Last week I blogged from the Las Vegas Convention Center and the World of Concrete show and convention. After spending 99.9% of my time at the WOC, and only a few moments at a roulette wheel and a few more moments finding a good sushi spot, I drove back home to California, rested over the weekend and started thinking about this week’s blog.
One of the issues that keeps popping up in my head is the continued improvement of telematics and machine control software and as one manufacturer representative recently mentioned, the relatively low adoption levels of the technology. It’s a subject that Grading & Excavation Contractor magazine will continue to explore.
Last week I blogged from the Las Vegas Convention Center and the World of Concrete show and convention. After spending 99.9% of my time at the WOC, and only a few moments at a roulette wheel and a few more moments finding a good sushi spot, I drove back home to California, rested over the weekend and started thinking about this week’s blog. One of the issues that keeps popping up in my head is the continued improvement of telematics and machine control software and as one manufacturer representative recently mentioned, the relatively low adoption levels of the technology. It’s a subject that Grading & Excavation Contractor magazine will continue to explore. [text_ad] From the exhibit floor of World of Concrete, Steve Warfle, a product manager for InSite SiteWork, talked to me about end users not being able to get the most out of the technology simply because they lack the proper training. According to Steve, “Training winds up being very important. You can make the best technology in the world but if you don’t have trained users, they’re going to fail.” And his strategy is to train early and often. If cost is a problem, he says consider online training. “A good feature in the product is important, but if the customer doesn’t know how to use it, what value does it actually have? So training winds up being just as important.” Here at Grading & Excavation Contractor, we’re constantly talking about how the technology will continue to evolve to the point where one can envision cab-less robot excavators, dozers, and loaders. The problem is we’ll never get to that point if we keep running into walls getting the full potential out of our current technology. In the coming months we will have feature articles on telematics, GPS, machine control, work-site communications, etc. Here’s my prediction that I know will come true. We are adding an October issue this year that will be solely dedicated to subjects surrounding machine technology. OK, maybe it’s not so much of a prediction as it is a schedule change. Why don’t you send me some of your thoughts and ideas on the current state of technology?
From the exhibit floor of World of Concrete, Steve Warfle, a product manager for InSite SiteWork, talked to me about end users not being able to get the most out of the technology simply because they lack the proper training.
According to Steve, “Training winds up being very important. You can make the best technology in the world but if you don’t have trained users, they’re going to fail.”
And his strategy is to train early and often. If cost is a problem, he says consider online training.
“A good feature in the product is important, but if the customer doesn’t know how to use it, what value does it actually have? So training winds up being just as important.”
Here at Grading & Excavation Contractor, we’re constantly talking about how the technology will continue to evolve to the point where one can envision cab-less robot excavators, dozers, and loaders. The problem is we’ll never get to that point if we keep running into walls getting the full potential out of our current technology.
In the coming months we will have feature articles on telematics, GPS, machine control, work-site communications, etc.
Here’s my prediction that I know will come true. We are adding an October issue this year that will be solely dedicated to subjects surrounding machine technology. OK, maybe it’s not so much of a prediction as it is a schedule change.
Why don’t you send me some of your thoughts and ideas on the current state of technology?
