Your Equipment is trying to tell you something,

are you listening?

Industry IT Innovation BLOG / Report

By: Tom Scott, 102924626

Date: Sunday February 21st

The importance of Information Technology (IT) Innovations in the survival and growth of modern day

organizations is widely acknowledged. The term innovation refers to novel solutions (could be radical or

incremental) accomplished through development and use of new and existing technological inventions.

Innovation is happening all around us, all of the time and occasionally we need to take a moment to

examine some of the exciting new products, processes, services and technologies currently available.

Today I would like to take the chance to better understand and analyze some of the recent innovations in

our business of construction and mining equipment. One of the greatest advancements the world has

experienced over the last couple decades is connectivity. From our cell phones or other devices, using

cellular technology, hard wire or satellite link we can keep connected to so much of what we have around

us. The heavy equipment being manufactured right now also has such capabilities and they are growing in

potential every day. This is the area of innovation I have chosen to concentrate on for this report.

I think the best place to start is, why? Why is the information available so important? This is a question I

have been asked and needs to be addressed. When manufactures concentrate on “Information

Technology” they aren’t engineering more horsepower, or better lifting capacities or other more tangible

improvements so why is it relevant to the business. It is very relevant to today’s business climate and

especially in our ever increasingly competitive construction and mining industry. Every project has

unique issues and challenges, it’s sometimes the small incremental advantages that can make the

difference of getting awarded that job or being profitable and staying on schedule. Here are two specific

areas that I think are vital to success in all of our businesses today and how IT solutions are effective.

#1) Equipment Management:

EM solutions are basically where it all started. We have moved far beyond just location and hours

monitoring. Information from your equipment can help improve operations, reduce risk, control costs and

manage your people. Whether you have a small fleet or equipment all over the country, having a good

understanding of equipment solutions will help increase all aspect of your business.

Improve Operations:

By monitoring where, how and when your machines are being used you can

better allocate your assets. You can move underutilized equipment to jobs

where needed most and meet those difficult deadlines.

Reduce Risk:

Theft and vandalism are not something anyone wants to deal with. But

with new tracking capabilities and geo-fencing solutions this is just one

area having good equipment management technology can help. Of course

risk of unexpected costly failures and downtime is something we want to

mitigate. Tracking service intervals making sure things are getting

maintained on time and correctly will greatly reduce.

Control Costs:

EM Solutions can help control costs in a number of ways. Monitoring your operator’s idle time for

example and adjusting behaviors can save fuel. Catching those remote equipment alerts and fault codes

early before they turn into more expensive catastrophic failures also saves money.

Manage your people:

Equipment information available wirelessly can also assist in management of your people. You can catch

if operators are misusing a machine or if it’s simply a case of further training is necessary. It is also very

valuable to help in scheduling your service personnel. Tracking which machines are coming due and the

ability to forecast future required service can ensure the better use of valuable man hours.

#2) Productivity:

Productivity is an area everyone wants to make improvements but can be the most difficult to nail down.

Very small incremental enhancements in this area can yield the greatest results to the bottom line. You

want to be confident your equipment is being used in its most efficient manner possible. It is the

information technology in today’s machines that can give you consistency and accuracy that will result in

the high level of productivity you expect. Here is just some of the available productivity monitoring

enhancements that can help take the guess work out of

your fleet’s daily activities.

Payload Technologies:

Managers can pull daily production results that track

everything from total tonnage load out, cycle counts,

and payload per bucket numbers. This is all helpful

information that can calculate tons/hour, fuel/tons and eventually improve productivity.

Grade Technologies:

Today’s effective construction companies

know its key to achieve grade quickly and

without rework. Information Technology

currently being utilized by equipment can

take digital design data, give the operator in

cab guidance and automate machine control to make sure your hitting those target grades faster and more

consistently. This also reduces on-site surveying costs, helps with labor expense with fewer grade men as

well as improves safety.

Summary:

Today’s construction equipment is experiencing state of the art enhancements in the area of Information

Technology Innovation. Keeping informed as to your equipments health, operator behaviors and having

real time key productivity data will help make any

business more efficient. I truly believe the customers that

embrace these innovations and adopt them into their

businesses will be the ones most successful.