Month: September 2021

Still looking for the proverbial easy button to fill your talent pipeline? We hate to break it to you: there isn’t one. “If you’re in this industry and not being the biggest promoter of it, you’re part of the problem,” says Benjamin Holmgren, president of Buildwitt Jobs. “You’re not going to solve it for the industry. Solve it for you.” Holmgren was joined by Natasha Sherwood, executive director of the Independent Electrical Contractors Florida West Coast Chapter, and Steve Cona III, president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors Florida Gulf Coast Chapter, in a recent panel discussion led by Autumn Sullivan, director of marketing and experience for Mobilization Funding. The panel explored the issue of why skilled trade workers are leaving the industry, the impact of culture on recruitment and retention, and what companies can do to increase their talent pipeline. Recruiting and retaining the next generation So, can everyone stop blaming millennials already? Continuing to drone on about how millennials lack worth ethic is so 2010. Older millennials, those born in the 1980s, are established and in positions of

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers is acquiring SmartEquip for $175 million, a deal that will give Ritchie “asset-specific full-lifecycle parts and service support” to dealers, OEM partners and buyers, says Ritchie CEO Ann Fandozzi.  The acquisition, says Fandozzi, “furthers our goal of providing the best experience for our customers as we continue our transition from a traditional auctioneer to a marketplace for insights, services and transaction solutions for commercial assets.” A multi-manufacturer platform, SmartEquip provides real-time service and diagnostic support that is customized via serial number to each asset on a customer’s fleet. It also enables online parts buying from OEMs and dealers. In the announcement Ritchie says SmartEquip supports about $1 billion in annual transaction volume with more than 600 OEM brands, on behalf of fleet locations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.  For the foreseeable future, SmartEquip will continue to operate as a standalone business headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.  The move will “accelerate SmartEquip’s ability to support its rapidly growing footprint across our joint global marketplaces,” says Bryan Rich, SmartEquip executive chairman. The firm has 60 employees, who will

Using photogrammetry, drones can collect enormous amounts of information on earthmoving, industrial and mining sites. But when it comes to downloading all that data … put on a fresh pot of coffee, there’s lots of time involved. That’s why many in the industry may be interested to hear that Skycatch, a data automation and analytics provider for drone mapping, has announced the release of Flight1x, a cloud-based solution for the DJI M300 drone platform. Built on technology adopted by large mining companies and suppliers such as Komatsu and AngloAmerican, Flight1x is proprietary software developed specifically for the M300 that, according to the company, offers the most complete end-to-end high precision industrial drone capabilities available today. Compared to off-the-shelf photogrammetry tools and laser sensors, Skycatch’s drone software reduces the time required to obtain high-accuracy 3D data by 60% and delivers results in 10 to 15 minutes compared to the more typical three hours. Flight1x takes these capabilities to the next level on the M300, delivering sub-3-centimeter accuracy for tailings management and inspection. This reduces surveying costs, improves production planning and minimizes

Matt Pruss, Pruss Excavation, Dodge, Nebraska, has been named Equipment World’s 2021 Contractor of the Year. In accepting the award, Pruss said: “This is a great group of contractors and I was super excited to meet them. I’m very honored to be part of this.” The construction linage is deep in the Pruss family. Matt’s grandfather, Jim Sr., started Pruss Excavation in 1968. His father, also named Jim, joined him four years later, and Matt came on board in 2001. The company now has 40 employees and has $7 to $10 million in annual revenues performing levees, road work, wetlands, site work and lagoons. The event also marks the first time in the program’s 21-year-history that the succeeding generation of a former finalist has been named both a finalist and a winner. Jim Pruss Jr. was a Contractor of the Year finalist in 2004.  The company now works within a 250-mile radius of its Dodge, Nebraska, headquarters. Local authorities called on the firm when two major floods hit Nebraska in 2011 and 2019. The company’s existing fleet of pull-behind scrapers plus

If you’re a woman working in the post-pandemic world, construction isn’t a bad place to be. While there is still a wage gap between men and women, it’s less than in other industries, with women earning 99.1% of what their male counterparts make. The pandemic hasn’t slowed things down, either. A survey of 700 women in construction in March found that 58% said they’re working about the same compared with before the pandemic, while nearly one-third (32%) said they’re working more, and only 1 in 10 reported working fewer hours. Meanwhile, 71% said opportunities are on the increase, while 28% said they were about the same, leaving just 1% to report they were declining. This leaves women in construction with a leg up on women in other fields, such as retail and hospitality, who have been struggling to retain their jobs during the pandemic. Instead of scrambling to get back to where they were pre-COVID, many women in construction are riding the crest of a wave. Opportunities Abound Restaurant, retail, and travel industry closures hit women in those industries hard.

It’s tedious, time-consuming and often overlooked. A fresh paint job may not be on the top of your preventive maintenance priority list, but it’s a critical step to extend the life of your equipment. Paint protects your equipment from harsh weather conditions, prevents rust and corrosion, maximizes resale value and ensures a professional image. The process is simple, but even with the right tools, it can be painstaking. You can buy a sandblaster, pressure washer and paint gun to do the job yourself or have your local dealer do the refurbishing for you. Here is the process for painting construction equipment: 1. Prepare the surfaces The quality of the final paint job is all in the preparation. To start, remove all decals from the machine. A heat gun or adhesive remover and a scraper will make this process easier. Next, manually or mechanically sand the machine to remove the old paint. Pay special attention to areas that have rust or corrosion. Use a wire brush or grinding attachment on deep pockmarks. And as always, wear personal protective equipment to prevent

What was behind the surprising Deere-Hitachi excavator split announced in August? What will this mean for Deere customers of both brands? PRuccoloJohn Deereerhaps a better question is what it won’t mean, says Domenic Ruccolo, speaking to Equipment World about the split. Ruccolo, a Deere veteran, is the company’s new senior vice president of sales, marketing and product support, global construction equipment. He also serves as chief sales officer for the Wirtgen Group. “From a customer-support standpoint, I think the best way to put it is that there will be no change,” Ruccolo says. Irrespective of brand, Deere dealers will continue to support everything they have sold over the years “indefinitely,” he says.  “There’s no question that we had a very successful partnership with Hitachi throughout the Americas for more than 30 years,” Ruccolo says. But times have changed, and “it was the right time for both of us to make this change,” he says. “Where we are really going our separate ways is on the marketing and product support side.” After Feb. 28th, Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas will take over distribution and sale of

Whether your home has suffered a storm with significant damage, or you want to add a layer of stucco to your existing home, there are several steps you can follow to repair damaged stucco. Stucco is a natural building material used for thousands of construction projects across the United States and in many other countries. When freshly applied, it has an attractive natural color but will age to gray, silver, or brown depending on the environment and time exposed to the elements. This process of aging and discoloration is called efflorescence. There are simple Stucco Repair Jacksonville methods that can fix minor cracks. Some examples include repairing small holes left by broken pipes or leaking faucets. These can often be filled with silicon based waterproofing compounds that prevent water penetration. A contractor can fill a larger hole with concrete or asphalt, patch the hole, and then apply a second layer of siding to protect the repaired area. This is a longer process than applying a layer of siding, but it will keep your home’s value and curb appeal in good shape. To

CSIR–IICT Walk-in-Interview for Research/Project Associate with 16 Posts vacancies, walk-in dates are 29,30-09-2021 and 04-10-2021 The post CSIR–IICT Walk-in-Interview for Research/Project Associate | 16 Posts | 29,30-09-2021 and 04-10-2021 appeared first on ConstructionPlacements. Did you miss our previous article… https://www.neiloganconstruction.com/?p=285 David Snowwww.neiloganconstruction.com