Category Archives: Construction

Use equipment tracking system to protect your site

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Are you going to start your own company? If yes, then you must be aware with useful strategies that help you to run your business. Without following the important as well as essential strategies you cannot get success. Well, in case of construction sites, it is really important to give your full attention on your site. You should always be very careful about your machines, workers and other related things of your site. It is your responsibility to take care of your heavy equipment. It is not easy to work with such heavy machines. It takes huge time as well as money. So, you should know all those things that can reduce your profit margin. If you cannot maintain these machines properly then the machines can face many problems. These small damages can turn small issues into major fault. Therefore, check the machines properly and remember wrong billing, unnecessary idling can make you huge fuel cost.

Well, when you are going to do business then you should always be aware with your profit and loss. It is very important to manage profit for business to establish it properly and take it to the next level. There are many easier way that can help you to increase your productivity and help you to get more profits. If you can manage to give you 100% attention and full concentration on your job then it is not so difficult to choose the right equipment tracking system for your business. It is your responsibility to find out the proper devices that can help to track down and monitor solution for the business. If you are going to work with forklift then it is very important to know how to work with it and efficiently it can work for you.

You need to track the usages of useful equipment. As you work with a number of machines then may be for sometimes you do not use one of them and keep it aside. Then it becomes very difficult to track for how many days the equipment is not in use. However, by following a continuous monitoring over equipment give an idea of such things. It also allows you to reduce the fuel costs and assure that the proper and prolonged maintenance is not missed for a single day. You can get the information on fluid levels, error codes and temperatures by using the equipment tracking system.

As many workers work in a construction site, so there are high risks of theft and other similar things. If you stop using a machine for a while then you can lost it as well. Therefore, if you can use the equipment tracking system then it can track down the records of all your machines. Equipment tracking helps to track down the detail of the equipment that is in use and not in use. To protect your site you should definitely take help of such system

Winters may cause immense health hazards to construction workers

Places where it snows are not conducive for construction industry to flourish. But it does not mean that the construction industry will not flourish at all at such places. If it snows throughout the year then it is a grave concern for this industry to set its foot in. However, if it is only during the winters that it snows and for the rest of the year, it becomes conducive for the industry to thrive then that will really help. We all know how immensely difficult it is to take care of heavy equipment and also to work on a project during the cold weather but less care has been given to the fact that it also takes a toll on the construction workers who find it all the more difficult to work in a rough weather and with very limited help from machines.

During winters, heavy equipment tend to stop working which means that the construction workers will have to put their efforts and try to get the work done. At times, it may not be possible for them to finish a job without the use of equipment. In such case, it becomes a loss to the company. In situations like these, companies tend to risk the life of the workers by pressuring them to work overtime in difficult work conditions. The workers have to work on snow or ice and have high risk of slipping while working. They may cause severe damage to themselves. It is therefore very important for the construction companies as well as the workers to follow the correct safety parameters while working in snow. By following these parameters, they will only save their as well as their colleagues lives.

Check if the brakes and other vital parts of the equipment are in order:-

Before you start with your day, it is very important to check if the brakes, horn and other important parts of the equipment are in order. Once the operator is sure that everything is in place, he should carry on with the work. In case if he finds any issues, it is advisable that he get that sorted first and then starts off with the day’s work. Any negligence on his part can cost the company as well as the worker dearly.

Ensure that all the workers wear their safety accessories:-

In many of the occasions, workers skip wearing their safety accessories assuming that they will be safe and wearing those stuffs will be time consuming. Calamity does not knock the door before arriving. It just strikes you and workers should understand this important part. More importantly, the supervisor on the construction site should take the responsibility that all the workers are equipped with complete safety accessories and that there is an emergency team active at the site. Just in case, if there is an emergency situation, the team will be able to deal with it.

Report anything that you find to be dangerous:-

Construction workers should report anything that they find to be dangerous. This will help to save the life of many other workers who may not know about the danger on the site.

Forums on Heavy equipment can turn out to be very helpful

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Heavy equipment in itself sound to be a heavy word and is more complex if one gets into the skin of it. It is not that one will not be able to understand it completely but it requires good deal of patience and determination to understand the subject completely. It is therefore people take up just one subject out of the ocean of knowledge and master it. They have simply come to know that it is not practically possible for them to go through all the stuffs and know them all. As a result of this, they choose to take a leaf from the tree and study it all. It has been often seen that individuals have to go through an entire blog just to understand some simple concept. They may not require reading the entire article but having to do so in order to search the answer they are looking for. What may come handy in such a situation is to put their question in a forum and wait for someone who knows about the subject to answer it. Instead of going through the entire blog or article, just putting the question on the forum can give you as many answers that you may have not even imagined to get.

What kind of people can make use to these forums? Well, it seems we all are imperfect in some way or the other and though we may master in a subject but practically we still may not know everything about it. Hence, we all need forums and especially for a complex subject like heavy equipments we definitely need one. However, the magnitude of help may differ from individual to individual. For instance, a person with zero knowledge of heavy equipment may ask all sorts of questions under the sun to quench his/her thirst for learning. Simultaneously, a person who may look for specific answer also will find it immensely helpful.

Let’s talk about how forums can turn out to be helpful to newbie. People who have the zeal to learn about heavy equipment should ideally explore the internet to know few basic things. No one likes to answer basic questions. People ideally have the belief that forums are meant for amalgamation of views from people possessing specific knowledge about the subject. In other words, they want to answer complex questions which cannot be easily found on the internet. Though forums are not meant to answer complex questions and readers have the right to ask any question that they seek an answer to. So people with little or no knowledge can also join a forum and check number of questions posed by different readers and upgrade their knowledge.

Forum is also a medium to connect people across the industry. Right from a heavy equipment operator to an engineer everybody gets the opportunity to come under one roof and talk on a given subject. They can all share their ideas and views pertaining to the question. Forums can make life really simple for everybody who is related to whatever fields.

Safety norms can’t be ignored in a construction site

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Construction industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and like every big industry it also has areas that can create trouble for the owner of the business. This industry has many such areas but it seems that people have learned how to tackle them effectively and continue running the business. However, there is one such thing that recurs in spite of several steps taken by the governing body. The area is “Safety”. When we talk about Safety, it is not only limited to the safety of the people working in the site but also relates to the heavy equipment that are working along with the men. There have been several safety norms laid by companies but still accidents are bound to happen. At times, it is beyond our control but most of the time, it is within our reach. So how can something that we try to avoid safety happen so often. It is perhaps we tend to get over confident on ourselves and somehow believe that nothing is going to happen and therefore see no use of following the safety norms. This is where we lose our focus from one of the most important aspect that this industry relies on.

Wearing helmets while inside the construction site:-

We may skip to do something as simple as wearing helmets inside the construction site. While we enter the site, we probably do not see any danger but danger does not give a call before coming. A small piece of stone falling from the 20th story building can drill your head leading to serious injuries and you never know if the accident will happen to you or not. Therefore, skipping the most generic part of safety is for sure asking for trouble.

Hire qualified and experienced operators:-

We all want to save money but certainly not at the cost of our or someone else’s lives. What happens when you hire an operator who is not qualified to operate the equipment you want him to work on or for that matter you yourself want to see how it feels to be inside the cab. A wrong push of the lever and a major accident is on its way. You are not supposed to play around with things that are of so much importance. If you want to learn things, learn it from the right person. Hire a qualified and experienced operator. Even if you have to pay more to him, please do so. At least you will be assured that your men and machines will be safe.

Don’t allow the operator to do overtime:-

You may have lot of work to finish on the site for which you need the operator to work overtime. A couple of occasions of overtime are fine but do not make it a habit. Remember, operators are humans and not machines and they need proper sleep or else if they go drowsy at work.

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Komatsu has a lot of expectation from the year 2015

The slowdown of the global economy has put many big as well as small companies in the worry zone and many say it will perhaps take a couple of more years for them to see the glory days. So till then they have to do is to conduct business in the normal fashion without taking more risks. Taking risk at this juncture is only going to tarnish the reputation of the company because it is highly unlikely that you may get any high returns by taking unnecessary risks. Therefore, it is prudent that one carry on their businesses with caution as that will help them to conduct their business with impunity. Many big companies have seen a decline in their sales volume and they feel that the global slowdown is the major reason why they have such a low sales figure. Other than this, businesses in some countries have taken the major hit which has impacted the overall sales figure. Many are even pondering if it will be wise enough to wrap up their businesses in countries where they have suffered maximum losses. That will in a way help them cut off some of their losses in the future. They may also consider to lay off few employees for the time being as that will be a way in which they can save some money for taking major financial decisions.

China which has lately emerged as the world leader as far as its economy is concerned has also seen a fall in the construction and mining sector. Komatsu which is one of the largest producers of heavy equipment feels that China is no longer the market leader. Their sales of equipment in China have fallen drastically than they could have ever thought of giving them a shock of their lifetime. Companies like CAT have similar views. Tetsuji Ohashi, the chief Executive Officer of Komatsu, has said in an interview that China is losing its sheen as far as the construction and mining sector is concerned. He even went on to say that China is losing its hold from the economic growth and it is finally scaling down. The sale of Komatsu equipment has dropped noticeably between April and May and there has high chances that it will miss the annual sales target. He also felt that China is experiencing huge delays in the commencement of some construction projects. Alternatively, he also feels that the demand for mining machinery is also declining. This all attributes to the total mess that is happening in that country affecting the business of the company.

He feels that the impact of the situation in China is big and they have to closely monitor the situation before coming down to a conclusion. They just can’t take a decision without forecasting few very important aspects and are optimistic that things will get back to normal in that country. Komatsu sales have declined to almost 20 percent but they have high hopes for 2015. They feel that the year 2015 will at least heal some of their wounds if not turn the table for them.

John Deere business plans for the Year 2015

The year 2014 may have a wonderful year for many and not so wonderful year for some. But it was definitely not a very happening year for the heavy equipment manufacturing industry. They had to struggle a lot of factors for the entire year; out of which competition was the biggest factor. Other than this, there were factors like global economic slowdown, unrest in the Middle East nations, the overall business slowdown that has largely affected the mining, oil and gas and construction sector and many more reasons that has slow paced the overall industry. Overall, it has not been a great year for the overall industry and the forecast is also not so pleasant. Big and small equipment manufacturing companies are affected alike by the slowdown in the global economy. The sales of the equipment have gone for a toss and there are not much takers available in the market. This is perhaps the reason why many companies have suffered losses and their sales graph shows a massive decline which they have not seen for years.

Talking especially about John Deere, it has not remained unaffected by the impact of the slow paced market conditions. John Deere is known for producing agricultural and heavy equipment machines had to take the beating of the market. Deer’s outlook gave the news that for the new fiscal year the situation will be grimmer and they do not see any major improvement in the market situation. The outlook suggests that the sales of the equipment is estimated to take a dip of more than 15 percent for the current year and may further scale down to 21 percent during the first fiscal quarter. They also estimated that the net income of the company will be around $2 billion compared to $3.16 billion in the year 2014. Things were much better in the year 2013 with earnings of $3.54 billion. The fall in the number of earnings only suggest the performance of the company. It will not be superficial to express that the company needs to take some time out to think and revamp its strategies. May be they need to make some changes here and there and need to focus on few very important issues that may kick off the sales number from where it is now.

The news of poor sales has already affected the price of their shares in the stock market making it more difficult for the company. The company’s earnings were totaled at around $35 billion in the year 2013 which has now come down to $32.9 billion. This dismal performance has not brought down the morale of the employees of the company. The CEO of the company is positive that the company will bounce back and this time with a bang. Though there has been a global pullback in the agricultural sector, still the company will show profits in the year 2015. They have intended to prepare a more resilient model of growth that will help John Deere to turn the table to their favor.

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Application of Equipment Tracking Method for Mounting Profits and Lessening Downfall

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Generally the companies those who depend on the heavy equipment may sometime experience the decline in the profit margin and unfortunately breakdown of the business. The main reasons to this problem are the lack of maintenance of the heavy equipment; erroneous billings can lead to the path of over spending and loss in the market. To curb out the problem the management companies formulated a new kind of solution known as equipment tracking method. It is a constructive equipment executive structure that is appropriate to be utilized with any kind of apparatus.

Equipment tracking system helps the companies to gain knowledge of each and every appropriate machine and its usage. In accordance with the equipment facts the companies are being taught to expand productivity by monitoring equipment tracking solution. This system gives practical information about various equipments like forklift, light tower, bulldozer and generator.  Sometime the appliances are kept in the construction site for long days and when it is again needed it is complex to predict that for how much time the machine was in use. The incessant examining of the equipment in the equipment tracking technique helps in analyzing the longevity of the machine and decreases the fuel cost. Some of the oil and gas companies are applying this method to find out all possessions and equipment very easily. The equipments are connected with the internet connection and the location can be accessed simply. This system facilitates the oil and gas corporations to enhance punter service, perk up billing processes and augment communication with the distant manual workers.

The primary facet of the equipment tracking system is the substitution of customary paper equipment logbook with the computerized record diary. This solution proffers all kinds of information related to equipments and its eminence obligatory for cGMP agreement.  This scheme facilitates the companies with digital signatures and approvals and helps in optimization of handling apparatus. The safeguarding and the calibration measures are analysed electronically in a simpler and faster way. The system gives a practical announcement about the maintenance program of equipment and present the notice prior to the date of expire of any calibration event. This technique can be applied alone or can be accompanied with other well-designed operation management components to increase the output of the organisation.

To operate the equipment tracking technique a computer with internet explorer browser is required. Microsoft SQL Server is the principal database of this system. The client can go through the web page of this solution by browsing only internet explorer. The hardware and software versions are different according to the company’s category. This system is required to maintain an electronic logbook where the records of equipment cleaning, calibration are written. The other quality of this solution is the maintenance of the document in computerised manner so that at the time of approvals and review these documents can be presented very easily. The system also shows the longevity of the engine of any equipment and there is an indicator that displays the need of maintenance of the machine.

Working With the Forklift- Learning the Basics of the Operation

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Are you involved in the construction industry? Then loading and unloading, transportation and piling and stacking of heavy loads must be an inseparable part of your profession. And if that is so, then the forklift definitely makes it to your list of heavy equipment.

What Does A Forklift Do In The Construction Arena?

The forklift has been considered to be quite an important part of the construction industry or any of those fields that require carrying of loads from one place to another. let us take a look at the basic functions that a forklift performs.

  • Consider a heavy item that needs to be stacked in your warehouse. But you aren’t able to lift it for obvious reasons. The forklift comes in handy in such situations, helping to lift up things and placing them where required.
  • Forklifts also come in handy when you need to transport a heavy item from one place to another. Combining the functions of a vehicle and lifting tool, this utility of the forklift seems to be pronounced in the construction industry.
  • Apart from the aforementioned utilities of the forklift, it can also be put to use for loading and unloading goods.

All of the utility features of the forklift make it a great draw in various fields that involve working with heavy equipment.

Operate a Forklift- Getting Started

Employing a professional hand in the operation of a forklift is one aspect of the entire deal that construction supervisors need to keep in mind. However, getting to know the basics of the entire deal is always a good thing to do.

  • Donning the safety gear before operating the forklift is the first aspect of the entire deal that has to be kept in mind.
  • Being familiar with the various controls and meter readings of the forklift is another aspect that operators need to bear in mind.
  • Checking the entire heavy equipment for faulty parts or any potential signs of damage is another important aspect of the entire deal.
  • Make sure that the load that you pile on the forklift is stable and secure. It would also do well if you do not overload the shanks of the forklift.
  • It is important for the forklift operators to ensure that they keep the loads as close to the ground as possible. This minimizes the chances of mishaps. It is also best to drive at moderate speed and not go too fast with the loads.
  • When bringing the forklift to a halt, it is important to slow down the equipment gradually and not suddenly. Neutralizing the controls of the equipment is another area that should be kept in mind.

Before actually operating the forklift in the construction arena or the like, it would do well for the drivers to hone their skills in a separate area- some place where people won’t get hurt. Operators who have just foot in the arena would do well to operate the entire thing under the supervision of an expert until they gain a certain amount of experience.

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Case sees the year 2015 as the year of development

The year 2014 has not been a great year for many heavy equipment manufacturer and many have struggled hard to keep their business at bay. It is not that they see a possibility of shutting their business altogether, but they definitely see a hard time ahead. Few equipment manufacturing companies feel that the forthcoming year will bring joy and prosperity to their business. However, others do not support this view point. Some are also of the opinion to wrap up their businesses from the country they do not see much happening in the future and may focus in only those countries where they anticipate good business. This is the case with almost all the big companies. However, there are also some companies who keep a different perspective. They believe that it will make more sense to simply wait and watch how the overall market performs. Especially, for companies who are located in developing countries are more willing to sit tight and monitor the happenings. It is only after intensely pondering the situation that they might come to some conclusion. They just simply do not want to pull the trigger and later remorse on what they did.

Companies like Case sees this moment as a great opportunity. They feel that the year 2015 is the year of development for them and they have chalked out plans which suggest that they are determined to achieve growth consistently for the entire year. Having said that, they also assume that the forthcoming year will also be a year of immense challenges and it will not be easy for anyone to do business. They feel the reason for poor sales is because of falling demand. It does not have to do much with producing innovative machineries but has to do more with the fall of demand in the overall market.

Case has come with a not so unique way but definitely effective. They do not want any of their employees to do overtime and they feel that working for extra hours is not required in a market condition where the demand is low. For the time being, they do not intend to lay off any of their employees but are giving strong indication that they are certainly not hiring any additional labor force.  They are also working on the plan to reduce higher weekend salaries for its workers and will also significantly reduce their dependence on outsourced sections that will help them a long way to keep the cost in tack.

In order to protect the segment margins, the company has already started to act on its cost structure by bringing it in line with its inventory positions. As far as the agricultural equipment are concerned, it is estimated that they will see a fall in its sale volume for the entire year. Farmers who require machine with higher horsepower will shy away from buying due to weak crop prices. Nevertheless, they also feel that the situation may turn good at the end of 2015 and they will pick it from there.

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Make Your Heavy Equipment More Fuel Efficient- Ways to Achieve This

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Fuel efficiency, off late has become one of the widely discussed issues around the world. Almost every second automobile that we come across claims itself to be fuel-efficient. But the question that arises here, why is fuel efficiency such a concern among people all over today?

Well, there are a number of reasons as to why fuel efficiency has become the norm of the day. For one, a fuel-efficient automobile makes sure that you save all those bucks that go into the fuel expenses of the vehicle.  With the expenses of fuel rocketing sky-high, it is not really surprising that most of the automobile owning population are now looking for a system that helps them save money. And fuel-efficient equipment is definitely one of the best ways of going about the entire process.

The second reason for opting for fuel-efficient automobile is the environment. The fast depletion of natural resources has led the global population to look for ways in which the remaining of it can be saved and thus, the advent of fuel-efficient systems.

Making Your Heavy Equipment More Fuel Efficient

It is a widely known and accepted fact that the construction industry requires a huge sum of money in order to get things going smoothly. And the heavy equipment being such an important part of the entire industry, adds quite a lot to the entire expense. And in such a situation, it is important for the people of the construction industry to come up with certain measures that help them reduce this expense and push up the profit scale. And it is in this regard that the construction industry is now making use of fuel-efficient heavy equipment. There are a number of strategies that they have adopted in this direction.

  • Anti-idling policies

The idle time that every heavy equipment goes through contributes significantly to the entire fuel expense. It has been seen that the average 40% idle time that the heavy equipment goes through, besides being completely impotent also contributes significantly to the fuel expense. Hence, going for anti-idling policy can be a good way of reducing the fuel expense.

  • Making use of clean fuel

Construction authorities should also consider making use of clean fuel in their heavy equipment. Not only will this contribute to lowering the fuel expenditure, but will also make sure that the engine of the heavy equipment stays completely clean.

  • Making use of improved hydraulic steering mechanism

A recent research conducted by the Purdue College of Engineering showed that the use of efficient hydraulic steering mechanism developed by them helped reduce fuel expenses to a large extent. With the new improved mechanism, a significant 14.5% reduction in fuel consumption along with 43.5% improved fuel efficiency was seen in the heavy equipment.

Hence, one could safely conclude that the use of fuel-efficient heavy equipment not only helps in raising the productivity level of the heavy equipment, but also makes sure that the fuel that you put in is used optimally.