The sky's the limit: mixing radio signaling technologies for greater productivity - Product/Service Evaluation

Concrete Producer, The, Nov, 2003 by Rick Yelton

Producers are great mixers. It doesn't matter whether it's batching concrete, organizing daily deliveries, or combining key operational elements within their operations. Perhaps that's why our leaders find ways to sustain profits working with typically tight margins.

When asked for their recipes of profitability and success, producers often brag about their concrete mix designs. They value these concrete mixes as trade secrets, and even as trademarked products in some cases. In many markets, the ability to create a workable and durable blend of aggregate, cement, and sand separates the great producer from an average trucking company.

But in today's ever-changing business environment, savvy producers know successful concrete production operations need more successful mix designs than just for materials. With this in mind, producers are searching for other ways to improve operations.

For many, the first place to start is in selecting the right mix of radio technologies, which can be as important as selecting the right mix percentages.

That's because high tech radio communication is here. More importantly, these new devices are affordable. And with affordability, new electronic technology offers producers more ways to connect with co-workers, customers, and the main office.

It's practically impossible to keep up with all the opportunities that are coming so fast. How they can fit within a producer's general operating plan is even more difficult to understand.

Radio is the wave of the future. Whether it's new ways to connect with customers, monitor plant activities, or even provide a safe environment for the lone worker, there seems to be a band or frequency designed for ultimate performance.

Given the challenge of employee trust, available capital, and the need for highly productive plants, how should a producer plan for the future?

Tuning in to your customer

It's been a standard dispatcher joke. Experienced dispatchers tell trainees that contractors have a language of their own. Perhaps that's why it's so hard to communicate with them.

Technology can't help with the translation, but it can help with timeliness and directness. According to Daryl Newman, vice president of construction for Nextel Communications, Reston, Va., these may be the two key reasons why their new wireless communication system is becoming so popular with contractors and producers.

When contractors try to contact someone, they want an immediate answer, "It's the nature of their business. Quick, accurate information transfer can make the difference on a tough job," says Newman. But it's just as important to talk to the right person immediately to receive that right answer.

By operating on a frequency band of their own, Nextel's engineers have developed a nationwide walkie-talkie system. It can provide a one-to-one approach to business. And with a simple push of a button, contractors can practically draft their own personal communication network.

It's like they've handed each employee his own walkie-talkie, except the handset's range is limited only by the extent of the Nextel transmitter platform. And in most cases, that means national coverage.

Contractors aren't the only folks adapting the frequency to their needs. Producers have discovered a double benefit. First, many have equipped their dispatchers with Nextel access. They too can hook with contractors on their terms. For example, some dispatchers have entered all of their contractor/client Nextel numbers into their phones and identified them as a special calling group. It's a tool of convenience. The dispatcher can easily and immediately warn contractors about severe weather conditions, potential delays caused by unusual traffic conditions, or in those rare circumstances, plant breakdowns.

Producers have discovered the advantages of customizing the system design for themselves. The network has provided an excellent signal transmitting GPS location information. Truck status system providers, like Command Alkon, Birmingham, Ala., even offer Nextel-linking software to their subscribers.

Nextel can provide the ultimate in central dispatching. With nationwide coverage truck tracking for the entire nation can occur in one location.

A bird's-eye view

Many producer innovations are the result of someone else's learning experience. This is true as producers consider opportunities in plant security and even daily operations using a Wi-Fi radio frequency-based camera system.

After Sept. 11, 2001, sales managers at Hoss Equipment, the Dallas-based heavy-equipment distributor, faced potential sales declines because their producer customers were reluctant to travel to pre-inspect used equipment. So they searched for methods to deliver the equipment to the producer. They specified a system with real-time imaging and portability, along with durability. They needed a way to simulate a remote visit. Just as important, they also required an easy-to-set-up, yet rugged equipment option to transmit in tough remote settings.

At the end of their search, they discovered a camera signaling system that used a radio technology that operated on a newly developed frequency called Wi-Fi.