Capital Equipment News October 2016

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS

OCTOBER 2016

CLOETE SAND AND STONE HAULS INTO DIGITAL ERA

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

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.”

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

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%).

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.

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.