. Now heavy equipment are manufactured by welding different pieces of metal and combining it into one complete machine. So if anything goes wrong, the entire product becomes a waste. The welders have to carefully join pieces so that they can give it a proper shape. Welders are also quite useful in a construction or demolition site. When it is about demolishing a solid structure, there are high chances that the heavy equipment may crack and if it does then you will not be able to use the machine any further for the same work as long as it is not repaired.

For moments like these, construction companies always keep a welder handy. They know that any break down in the jobsite can cost them good deal of money and in order to avoid such breakdowns they either learn how to weld metals or keep a guy who knows to weld things always with them. Other than heavy equipment, a welder is always needed in a construction site to weld iron beams and stuff. But you may or may not be able to use them to weld a machine as they may or may not know to weld an attachment on heavy equipment. It is quite normal for a welder to not know to weld heavy equipment if he is not trained for it. He is perhaps trained to weld things other than heavy equipment and for construction machines you need highly skilled welders. So getting the job done from any welder is not a viable option.

Normally construction companies have their repairman who ideally takes care of the entire fleet of heavy equipment. These guys are also trained welders and if there is a need to add a loader or a bucket or for that matter any other attachment, they are completely compatible for the job. They are trained in renowned institutes and can be completely relied on for these kinds of job.

Newbie should remain open to advice

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When you are new to something, you should better be open to learn anything and everything that comes your way. This means that you should be ready to take advices from people. Well, this does not imply that you should be following them irrespective you find them to be right or wrong. Being a part of the construction industry, you will come across many people who will give you advice on many things. Out of them some may work and many will not. However, listening to them will cost you nothing and therefore keep your ears open. The only exception is when you hear someone speaking things that do not make any sense to you; you should try and avoid such men. There are many legal hassles that one has to go through when they kick start their construction business for which you need to know the right person to approach. Let say you need help of a good attorney but you do not know any. This is when you reach out to people who can help you find a good attorney who will advise you on legal matters.

Not all advice come free. Like in above example where you are required to take some legal advices from an attorney. The attorney will for sure charge you fees for his services and that will not be free. Now what needs to be noted is how worthy is the attorney to you. If you see that his advice works for you, then you can continue to stick with him or else you got to look for someone else.

One of the most crucial departments where you require regular advice from people is buying or renting of heavy equipment. Since being new to the industry, you often require help of guys who are a bit tenured and who understand the criticality of this industry. Right from acquiring a project to determining the number of workers you need for the work, you need a person to guide you throughout. Picking up the right set of heavy equipment is quite important. You may not know accurately which machine can be used for what purpose. You may know that an excavator can be used for excavating work but you may not know that changing its accessories will allow it to do much more than just excavating. This is perhaps where you need expert advices so that you can make the right selection.

Taking the right move in the construction industry is also important because any wrong step can lead you to a lot of hassles. For instance, you can’t construct anything on a land that has lien on it. There are many legal hiccups that you may have to encounter. Also where the title is not clear and you step into build something there. There are chances that on one fine morning you may get a notice from a title holder. Therefore before you take up any new work, you again need to take advice from people so that you do not end up into troubled waters.

Preventable accident heavy equipment safety

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Safety has always been a big concern in any construction jobsite. Even though people take utmost caution and follow all the necessary safety procedures, accidents happen. Some companies have even called upon experts who have done detailed study in jobsite related accidents and they have to say that it is sometimes mere ignorance on the part of the employees that they are so engrossed with their work following which they forget to follow certain procedure and the accident occurs. At times it is also due to lack of communication.

For instance, when heavy equipment is supposed to work at a site and everybody needs to clear off the area while the machine is working, it has been seen that many workers just do not know about it beforehand and they continue with their work. It is only when they get to know from other workmen that they move away from the area. The experts say that they need to be communicated about the evacuation before the machine is moved into the area and not after the workers see it inside the zone they are working in.

Make announcement that is loud and clear:-

In order to ensure that your heavy equipment does not pose any risk to the employees nor does it become a victim of any accident, it is necessary that an announcement is made on the jobsite informing all that the machine will be working for “X” number of hours and till that time, workers will not work in that area. In this way, you can prevent any accident from happening. You can make use of big speakers to make announcements so that it gets into the ears of everybody and nobody wanders near to the site.

Ensure that the brakes are in order:-

Make it a general practice every time before you start your day. Start the heavy equipment and move it a bit. Go to and from and apply brakes while it is in motion. In this way, you will ensure if the brakes are in order. It has often been witnessed that an accident has occurred as the operator was not able to stop the machine even though he applied brakes with all his might. Please understand that heavy equipment go under arduous work and there is a possibility that some function will just desist to work. Therefore checking if everything is in place should be your first task before you begin with the day.

Regular maintenance of the machine:-

Regular maintenance of the heavy equipment is of utmost importance. You never know for what reason the machine might stop working or if some functions of the machine fail to work, it can lead to serious problem. For instance, if an excavator while excavating earth pulls the dirt out and while loading in on a truck, something goes wrong and it just throws everything out on the ground where people are working, it can lead to injuries. Maintaining a machine means treating the equipment completely and if there is any sort of issue then weeding it out completely should be a priority.

Looking to grow your business – Make use of LinkedIn

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Internet has indeed become a boon for many people who have aspired to start a business of their own. When you begin a business, the first hurdle that you come up with is procuring good clients who will stick around with you after receiving quality products or services from your company. Getting clients who can give business to you was becoming very difficult and on top of that you have those big business houses that were not ready to let their businesses go to small start-ups. They were doing everything possible to ensure that the small companies do not get clients and eventually they get rid of them and there stays no competition.

Things have now changed a lot and acquiring new clients is not as difficult as it was a couple of decades ago. Especially people who belonged to the heavy equipment business had suffered a big deal in the past but with the advent of internet and many social networking sites they are able to show their work to thousands of people at a time and they are not paying anything extra for it. There are some sites that do charge a nominal fee for promoting a business but not every website does. Someone who is associated with the heavy equipment business should definitely try LinkedIn to connect to people associated with the construction industry so that the ones who are in his list will know every detail of his business that he wishes to share.

First and foremost, you need to sign up in your LinkedIn account and create a profile. Please make sure that the profile you set up should be very professional as it will be viewed by people who will connect you for business purpose and hence do not leave any scope for any casualness to appear on your profile. Share all your details and write a lot about your business and what you ideally do. For instance, if you are engaged in selling and servicing of heavy equipment you should state that in detail. Mention which kind of machine you basically deal with or if you deal with every kind of construction equipment you should mention that explicitly out there. Since when you are in this business is very important for others to know as that will help them analyze the experience you have in this form of business.

Your language should be polished and avoid using any slangs. This can go against you in a big way. If you have accomplished any goals that you want others to know about, do share it on LinkedIn. People have the right to know about your accomplishments. Simultaneously, always keep our LinkedIn account updated as it will let others know that you are an active member and you have taken this up quite seriously.

Putting up your photo is also of much importance. However, you can’t put a shady one or the one where you are partying along with your friends or you are enjoying your time with your girlfriend/s. You should post a decent picture that has only you in the photo and with decent looking attire. This all will go a big way in generating more contacts which will be fruitful for your business.

Caterpillar is strategizing to consolidate its future

It was a good year for most of the construction companies and so was for the heavy equipment companies but not all were doing well in the year 2015. Some heavy equipment companies were incurring losses for the last few years and they were thinking of downsizing their labor force. But they were not able to take the call as the overall industry was doing well. Perhaps they were looking at the global picture which seemed to be pleasant but with reference to the situation in the United States, it was a bit worrisome. Not all heavy equipment companies in the US were making profits and especially the giant ones were certainly not seeing any profits in their book of accounts. They made some profit in a couple of quarters but when it was time to check the fiscal growth, the situation looked dim.

One such giant company that is experiencing a hard time showing profits is Caterpillar. It seems that the primary reason for them incurring losses is having started lot of units in every part of the country. Now they have to employ people to run the unit and also port machines from one place to other which involve huge costs. Other than that, they have pledged to manufacture excellent quality machines for which they require to invest chunk of money on research and development work. As a result of this, the final product produced by them is a bit higher than the machines of other heavy equipment companies. Not every construction company can afford to buy CAT machines and they majorly sell them to big construction and mining houses. Therefore it is utterly futile to have so many units across the country and hence the first step that they will take to consolidate their position is to crack down the units that are not performing up to the mark.

Cat is planning to reduce its salaried workforce of around 4000 to 5000 employees till the end of 2016. This also includes the guys who are operating in the agency. It has also planned to shut down most of its units and manufacturing facilities by the end of this year and the process may even extend till 2018. It also planned to offer voluntary retirement scheme to most of its qualifying employees. “It will be sad to part ways with the employees but that is the want of the situation and in order to sustain in this market, strong steps are required to be taken” were the words of one of the CAT’s spokesperson.

Primarily, the major part of cost reduction is to be done from curbing Administrative costs. It seems the company spends a whopping amount on Administrative costs which will be cut down across states once the non-profitable units and the manufacturing facilities are closed down permanently. The company has to take the tough call in the year 2016 so that it can expect good returns in the following years to come.

7 Simple Tips for Young people starting a career in Construction

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When one thinks about beginning a career in the construction sector, he needs to be pretty sure what he is getting into because though this industry rewards people who work hard to achieve success, it also punishes those who are not able to perform. So one has to be sure which side he wants to be in. There is no rule book that one can follow to make a career in the construction business; it is just that they need to be patient enough and follow what is right and ethical. They won’t be able to taste success in a year’s time. They got to work hard and if they feel that things are not working right for them, then they need to work harder. Follow the right path, devote yourself completely and you will see things working out for you.

Give a thought before you finally pull the trigger:-

You should not want to make a career in the construction domain just because you see your friend’s dad making huge sum out there or you see one of your relatives doing good in his business. That should be a motivating factor for you as they all must have worked extremely hard to get to the place where they are now but that does not mean that you should do exactly what they did. You can get success in anything that you do provided you give your 100% to your work. So before you decide about walking in this industry, think if you really want to stay here for your entire life or else you will end up wasting couple of years of your life into this.

Know more about heavy equipment:-

Knowing about heavy equipment is very important if you want to be in this business. You should know which machine is used for what purpose and accordingly you can take decisions on procuring heavy equipment.

Check your finances before you go for any procurements:-

Starting a business in construction sector is no child’s play and it requires huge amount of investments. You therefore need to check your finances before you go ahead with any procurements of construction machines. You also need to keep into deliberation the operating and non-operating expenses that may incur while you are active in your business.

Hiring competent operators is the key:-

Ensure that you hire competent operators who are experienced in working with different kinds of heavy equipment. They are the ones who also know what needs to be done to keep the heavy equipment healthy.

Try to generate contacts by picking up small projects;-

Since you are new to this business, it is pretty evident that you will not be able to bag big projects as the giver won’t have the confidence in you. Simultaneously, it will not be feasible for you to handle big projects if you do not have any experience in handling any projects. It will be complete chaos. Therefore, pick up small works and try to complete them on time. This will help you to gain experience and simultaneously you will also develop contacts.

Be honest and ethical to your work:-

Honesty and ethics are very important in a business where you are dealing with your client’s trust. Be honest with your work and maintain ethics while conducting our business.

Engage with your employees:-

Always maintain a good rapport with your employees as they are the ones who will work hard with you to give a good shape to your business.

 

 

Cold Weather Diesel Fuel Tips

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It becomes very tough to get your heavy equipment started during winters. Imagine you have a big project in hand and the work has already started somewhere during the mid of the year and it is going in full swing. Just then, the chilling winter arrives and the machine just does not want to start. It is no less than a nightmare and the worst part is that it is happening for real. It is just the cold weather that can create all sorts of problem in your machine. But if you think that you can deal with it then let’s put it in this way. The problem is just the tip of the iceberg. When it gets colder and starts snowing, things become worse. Because it is then that you do not get mechanics to fix the problem and if you are a guy who does not know how to fix issues, then you are in deep trouble. We all know that heavy equipment run on diesel and diesel has the characteristic to become thick during winters. It turns into a gel like substance losing its liquid form. This becomes the cause of all the trouble. You need to equip yourself with alternatives that you can use to keep the machine on move.

Let us first talk about what happens to diesel fuel during cold weathers and what can be done to ensure that the machine works when it is expected to.

There are ideally two types of concern that we should prepare ourselves to deal with. The first one is gelling and the second is water contamination. Under “Gelling”, the fuel (diesel) turns into a gel-like substance and is not able to flow through the fuel filter. As a result of this, the engine may run irregularly. Often there are more chances of the engine getting turned off during the mid of work. There are also chances of the engine not starting at all. In order to avoid this problem, it is advised to use Diesel One fuel. This kind of fuel has shown positive results in preventing the fuel from turning into wax. Thus, it has been highly effective in keeping the engine intact and has also increased the efficiency of the machine during the winters.

Water Contamination is another problem that hits diesel run heavy equipment hard. Water when it comes in contact with the fuel has the potency to contaminate it in no time. During winter, it becomes very simply for water to get mixed with the fuel thus contaminate the fuel and breaks down the equipment. Water also has the capacity to freeze in fuel at a temperature of below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the supply line of the fuel is freezes, it evidently does not allow the fuel to pass and leads to issues. Just in case, it fails to freeze, then it will definitely become a place for microbial contamination and will have the potency to destroy the important parts of the machine. What can be done to avoid such a situation is using engine block heaters. They are used to keep the engine hot while it’s working. It keeps the engine hot for the next day. So the driver has to unplug the heater and then start off his work.

 

 

Heavy equipment that is used by the military

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If we think that heavy equipment are used only by the construction or the mining industries then we are only partially correct with our thoughts. There is another sector which is presumably larger than the both the sectors which also uses number one quality heavy equipment and accessories and this is the military. The US military uses various types of heavy equipment for its different uses and they give the order of its requirements to some top notch companies. The requirement is given to the heavy equipment manufacturing companies and they in return give the quotation to the military officials. Once they get the clearance from the higher officials, the procurement process starts off.

The reason why military needs advanced heavy equipment is that they always get involved in activities that can’t be done without the use of sophisticated machines. Machines that some construction companies have probably never heard or have seen are procured by the military for doing everything that a logical mind can think of. They use bulldozers, excavators, cranes, loaders, crawlers etc. and they train their men for the work. They at times also recruit operators from outside but for work that is done in highly confidential places, they prefer to put their men at work. Therefore, they also provide training of operating heavy equipment to the men in uniform so that they can curtail the use of civilian operators in highly confidential zones.

The heavy equipment used by the military may not be similar to the ones used by civilians. They are more sophisticated and technologically advanced and have the potential to do the work at a comparatively lesser time than the machines used by big construction houses. You may have witnessed some companies using machines that seemed to have served the military. Well, it all works this way. Once the heavy equipment gets older or outdated and the engineers in the military feel that they no longer need their services, it will auctioned at dirt cheap price to the civilians. These heavy equipment still have their worth in sectors other than military and therefore you will get to see large number of potential buyers interested to buy such machines.

Other than that the quality of metal used in such machines is outstanding and hence everybody knows that they will end up buying something worthy at a lesser price. The US military not only used heavy equipment produced by American heavy equipment manufacturing companies. They do not mind going for machines that are produced by French, German, Canadian or Australian companies. They primarily need quality to be number one and second the machine should deliver by consuming less time.

There is not set model of a machine. They may produce a dozer and make it look like something else. It may not look like a dozer that we all know. It may not necessarily be deceptive but the model that is used for military purpose is quite unique but will be highly reliable and efficient.

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Heavy equipment rental prices

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Heavy equipment can always fetch you good price irrespective of them being new or old. If you wish to sell it or let it out they always have a value attached and can prove to be a good source of income. Moreover, you will always find takers for your machine. Renting heavy equipment has been a viable option for people who do not want to completely do away with their equipment. They may need the machine later but may not see any temporary use of it and therefore they decide to rent the machine and earn some money in this process. For people who want to rent their machine should be aware of the existing rental price and can’t ask for an amount that sounds to be extravagant. They have to first do a proper research on what others are charging for similar equipment and accordingly he/she can quote his rate.

Knowing the correct rental price has often been a challenge for the giver. Your machine may not be that old and is quite efficient on the jobsite. You are quite unsure of the rental amount that you should put on the machine as you fear that you might either over price the item or may leave it underpriced. In order to know the correct rental price, you can approach few rental houses that work exclusively in this department and gather information to know what price you should be renting the equipment/machinery.

In case you do not wish to take help of any external 3rd party company and want to work it out on your own then the most viable choice would be to check out few websites that deals with renting heavy equipment. However, this process can be quite time consuming and you should do this only if you believe that you can devote your time and energy in gathering all the information required to know the correct rental price. Once you have started browsing the websites of companies that deals with renting heavy equipment, check out the listings of people who have posted their item on the website. Go through the description as that will suggest the quality of their machine and the price they are quoting on it. You will be able to identify if your machine is better than theirs and if you should be quoting a higher price.

It is also important to understand if the takers are ready to take the item at the quoted rental price. There could be many people who must have listed their item without even trying to know the correct rental price. Therefore, check the profile of those members who have successfully rented their equipment. It is only through them that you will get to know the correct rental prices or different sorts of heavy equipment. Once you are sure about the price, you can simultaneously register yourself on that website and post your machine. If you have more than one machine to rent, you can state that on the description so that people who are looking for multiple machines can find you appropriate enough and will go ahead with the deal.