Sometimes it is not just the selling skill of the salesperson but the goodwill of the company that helps him to sell the heavy equipment. There are many construction companies who feel reluctant to buy machines of heavy equipment companies other than the ones they have been using. They have lot of faith on the brand and this is what works for the salesperson. He does not have to put in any extra effort to convince the client. Just the name of the company does the trick. Perhaps a few demo and may be a bit of negotiation and that is it. The sale is done. It is therefore that the heavy equipment companies do not want to play around with the goodwill of the company and if they find anything that can tarnish the image of the company, they take stringent steps to weed out the element from the organization.
Companies like CAT, Volvo, and John Deere give a lot of value to the goodwill part of the company. They strive hard to produce quality products right from the word go and also try to read the nerve of the market and also of the consumers. They basically conduct surveys quite often which help them to understand the changing requirements of the consumers and they tend to manufacture stuff on the basis of those needs. These companies also play a vital role on the social front. They take part in various social events to create a sort of awareness amongst the consumers about their products. Awareness like how environment friendly are their heavy equipment are made through such mediums.
They make products for both high end and medium end consumers. They very well understand that not all consumers can afford products that come with a high price tag and therefore they also manufacture machines that cost less so that they can also cater to the ones who are not so economically sound. This plays an important part in increasing the value of the company in front of others. Now even small construction companies or contractors who can’t afford to pay more for heavy equipments can buy the machines that are specifically designed for them keeping their affordability into consideration.
One of the factors that play a major role in establishing goodwill is the after sales service. No doubt that all machines have issues once they are sold to the consumer and if there is no after sales service, the consumer may feel cheated. They invest a lot of money to buy heavy equipment and if it does not work after sometime they may end up losing all the money they have put on the machine. This is where the after sales service comes into picture. The consumer needs to call up a designated number and inform them about the issue. The agent on the other hand will book an engineer who will check the issue and try to get it resolved.
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There may have been few instances where you are not paid for the work done on a project. You have been given some or the other reasons by the construction company that you found to be absolutely vague and got the hint that you will not be paid for your work. Situations like these are nothing but a nightmare for small contractors. Firstly, the small contractors do not have sufficient money to pay the workers and if at all they manage to secure the money from any of their sources, they experience a hard time to meet the other operational expenses of their business. On top of that if they see the construction company to be defaulting on them, they can’t imagine anything worse than that. In such a situation, the only thing that they can do is place a lien on the property that will disallow the company to get any loans or any sort of finance on the property.
You can’t place a lien on any property just because you want to. For that, you have to approach the court and put forth your matter to them. Take help of a competent attorney who will guide you with the legal proceedings and also will fight the case for you. Once the court acknowledges and sees that you owe money on the property that will allow you to place a lien on the place. Now once you get the lien, you also get the legal right to sell the property and claim the due amount.
Now the kind of evidences that you can submit to the court is the invoices of the materials that were bought for the construction of the building in the property. Additionally, you can also show the bills that were incurred for the wages you paid to the workers. These evidences will certainly make your case strong and you can hope that the court will rule in your favor. However, there is a timeframe for placing liens. You need to place the lien within a stipulated period of time or else the court will not entertain your plea.
Once you get the ruling in your favor, you have to inform your debtors about it and send a copy of the notice to them. This will give a strong message to your debtors that you are just not letting them go and placing a lien can bring trouble to them. They might then intend to pay you in full and once you are paid in full, you should drop the lien by informing the court that you have received the money in full.
Though placing a lien can work as a tool in recovering your dues, this should not be misused by you in any manner. In case, you approach to the court stating that you have not received the money whereas you have been already paid, it can backfire hard on you. The court may direct the authorities to put you behind the bars. Hence any such intention should be strictly avoided.
It is simple to get employees who are ready to do their bit for the company but it is very difficult to get someone who is ready to put that extra initiative and stand separate from the rest of the crowd. This is why a lot of heavy equipment companies are willing to pay good package to people who want to join them to make a difference. They are always in search of men who can evolve themselves into able technicians, engineers or workmen. The irony is that many men lack the quality to dream big and are therefore reluctant to put that extra effort that will make them competent in the field they are in. Heavy equipment companies are most of the times in dire need to hire experienced engineers but out of a lot of many they are only able to find few. Rest of the guys hold an engineering certificate but does not hold much expertise along with it.
This also draws the fact that there is a huge requirement of engineers who want to learn about machines and give this industry a new shape. So if you fall in the zone where you want to make it big and you love experimenting on machines then this is probably the industry. However, there are few things that you need to do before you make your way in one of the heavy equipment manufacturing companies.
Joining a good institution is the key:-
A good institution can help you shape your career by imparting in-depth knowledge about heavy equipment and will try to get the best out from you. You may find many institutions in your city but choosing the right one is important. Joining a facility for the sake of it will not be fruitful to you. Therefore, do some research before you end up joining an institution? Check the reviews that others have for that place. You may find it to be very helpful in deciding if that is the place for you or you should be looking for something else.
Try to become the best:-
When you a part of one of the best institution, you should also try to become one of the best in that facility. This does not imply that you should join the rat race but it simply derives that you should upgrade your knowledge by asking numerous questions and doing all possible research. Check some training videos online as it will help you to have a better understanding about the subject you are learning. If you manage to stand away from the rest of the population, you will find it a bit simple to make your way in a heavy equipment company.
Should not be afraid to fail:-
Being an engineer, you should not be afraid of experimenting with things though you need to know the circumstance and act accordingly. However, make it a point that you keep coming up with something innovative as that is exactly what a company expects from an engineer. If you possess this quality of coming out with innovative ideas and bringing it live, you can see yourself growing in the organization.
Construction sites are always associated with possibility of danger, hazards and accidents. In such a case, not only should a person stay protected by using hard hats or by wearing reflective jackets, but also the employees, workers and visitors should use tools and equipment to keep their belongings safe. One of the most important elements that people simply cannot do without in the current era is a phone. Hence, one must use construction phone case for durable (heavy duty) performance.
Why do you need it?
In a construction site, a number of difficulties and hazardous situations might occur. One might drop a phone from a height or a heavy piece of concrete might drop on the phone. The phone can even go into liquid deposit in a site, such as concrete mix, water or liquid drums etc.
This can, not only cause damage to the phone, but also cause damage to the business. Nowadays most people use smartphones to conduct their business while on the go. As the phones are damaged, the business too will be interrupted. You will fail to stay connected with your clients and customers and also fail to conduct the technologies that help to run the construction business smoothly. Hence, it is a must that you use the best construction phone cases that make your phone highly durable.
Different types of phone cases suitable for construction sites:
If you want to protect your phone from serious shock and vibration, this is the phone case that you need to choose. It has a layer of silicone cushioned interior that can absorb any kind of shock. The polycarbonate exterior can also protect the phone from dust, rain, sand or wind. It is so tough that even if a car runs over this case, it will not break.
The Ballistic hard core:
Those, who are looking for a phone case that would give even better protection from any kind of damage possible at a construction site, this is the phone case they should choose. These are made up of a four-layer protection and the outer layer can even protect the screen from scratches.
iThrough waterproof case:
This is a phone case that is suitable for the shocks and hazards of a construction site, as well as for the threats from liquid. If you want to get a waterproof phone case for your phone, this is the one that is most suitable for you.
Buy construction suitable phone cases online:
There are many sites that sell the construction phone case for durable (heavy duty) performance online. You can buy the one that is most suitable for you. You can buy them for an affordable price, if you buy them in bulk. All that you need to do is find the one that is affordable, budget friendly and also suitable for the needs of your construction site.
We all have the fear of failure that often pulls us down and stops us from thinking big or doing something big in life. However, there are few who believe themselves more than anything else and their belief tells them that there is nothing that can stop them. No failure can be big enough to stop him from pursuing his dreams. These kinds of men eventually become leaders in their profession. Leaders are often men with a vision in their lives. They can foresee what others can’t and often has the capability to identify the hidden potential in a human. This capability of theirs can take them to greater heights as they can have all the capable men working for him and in this process he can be prove to be an exceptional business owner or an individual. The construction business like any other business is short of leaders. It needs people who not only possess self-belief but can also motivate others and help them identify their potential.
Leaders should command respect:-
Men who can command respect can eventually turn out into strong leaders. For a leader, his men mean a lot and for the men the leader should mean a lot. The relevance a strong leader can have in the construction business is he/she can ask people to work extra when they are working on strict deadlines. Construction workers normally do not work like to work extra as they normally do not have any energy left after a long days’ work. But if a person whom they look upon asks them to work for a couple of hours more they may not want to say no to him/her. This is what respect is all about. The workers will agree to work merely out of respect and nothing else can bind them to continue working after their working hours.
Have complete faith on your employee’s potential:-
A good leader is the one who has complete potential on his men. In the construction sector, you will come across many men who will be allotted for different work. It is up to the leader to bring the best out of them. He/she needs to understand and detect their hidden potential and give the guys the courage to do something phenomenal. We normally live in a shell and as long as someone realizes us about our strengths we make our own comfort zone in the shell and continue to live in it. This is where the role of a leader comes into play. He/she has to make his/her men or women realize their hidden potential and what they can do in their lives. This will mean a lot to them and they will strive harder to accomplish their goals.
Be a good listener:-
A good leader is the one who is a good listener and not just a good speaker. You can speak on an issue when you know what the problem is and for that you need to listen to people. Always be open to listen to others so that they can talk their heart out to you and you in turn can bring some kind of solution to them.
Building a new home poses a big problem to those who do not have sufficient money and does not know whom to approach in order to get loan. They may have a piece of land with them but just because they lack sufficient funds they have to wait to build their home. But that is no longer the case now as people can now opt for loans to construct their homes and pay it off once the construction is completed. There is a vast difference between a construction loan and a home loan. In a home loan, the borrower borrows money from the lender and pledges to pay it in equal monthly installments. Ideally, the time horizon is 30 years to repay the loan but some can even take the loan with a 15 years, 20 years or 25 years’ time horizon. However, as far as the construction loans are concerned you are required to pay the entire loan amount as soon as the construction for the home is completed which means you need to pay it off on an average of 12 months period.
Construction loans are more like credit cards where you borrow money for the purpose of constructing your home and once it is done you need to pay the entire amount. You also have a draw request that is submitted by the builder. You are only required to pay the interest on the “draw request” amount and once the work is done, you need to pay the entire amount at one go. Once the house is ready and it is time to repay the lender, you can mortgage the home to the same lender or to some other lender and payoff the initial loan. Please remember, the construction loan is very different from the mortgage loan that we all know about and hence the initial loan amount was called construction loan but once the house is built and you take another loan to pay-off the initial one, you go for a mortgage loan.
The interest rate of a construction loan is also different than your auto loan or for that matter your home loan. Here you have the ability to negotiate the interest rates with the lender and they can increase or decrease the interest rates based on several factors like the equity of the project, your credit rating, your income and your financial history. So in case you manage to have a good credit rating and are earning reasonably, you have a very good chance to negotiate the interest rates with the lender.
The best part about construction loan is that it provides you with the freedom to move on to some other lender who is ready to offer you mortgage loan at a much reasonable interest rate and by not charging a bomb on the closing costs and other expenses. This means that you need not stick to the same lender who has offered you the construction loan. It is just that you need to pay them off and get along with another lender.
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Men/Women in the construction business consider excavators as one of the most important heavy equipment. It is considered important for many reasons. It is not only used to excavate land but can also be used as a dozer. Other than that, you do not need another heavy equipment to pull the debris and load it on a truck. This can also be effectively done by the excavator. So when we are talking about pulling out debris from the construction site using an excavator, we should be talking about the different kinds of buckets that are attached to the machine. The effectiveness of an excavator in pulling the debris lies mostly on the types of buckets that are being used on the machine. So a bucket which is big in size and capacity can pick a whole lot of debris at a single shot and dump it in the truck.
Now we need to know a thing or two about these buckets. Buckets are manufactured by different heavy equipment companies and they differ in quality. Also the locks of the bucket play an important role while lifting the debris. If you have bucket with double locking technology, it serves your purpose. These kinds of buckets are considered to be safer as the chance of breaking the lock due to too much of weight can be taken care of. The double locking system is also instrumental in situations when the machine is working in a dirty environment. An excavator mostly has to work in such a kind of an environment. The bucket often has to get into muddy water to pull the mud out. This can damage the locking system to a greater extent and therefore it is imperative for one to check the bucket before he starts working for the day.
Other than the locking system, there are other features as well which are quite important when it comes to earth excavation. The teeth of the bucket are supposed to act as a grip and are also useful to dig deep in the ground. The sharper the teeth of the bucket the more quickly you can get the job done. Other than this, the operator also needs to check how quickly he can change the attachments. Changing attached buckets can be a problem. If the buckets are rigid to open up, it can become a problem for the guy to change the bucket. One ideally expects the bucket to open up quickly so that it can be changed with an appropriate one. if that takes too long to open up, it can also affect the productivity.
While you are shopping for buckets for an excavator, you should primarily look for the ones that are quick to attach. It should not take lot of your time. Quick attached buckets are often sold on the internet. So read the description of the bucket before you pay for the item. Websites like eBay and Amazon deals into selling excavator buckets. So one can simple take a glance of these websites and make some purchase from there.
By Lonnie Fritz Heavy Construction Industry Consultant Caterpillar Inc. (Guest Post)
Most contractors agree that project success is largely determined by four factors: time, cost, quality and safety. But there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach. The same is true of technology, in that each company’s journey is unique. In this article, Caterpillar will help you take a quick look at key areas where technology can make a difference.
Get Rid of the Paper Trail, Design a Digital One
Running from the jobsite to your office or trailer to update, print and distribute information eats up time, one of your most critical resources as a project manager. Here at Caterpillar, we say stop chasing the paper trail and instead adopt cloud computing. The cloud platform simply means that users with an internet connection and approved access can get “live” information from anywhere. Do you check your email on your smartphone? You’re already using the cloud. Listed below are eight quick ways the cloud can save you time, money and headaches:
Rapid decision making as personnel can connect with each other from almost any location.
Faster response time to RFIs (Requests for Information), change orders and purchase orders.
Snap and send photos of jobsite activity.
Check manufacturers’ instructions.
Confirm calculations.
Instantly look up specifications and special provisions.
Quickly check contracts.
Track weather.
Get Your Crew on the Same Page, Even with Different Devices
Smart devices like phones and tablets let employees access and share information with the tap of a finger. 72 percent of construction contractors use smart phones, while 50 percent use tablets. One contractor found that superintendents using a voice-to-text application could save at least 30 minutes a day in preparing reports. There are a wide number of apps that can be useful for your team in the field; here are some of the most widely used:
Permit apps (for sending and receiving permits).
Resource tracking apps (tag assets and monitor their location).
Inventory apps (monitoring items that are depleted & restocked).
Safety apps (notification system to alert foremen of problems).
Resource tracking apps (for documenting and submitting employee hours, progress quantities and other day-to-day activities and metrics).
Reduce Risky Business on the Worksite
New technologies (like Cat® DETECT, a Cat Connect Technology) have become available to safeguard worksites and better manage risk. One in ten construction workers is injured on worksites every year. One of the most common accidents on a construction worksite is being struck or trapped by equipment or vehicles. Blind spots and backing up accidents account for 25–50 percent of the total. Here are some of the technologies we recommend that can help prevent such accidents from occurring:
Object Detection technologies
Complete object detection systems include back-up cameras and pulsed-radar object detection. Cameras give operators a view of what is typically their biggest blind spot, and radar identifies objects and people hidden from the operator’s view and sounds an alarm.
Fatigue Detection technologies
Fatigue detection is one of the most recent advancements. A camera installed in the cab monitors pupil size, blinking, and how long eyes stay shut. If the system senses the operator is falling asleep, an alarm sounds and the seat vibrates
“Smart” wearables
Safety gear with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), sensors and bio-monitors have all hit the market within the last several years. The most common are RFID systems that alert workers and equipment operators when they are both moving through a work zone. Wearable devices are now reading heart rates and body temperature to fend off potential medical incidents.
Stay on Track with Telematics
Most people can use basic telematics information — machine operating hours, location, fuel consumption — to produce measurable improvements in operating costs. 80 percent of new equipment has telematics built-in, so all that’s required is activation. However, only 17 percent of contractors are using telematics within their projects. Telematics provide multiple cost saving benefits:
Location features help keep equipment and people safe by alerting operators and sounding proximity warnings.
Telematics can help optimize utilization—because equipment doesn’t get rented when it’s not needed or isn’t parked and forgotten.
Most OEMs provide apps that allow you to access information via smartphone or tablet, so you can check on equipment condition, fuel burn, idle time or service hours.
Condition monitoring alerts help control maintenance and repair costs by reducing downtime.
Machine Control & Automation Adds to Your Bottom Line
The introduction of control technologies for grading, compacting and measuring payload has given construction companies more ways to increase production and enhance operator performance. Productivity and cost saving advantages come primarily from:
Improved accuracy of machine–guided buckets and blades.
Increased accuracy of automated “assist” features that make the operator faster and more consistent.
Reduced man hours because fewer workers are needed to check progress/complete jobs.
Elimination of rework, tasks are completed right the first time.
Fewest passes achieve proposed grade efficiently.
Optimal number of passes reach compaction target(s) without over or under compacting.
Reduced cycle times and machine wear due to payload technologies eliminating over and under loading of hauling units.
Increased safe operation because operators are more aware of activities and individuals around them.
Data-driven estimating and planning that accelerates payback periods on technology investments.
Caterpillar is constantly developing and refining advanced technologies to help you make your equipment more productive and efficient. The faster you recognize technology as an essential part of your operation, the faster you will begin to see a difference on your worksites and your bottom-line.
One who is a part of the construction domain clearly understands the importance of heavy equipment in this domain as well as to his business. This is perhaps the reason why many big construction companies are procuring state of the art machines for their big projects. Since they understand that the only way to get the work done faster is through the introduction of highly advanced heavy equipment that they want to have the best in their arsenal. Heavy equipment to a construction industry is what a heart or a brain is to a human being. He just can’t survive without these important organs. In the same way, it is almost unimaginable for the construction industry to move an inch of progress without the involvement and participation of heavy equipment.
We would be speaking in brief about the utilization of some heavy equipment which is most commonly seen in any jobsite.
Excavators:-
No big construction project can be completed without the participation of excavators. In order to begin the construction, one has to excavate the earth to build solid foundations. This is only possible with the help of this machine. It usually digs the earth with the help of the boom that is attached to its axle in the front. It has a cabin to the rear where the operator sits and manages his affair. This may seem to be a very common machine but has a lot of importance in the overall industry which is why heavy equipment companies are always in the process of designing hi-tech excavators that will sell as hot cakes.
Wheel Loader:-
A wheel loader is the machine that is extensively used to ferry debris from one place to another. When it comes to ferrying debris, other heavy equipment can also be utilized. However, they all have their limitations expect a wheel loader. They can carry huge pile of dirt, rocks and other debris which in many ways is not possible for other machines to perform. They are also extensively used for mining and road construction works.
Bulldozers:-
You have a permanent structure that you want to bring down you will not find anything better than a dozer. It has the capability to bring down a very solid structure into rubbles. They can also work as an alternative for excavators as the attachment can be changed and so does the work of the dozer.
Rollers:-
Rollers also form an important part of the construction industry. It is crucial to have good roads for better connectivity and also for the prosperity of the country’s economy. It is good roads that become part of better transportation of essential commodities. The pain of a bad road can’t be understood better than the driver of a truck whose spine aches while he drives every mile on it. The rollers play a significant role to smooth the road and make driving better.
There are many more machines that plays an instrumental role when it comes to making the future of the construction sector.
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Keeping your experience with you and not sharing it with anybody does not make sense in any form of industry. When you learn something new, you should let others know about it and this is how others will get to know about your experience and derive a conclusion from it. Your experience must be a good one or a bad one but it always has a message for the people who hear it. This is one of the way by which you transfer your knowledge to the people around you and help them learn through your experience. You be a part of whatever industry, you learn most of the things from the experiences of others. Our lives are too short to experience everything and therefore we hear out stories of others and take lessons from it. This phenomenon is known as transfer of knowledge.
Knowledge transfer is a must in every industry and especially when it comes to the construction sector, it becomes all the more important. The reason why we consider knowledge transfer to be so important in the construction domain is because this industry is quite vast and it is virtually not possible for anybody to work in all the spheres and learn everything from it. You need men who specialize in one particular stream to inform you about how things function in his line of business.
For instance, a welder can at times know more about a machine than an operator who has been constantly working on it. It is because the welder or the mechanic for that matter fixes the machine whenever it breaks down and thus can inform the operator of some specific issues with the machine and ask him to be cautious while operating it. This is also one form of knowledge transfer where the mechanic is transferring the knowledge about the machine to the next person so that the equipment will be dealt in the right manner.
In a nutshell, the entire construction site primarily works on knowledge transfer. Here the site engineer needs to pass on the information to the next guy who will arrange for the things the engineer has asked for and once it is there in place, it will move to the next person with the specific instruction on what he needs to do. When we have new recruits joining the company, the importance of knowledge transfer is felt the most. The new guys do not know anything about how things work in the company and they need to be informed about every minute activity. So the message passes from the veterans to the newbie.
Another form of knowledge transfer is through articles and blogs. In this scenario, the writer who is pretty experienced and an expert on the subject writes about heavy equipment and gives an insight to the people at large. It indeed helps people to take informed decisions about their heavy equipment. Internet is a powerful tool and its use to transfer knowledge across various domains in widely appreciated by everybody.
