Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/772143
AGGREGATES MANAGER / January 2017 3 January 2017 Vol. 22, No.1 aggman.com /AggregatesManager @AggMan_editor Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Therese Dunphy Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Online Editor: Wayne Grayson Contributing Editor: Kerry Clines editorial@aggman.com Design & Production Art Director: Sandy Turner, Jr. Production Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Linda Hapner production@aggman.com Construction Media Vice President, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 randallreilly.com Corporate Chairman: Mike Reilly President and CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operations Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Russell McEwen Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Vice President of Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Audience Development: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: aggregatesmanager@halldata.com. Aggregates Manager TM magazine (ISSN 1552-3071) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly, LLC copyright 2017. Executive and Administrative offices, 3200 Rice Mine Rd. N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Subscription rates: $24 annually, Non-domestic $125 annually. Single copies: $7. We assume no responsibility for the validity of claims of manufacturers in any advertisement or editorial product information or literature offered by them. Publisher reserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions. Periodical circulation postage paid at Tuscaloosa, Alabama and additional entries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Aggregates Manager, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. A Brave New World by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com EDITORIAL A s we turn the page on 2016, it's time to reflect on all the new year has to offer. By all accounts, 2017 should be a banner year for the aggregate industry. Presi- dent-elect Donald J. Trump has made infrastructure a priority for his burgeoning administration. Operators who responded to the Aggregates Manager 2016-2017 Forecast Survey predicted the best business conditions in 13 years of forecasts (see page 14). And, technology and automation are moving at a rapid-fire pace. The future truly is now. Throughout this issue, you'll get a glimpse at some of these innovations and learn how they are being used. For example, remote control technology and autonomous ma- chines are featured in this month's Operations Illustrated (page 21). For an even more futuristic look, check out this month's Technology feature (page 26). We were the only aggregate magazine to have an editor attend Volvo's Xploration Forum in Eskilstuna, Sweden, last fall to view prototypes of hybrid loaders and autonomous haulers. Editorial Director Marcia Gruver Doyle highlights the company's work on a $30 million project to create an electrified quarry. The result could be an operation that not only cuts carbon emissions, but also operating costs. At a recent press event, I had the chance to see how some equipment innovations are being developed so quickly. Caterpillar gave industry editors a taste of its virtual reality (VR) demonstrator with a walkthrough of a D6 dozer. Using a VR headset and a handheld wand, a user can cut through the machine to get a tech-based look under the hood. The demonstrator made for a buzzworthy press event, but it has much more utility for the equipment development team. Before the use of virtual reality, engineering teams may have multiple ideas on how to approach an equipment design, but would have to vote on one and build it as a prototype. "It cost a lot of time and money," says Dave Cooper, a design visualization steward with Cat's Immersive Visualization Department. "Now, we can build all of them — virtually — and put the expert operators in the seat to make sure it meets an operator's needs, not an engineer's." While the demonstrator is new, Cooper explains that Cat has been using VR for more than 20 years. It allows the engineering team to not only test multiple design ideas, but also enables mechanics to look at a machine's serviceability and customers to provide feedback before a physical prototype is built. "The design process is similar, but evaluating it is new because we don't have to build a physical prototype (as soon), and we can make minute changes as we go. It al- lows you to tune and refine continuously," he says, noting the result is a better design with a shorter lead time. As I wore the headset and worked my way through the D6's engine and inner work- ings, I was reminded of an Aldous Huxley line in his novel, Brave New World: "Words can be like X-rays. If you use them properly, they'll go through anything." I hope our words help give you insight into what is indeed a brave new world.