Capital Equipment News October 2016

CONSTRUCTION NEWS IN BRIEF

Wacker Neuson expands multi- channel strategy With its new e-store, Wacker Neuson has expanded its multi-channel strategy to offer better access to information, products and services around the clock. Since customers increasingly search not only for information on the Internet, but also want to make purchases, Wacker Neuson will open up this opportunity in the future through e-store. “Our top priority is to satisfy our customers. For this reason, our sales tools are continuously adjusted to customer needs. In order to meet these needs in a more targeted manner and at the same time to prepare ourselves better for the future, we rely on a multi- channel approach, which includes digital business,” says Cem Peksaglam, CEO of Wacker Neuson SE. Caterpillar powers into portable generator market Caterpillar has entered the home and outdoor power markets with the launch of a new range of portable generators, the RP Series. The manufacturing giant says the new generators are designed to provide reliable backup or recreational power to residential users and portable power to professional contractors who need to power tools and lights on the job. “This is about providing a new customer base with the right solutions for their home and outdoor power needs that reflect the reliability, rugged capabilities and quality with which Cat products are known,” says George Taylor, Caterpillar vice-president of Marketing and Digital Division. Plunge for US construction equipment exports Exports of US-manufactured construction equipment were down 24% for the first half of 2016, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). The association says that US$ 5,65 billion of construction equipment was exported to global markets during the first six months of the year. The only region which saw an increase was Europe, up 2%, to US$ 898 million. Meanwhile, Canada – the US’s biggest export market – dropped 23% to US$ 2,4 billion. The biggest fall came from South America, at 49%, to US$ 504 million. There were also falls in Africa (43%), Australia/Oceania (30%), Asia (28%) and Central America (7%). b

CLOETE SAND AND STONE HAULS INTO DIGITAL ERA

StratoPOD will address several operational challenges for Cloete Sand and Stone.

Having used paper-based administration for over 34 years, building materials supplier, Cloete Sand and Stone, recently opted to digitise its system and has appointed Strato IT Group, which will implement StratoPOD, a mobile business application that offers customised, digital proof of delivery (POD). The full fleet was expected to go live in September this year. Cassie Lessing, CEO of Strato IT Group, says that the company is excited about the implementation at Cloete Sand and Stone. “This a great opportunity to showcase what StratoPOD can offer within the building materials industry. These companies face tremendous administration challenges and by digitising their process, they will benefit on many levels.” He says that StratoPOD will address sev- eral operational challenges within Cloete Sand and Stone. “There are large volumes of administrative tasks such as data captur- ing, document scanning, creation of delivery packs which include PODs, loading slips and daily schedules which are all paper-based. These needed to be digitised with the aim to reduce the administration burden.” Wesley Cloete, managing director of Cloete Sand and Stone, says the paper-based system was making accurate management most people don’t know is that the more expensive products go through various accreditation ratings. These accredita- tions include things such as vibration testing, moisture, humidity, dust and drop testing.” He argues that a cheap testing instrument or piece of equipment is also more likely to break quickly and requires frequent repairs.

difficult. “We needed an improved system that provided us with real-time reports, easy access to historic information, as well as improved delivery processes, including live reporting from our drivers when delivering and also when loading at the quarry.” He says that StratoPOD provides Cloete Sand and Stone with a single, connected system that will significantly reduce its ad- ministrative burden and digitise the current environment. “We will be able to dynamical- ly reschedule and re-allocate goods in transit with the correct documentation, which was not possible with the paper-based system.” Using StratoPOD, there will be overall improvement of all operational efficiencies based on the fact that the data will be cap- tured at the source. There is also no need for delivery packs to be created and no documents will need to be scanned into the back-office system. Strato IT Group’s Lessing says that Cloete Sand and Stone will benefit immensely from the StratoPOD application. “There will be dramatically improved visibility of delivery operations as these are automatically tracked and the vehicle’s status is updated; a more ef- ficient vehicle dispatching process will also be implemented and they will have access to real time reports and improved access to historic data and drivers.” b

It may also need to be replaced much faster than a quality instrument as it might not be robust to withstand industrial wear and tear. “Cheaper breathalysers may also need to be recalibrated more often than quality machines and failure to recalibrate the machine could also affect the reliability of the readings, or even, its ability to operate at all,” adds Evans. b

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