Computers continue to make their presence felt in construction, but their impact for the most part mirrors what has been taking place elsewhere in the business world. The changes they have wrought-stunning as they seem-have been evolutionary in nature, allowing for a greater degree of control over the same sort of data that has been used in decision making for decades. But beneath the surface, seemingly unrelated forces have been at work-high-definition positioning systems, electro-hydraulic equipment controls, broadband communications systems, and now truly integrated, enterprise-level software and data management suites-that in aggregate are rendering obsolete the way we’ve done business in the past.
Industry Resets Its Sails
One factor that has become clear during recent visits with equipment manufacturers is that all see their role in the marketplace changing. While turning iron into machines is deeply rooted in what they do, it is no longer the only, and in some cases not even the primary, focus of their business models. Instead, they’re seeing themselves as solutions providers, rather than just equipment manufacturers, demonstrating this commitment through their dealer networks; marking the transition in changes to their brand image by such means as the imposition of standardized design and industrial engineering initiatives throughout their product lines; focusing attention along with much of their marketing message on environmental and sustainability issues; and strengthening their rental presence. All of these initiatives point to a new vision of the marketplace and what it will take to address it in the future.
Emerging with less fanfare than the more obvious areas of technological change is what’s happening within the confines of the iron itself, a taste of which I got this past April during a visit to Peoria to learn about Caterpillar’s 336E H hybrid excavator. What captured my imagination was not the thought of comparing the machine with its non-hybrid sibling or other hybrid machines that have emerged in the past, but rather the realization of the tremendous amount of R&D efforts that have gone into such programs.
What we are witnessing is an entirely new approach to equipment system design and performance that can best be summed up in a word…integration. In the case of the 335E H, we see what Caterpillar calls its Adaptive Control System making use of a host of computer algorithms to integrate the machine’s hydraulic flows that take precision and efficiency to new heights. Most exciting of all is the fact that what Komatsu, John Deere, Case, Caterpillar, and others have shown us so far in the realm of integration is but the tip of the iceberg.
What Is Seen and Not Seen
Over the last several years we’ve watched the emergence of machine control systems and the automation of geospatial tasks for converting digital plans into finished projects through software systems designed to translate computer-generated data into actual onsite elevations. This is exciting stuff that is at long last coming into broad acceptance, and what will, in many eyes, constitute a revolution. In the next five years, the acceptance of digitally enhanced/controlled equipment and the underlying understandings of its use should be virtually universal, but this is but the entry ticket into the arena where the real change lies…the geospatial job site with its reliance on highly flexible, nonlinear project management processes, techniques, and visions.
In my March/April 2007 Editor’s Comments I laid out the primary conditions for this to occur: (1) clear and simple explanations, easily understood by contractors; (2) delivery of machines straight from the factory, plumbed to take advantage of the control equipment; and (3) the mobilization of a cadre of “consultants” to carry the job-site understandings into the field. Of these, the second has been thoroughly addressed in the larger, more expensive equipment, and the level is moving steadily down, while the other two are receiving increased attention.
Now, to these three I would add a fourth-consolidation in the contractor ranks-as an increasingly necessary component in the equation.
Why Consolidation, and What it Means
The most obvious reason for consolidation is the increasing cost of equipment and the software and systems necessary to direct it. While it is true that the productivity potential of today’s machinery is increasing steeply as well, this is not the same as getting that potential to the bottom line. This takes people with the knowledge, skills, and most of all the vision to make the transition…and it’s here’s that our greatest shortages lie.
In some cases, consolidations will follow the time-honored tradition of “I’ve got the money to buy out or undercut my competition,” but such may not be the way of the future.
Companies who understand the emerging opportunities and demands of flexible project management in terms of equipment, processes, and strategies will hold a competitive advantage over those who don’t, regardless of their size or bank balance.
Such knowledge, it seems to me, will be the real capital of the future, whether you’re the consolidator or the consolidatee, and Grading & Excavation Contractor looks forward to assisting you in this arena.
