Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/815541
AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2017 25 T he driving theme at ConExpo- Con/Agg was tech. That word has broad shoulders and can mean many things, but what practical technology solutions and ad- vances are available that can make a dif- ference in aggregates production today? From wheel loaders to excavators and dozers, there are a number of technol- ogies currently available — some OEM integrated or factory fit, others aftermar- ket — that can transform the productivity and efficiency of fleets of all sizes from the quarry to the scale house. The power of telematics Telematics is not new, but adoption of it remains on a slow climb. In a January 2017 study, commissioned in part by Case, 61 percent of respondents in- dicated that they owned equipment with telematics capabilities, one-third of respondents said that they collect telematics data, and 32 percent have their dealers monitor data for them. The practical benefits of telematics, combined with OEMs that are offering it as standard equipment or as part of an initial package at the time of purchase, should drive adoption even higher; es- pecially in the aggregates industry where many of the actions and cycles are repetitive/cyclical. • Smart utilization: Equipment own- ing and operating expenses are too high to let a piece of equip- ment go unused or underutilized — yet, in large decentralized fleets, it's easy to overlook equipment that sits idle at a remote yard or quarry. Meanwhile, another quarry opera- tion could benefit from the addition of another piece of equipment. By monitoring an entire fleet via a single telematics interface, fleet managers can identify those under utilized pieces of equipment and put them to work at the operations where they are needed, potentially reducing purchase and rental costs for new equipment. Similarly, com- panies may be able to consolidate