Pit & Quarry, February 2019

SOFTWARE AUTOMATION tech and see it in action Attendees hear success stories both from their aggregate industry peers but also from those in other industries whose workflows are arranged similarly We have a strong presence in agricultural and civil construction says Simon Rush global marketing communications manager at Trimble Because we are co located the customer is able to have a look at what Trimble is doing in crop harvesting in soil compaction in a number of construction activities and see that its not that big of a jump from these other industries to what theyre trying to achieve within their quarry The conference is not limited to U S attendees According to Rush the conference is a global gathering that affords U S aggregate producers the chance to see how their most forward thinking peers around the world approach operations More than 4800 people from about 100 countries registered for the latest conference A big part of it is hearing international examples of how quarries manage fleets and think about their operations using the tools Trimble provides to make significant improvements Rush says REAL OPPORTUNITIES An aggregate producers location for example is often irrelevant when it comes to effective tech Rush says For if a French producer is effectively utilizing load out tech over the pond and if a New Zealand producer is effectively monitoring a mobile crushing operation in some far off place then whats to stop a North American producer from doing the same In many cases we are also connecting the workflow from the construction site Rush says We hosted some unique opportunities where we brought together the construction materials providers and their customers Construction companies are talking about what they need from sand and gravel suppliers Trimbles Dimensions illustrates how there are common pain points between vendors and customers regardless of the industry Loadrite 360 is creating a more seamless workflow in ticketing systems so the customer gets what he paid for says Rush discussing a Trimble quarry solution that targets improvements in loadout through performance metric tracking job data automation and real time 360 degree job visibility Were providing clarity on both sides For customers doing major construction projects to be successful they have to have their finger on the pulse of whats leaving the quarry in real time If theyre behind they want to know it They cant claim back time Indeed if a workday ultimately goes by the wayside a construction firm cannot get it back But if the firm knows the morning of for example that it does not have enough trucks on the road then it can make a change We have some customers who have a real time feed on whats happening on the loader just because they want to maintain a really lean stockpile on the site Rush says Improving one efficiency can lead to other improvements Vonesh adds The other part is safety he says There are fewer trucks on the road because youre loading out right managing the schedule correctly and creating fewer hazards There are a lot of benefits Rush agrees detailing how tech offers an opportunity for producers to better compete If you provide better customer service then youre more likely to win contracts he says On the flip side some contractors say if you cant provide me visibility accurate data then I wont work with you DEEPER THINKING In some cases aggregate producers are already utilizing modern software and automation They just arent getting the full capabilities out of them A lot of the larger or multi site operations have Trimble tech Rush says Most of them will have Loadrite loader scales but maybe theyre not aware of how they can get more out of the hardware Vonesh sees this as well We have some customers who traditionally had a belt scale and now they want to take it to another level for different downtimes and other things he says Initially some may be afraid of the technology that comes in But once they get used to it they realize its pretty cool They start asking more questions and it helps us design other things around that Technology is also an opportunity to attract the next generation of talent to the aggregate industry The older workforce is reliant on the touch and feel of how theyve done things for years Vonesh says When you lose that aging workforce you lose that touchy feely stuff So were taking the sensory component and putting that into a diagnostic flow telling it what eight tons in a bucket is rather than a guy knowing from repetition over the years New tech presents opportunities to make jobsites safer too Part of what were trying to do is equip operators with tools they need to be more aware of situations and prevent them before they happen Rush says We have been working on haul trucks recently and making them part of the connected quarry process not only preventing overloading and underloading but breaking down the haul process to note any inefficiencies Hauling safety can be enhanced for instance by alerting drivers of speeding zones Producers can map these areas out across a quarry where potentially unsafe events might occur You can have an intelligent conversation with your fleet to understand not only why speeding is inefficient but how it can be a safety hazard Rush says If we can prevent bunching and queuing it can prevent traffic issues But its also including other features like warnings riding on a bank a tipping hazard to provide alerts before they happen P Q 72 PIT QUARRY February 2019 pitandquarry com