Bruce Flora spent 37 years working as a construction surveyor. He’s spent the last 15 working in the 3D machine-control market. He knows, then, that machine-control technology can eliminate the costly mistakes that contractors too often make during the fine-grading portion of their construction projects.
Knowing this, though, doesn’t mean that selling machine-control technology to contractors is an easy task.
It can still be a challenge to convince contractors, many of whom aren’t exactly racing to embrace change or anything hi-tech, that they need machine-control technology in their motor graders, dozers and excavators, says Flora, president and chief executive officer of Glenns, VA-based Data.Pro Ltd.
The good news? This is changing, and more contractors are adopting machine-control tech. The compelling reasons to invest in this tech are simply too strong for anything else to happen, Flora says.
“For fine-grading, the difference that machine control technology can make is phenomenal,” says Flora, whose company provides 3D machine-control services to the construction industry. “Unfortunately, a lot of contractors don’t believe in it yet. Or they think the struggle to master it is too hard. The ones who make the effort, though? Their increased productivity is phenomenal.”
Jon Sarrazin, WorkSight Solutions consultant with John Deere Construction & Forestry, says, “Fine-grading is a big piece of the construction cycle, and it is an important area for machine-control technology.”
It helps that contractors are willing today to embrace technology as a tool that can help them complete jobs faster and for less money. In addition, points out Deere motor grader marketing manager Mike Ackerman, adopting this technology is good for a contractor’s reputation and status.
Good things happen when contractors add machine-control technology to their equipment. The new technology creates more efficient companies. It also results in safer roads and sounder foundations for commercial and residential projects by helping to eliminate grading errors.
The challenge, though, remains that of convincing a sometimes skeptical construction industry that machine-control technology can eliminate much of the stress and mistakes too often associated with fine grading. Once the manufacturers of GPS systems, 3D machine controls, and modeling software can do this, they’ll watch as their sales rise to new levels.
And when their sales do rise? It will benefit contractors, too. They’ll be more efficient and accurate in their fine-grading work.
“A lot of the people who got into this industry don’t want change. They want to operate their machines the way they always have,” says Thad Glankler, president of Lake Wylie, SC-based Glankler Data Services, a company that provides 3D data prep models for GPS machine control. “They don’t want to hear that you can help them do their jobs better. They’re not ready for technology in their machines. Many are hoping to wait out the next few years without having to change. They want to retire before they have to learn machine-control tech.”
But there is a new generation of machine operators that is ready for this change, Glankler says. Younger operators who grew up in the Internet age aren’t nearly as resistant to using machine control technology during the fine-grading process as are some of their older peers, he said.
“Those operators who grew up getting information from screens? They’re not nearly as nervous,” Glankler says. “They’re used to technology. They’re not worried about having to master it. It’s second nature to them.”
That’s good news for the construction industry. Because when contractors do make the move to machine-control technology, they can save big dollars in time and labor.
And they won’t have to waste as much time or money in repairing mistakes-or paying for the extra concrete or soil that fine-grading errors sometimes require-that are discovered only after they complete the fine-grading process.
Productivity Boost
Philip Paull, owner and president of Noblesville, IN-based Excavating Solutions, says that machine-control technology can dramatically reduce fine-grading errors. At the same time, it can help contractors complete their fine-grading work in less time.
“If used correctly, this technology can increase your speed, productivity, and accuracy by huge amounts. It’s unbelievable, the difference,” says Paull. “The older generation of operators is sometimes a little scared of this tech. But once they start using it? They realize there is no turning back. They are hooked, too.”
The key word in Paull’s statement, of course, is “correctly.” Like all technology, machine-control tech is only effective if it’s being used the right way.
And for that to happen, contractors still need machine operators with skill and knowledge to operate this new technology.
“It’s like driving a car,” he says. “Anyone can learn how to drive a car. But not everyone can win the Indy 500. I firmly believe that it takes operators a good four or five years of experience to become good at the fine-grading process. At least.”
Here’s how Paull sees the benefit of machine-control technology: A large-size dirt company is working on pads. It relies on a dozer equipped with GPS. This machine then tells the operator how to maneuver his dozer throughout the grading process.
The rest of the dirt company’s crew follows this machine-control-guided dozer to finish the job. When the work is done? There are no fine-grading mistakes to correct or pay for.
“A lot of contractors who in my opinion are very good contractors set up their operating systems just like this,” Paull says. “If you do it this way, it puts you right on it when fine-grading, within a quarter-inch. That is better than stakes. You don’t need stakes if you do it this way.”
Flora has seen some of the same benefits during his time working in the machine-control industry.
When Flora worked as a surveyor, he would rely on stakes posted in the ground to make accurate measurements. Those stakes would guide contractors. With today’s tech, though, surveyors make the same computations, only they work their magic in 3D on computers. They then put these 3D models in machines.
And once that happens, construction crews tackling fine-grading work can eliminate the majority or all of the stakes that once guided them. This, of course, saves a significant amount of money and time for contractors.
“With machine control you can be more accurate than ever before,” Flora says. “In the past, when we’d build roads, we’d put up stakes every 25 to 50 feet. The contractors had to eyeball that distance in between them. Now the machine can guide the operator on its own. There is more consistency between stakes now than ever before.”
Chris Mazur, product marketing manager for Leica Geosystems, says that machine-control tech brings another benefit that often gets lost: It gives contractors more control over their jobs because it allows them to do more of the work-in all aspects of construction-themselves.
“When you get to the part of the job when it’s time for grading, you don’t have to call in a survey crew to come out and stake the job site,” Mazur says. “If you aren’t using machine-control technology and you do need to call in a survey crew, you are now working on that crew’s schedule, not your own. You have to wait, and only when the survey crew is done can you go on to the rest of the job. You are at someone else’s mercy.”
This might not be a benefit that contractors recognize when they first consider investing in machine-control technology, but it is one that they understand quickly once they’ve embraced this tech, he says.
When contractors run 3D machine-control systems, staking is no longer required on a job site. Contractors, then, can move their equipment around any portion of the site at their own pace and schedule.
“That is one the recurring themes that comes back after contractors do invest in machine-control technology: They can do more day-to-day management of where they are on the job,” Mazur says. “They are no longer waiting on someone else. They have more flexibility in how to manage their jobs. And with contractors, the more of their own project they are in control of, the more efficient and profitable they can be.”
Even with all of its benefits, though, machine-control technology is far from ubiquitous in the grading and excavation industries, Flora said. He estimated that in the 15 years he’s worked in the industry, machine-control tech has only managed a market penetration of 15 to 20%.
That leaves a lot of contractors who still haven’t embraced this technology.
Eliminating Costly Errors
Glankler sums up the power of machine-control tech simply: “It will make an already great operator a foreman,” he says. “It’ll make a bad operator a good one.”
What this means is that companies that rely on machine-control tech can eliminate the costly mistakes that too often pop up on fine-grading projects.
“You don’t want to do the work more than once,” Flora says. “You want to cut or fill to grade just one time. That cuts down on fuel and labor costs.”
Machine-control technology can help contractors reduce or eliminate the need to return to job sites to fix grading errors. Over a given year, this can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. And that should be enough to encourage contractors to invest in the upfront costs of this tech.
“If an error’s made and not caught, it will cost you,” Paull says.
Say a contractor is digging a footing. If an operator makes a mistake, the footing will need a larger amount of concrete to fill it than if the operator had been more accurate. If operates make mistakes when working on a slab for a basement, they’ll then need more gravel for the sides of the slab.
“If you’re building a parking lot for a Wendy’s or McDonald’s and you don’t end up with the right slopes or curves, that will cost you,” Paull says. “When the next contractor has to put down stone, he has to get to the right finish. He’s not going to put down less stone than it takes. He’ll put down more stone. You’ll have to buy that extra stone. Grading is very important. There are fine graders out there. They are the ones who make or break the company, in my opinion. The speed of getting to that correct grade and moving on is where you get paid.”
Even with technology, contractors can’t completely eliminate mistakes during the fine-grading process.
That’s where operator skill comes in. As Paull and Flora both say, the most powerful machine-control technology won’t prevent poorly trained or unskilled operators from making grading mistakes.
The key, then, is for contractors to embrace new technology while not forgetting to provide the proper training for their machine operators.
“The quality of the personnel running your machines is still very important,” Paull says. “Are they trained? Do they have the experience they need? Even with machine-control, you still need operators that know what they are doing and how to do the job.”
Then there’s math, something that trips up many operators and contractors. Paull estimates that 97% of all grading errors when machine-control tech is used are caused by human-made math errors.
“One guy will think it’s a different than another guy,” Paull says. “The plans might be right, but someone translates it wrong. Or the guy on the ground doesn’t want to admit that he’s wrong. He’s embarrassed. People have pride when they are working on a job. They’ll tell you that what they’ve done is good enough, so you end up with dips and rolls in your road or pad. The biggest reason this happens? People don’t do the math right.”
As with all new technology, there is a learning curve associated with machine-control software. It’s not something that operators and contractors can expect to learn instantly.
But those who make the effort will provide a boost to their company’s bottom line, Flora says.
“It does take time and effort to learn how to use the tools,” he says. “But the rewards can be great.”
Boosting Adoption
The good news is that machine-control technology is becoming far less of a rarity in grading and excavation equipment. And the manufacturers of this technology say that they expect this trend to only grow stronger in the coming years.
And those contractors who don’t invest in machine-control tech? They might find themselves left behind by an industry that is increasingly becoming tech-savvy.
“This technology is starting to become more common,” Mazur said. “The adoption rate is increasing year over year. We expect that in the next several years just about everyone will be running some sort of machine technology.”
Why aren’t more contractors using machine-control technology today? There are several reasons.
The most important, though, remains cost, to no one’s surprise. And the country’s still-sluggish economy isn’t helping.
“A lot of contractors understand that this technology can make them more productive and efficient. But many of them still aren’t ready to spend the money on it,” says Glankler. “Many are still struggling financially because of the weak economy. So that isn’t making their decision any easier.”
Other contractors worry about the learning curve involved in mastering a new technology. They worry that their personnel won’t be able, or willing, to learn to operate the technology properly.
“We all get busy doing our day-to-day jobs,” Mazur says. “It’s natural for busy contractors to wonder if they have the time to learn this technology. The cost to enter, the learning curve, and the training are the biggest objections we hear when it comes to machine-control technology.”
When Flora runs into the learning curve objection, he takes a direct approach. He shows contractors catalogues from Lowe’s and Home Depot and asks these pros if they’re ready to start working at either store.
The message? If they don’t embrace changing technology that’s the only place where their careers will lead.
“I can name you some very good surveyors who did not want to get involved with this technology. One is at Lowe’s, the other is at Home Depot,” Flora says. “You want to be careful. If you don’t want to get on board, you need to make sure that you’re not too young. If you want to finish out your career without learning this technology, you better be in your late 50s. If you are less than 50, your world is going to change. You want to be part of it instead of letting it pass.”
Education Is the Key
For Mazur, the key to getting more contractors to adopt machine-control technology is simple: education.
The makers of this technology need to do more to educate contractors across the country about its benefits, he says. And they need to concentrate on that most important of measures: return on investment.
Contractors need to know that even though machine-control technology isn’t cheap, it will pay them back steadily through increased efficiency, greater control over their business, and reduced labor costs, Mazur says. “We need to do more to educating on the overall benefits of machine-control. We need to talk more about all the savings this technology can bring, all the increases in productivity it can cause. We need to talk about the lower amount of wasted materials and the ability it gives contractors to schedule crews where and when needed. If a contractor says machine-control is too expensive, in my opinion he hasn’t seen the value the value of this technology yet.”
As Mazur says, the one thing that matters most to contractors is return on investment.
“What is the ROI on making a $20,000 or $50,000 machine-control purchase?” Mazur asks. “The more we educator contractors on that, the more the adoption rate will continue to increase.”
Mazur says that this education is an important mission for his industry. It’s not only contractors, after all, who benefit from machine-control.
Other companies involved in fine-grading and other construction benefit from this tech, too, Mazur says, from the engineers who plan the projects to the surveyors on the job site.
He points to surveyors as an example. Surveyors will remain on job sites even after machine-control technology becomes the norm. But they won’t be wasting their time on repetitive grade-staking work. They can instead focus on other jobs that require more of their actual surveying skill. They can, for instance, spend more time making sure that the 3D models that are inputted into grading machines are correctly configured.
“You’ll always need a surveyor, but the surveyors can now concentrate on proper control of the project,” Mazur said. “Everyone’s role will change a bit with machine-control. The key is educating everyone about these changes, from the people working on the concept of the project to those handling the completion of the work on the job site.”
As Glankler says, some contractors worry that their jobs will disappear once machine-control technology gains a firmer foothold in the industry.
This fear is understandable, but it’s not realistic, Glankler says. And again, education is the key to alleviating this concern.
“I’ve heard the concerns from people. They worry that the computers will take their jobs,” Glankler says. “They worry that their job will disappear. But that’s not true. The computers won’t be taking away jobs. They’ll just give people on the job site the ability to work more efficiently.”
The future holds good news, too, for those contractors worried about the price of machine-control tech. Today, this tech is far from inexpensive. But as with all things tech, the prices will eventually fall.
“This will evolve over time,” Mazur says. “Prices will go down. It’s technology. Technology prices go down. Look at a computer. Just five years ago, you had to spend $4,000 to $5,000. Today you can spend $1,000 on a machine that can do 10 times what those more expensive ones could do. We haven’t hit that point yet with machine-control, but the price of this tech will continue to go down.”
The way Paull sees it, falling prices and more comfort among contractors will lead to greater adoption of machine-control technology.
But there’s one other key factor: Machine-control is progress. And progress always wins out in the business world, he says.
“It’s all about the new economy,” Paull adds. “It’s about doing more with less. It’s about making jobs simpler. That’s what machine-control technology does. And it’s why you’ll see more and more of this technology in machines across the country.”
