EDMONTON, AB – As the business world watches closely, Finning’s technology solutions division, SITECH Western Canada Solutions Ltd., continues forward with its industry changing procedures in developing Alberta, British Columbia and parts of the Northwest Territories.
Finning won Trimble’s Technology Dealer of the Year award for 2014. The honour is global recognition given to the dealer that sells the most Trimble construction technology world-wide. The technology is one of the most reliable and rugged construction technology systems available to the heavy civil construction contractor and features innovative practices in grade control, site positioning and software used to increase efficiency.
Those using the technology can benefit from a stunning 40 to 60 per cent increase in productivity, said Alex Docherty, Director, Finning Technologies.
The output gain allows for better project cost-efficiency, project quality and environmental benefits.
The grade control technology downloads construction plan designs into the equipment’s computer control box over the Internet. The software capability allows the system to, for example, determine the cutting edge for an excavator bucket and direct the operator to the desired depth and slope, or control the movement of a grader blade. It eliminates human error, while providing a sharp grade control accuracy, and the ability to see the status of the job, and the location of the machine, simultaneously online.
“We’re able to build more quickly, more accurately and with less human intervention,” said Docherty. “On a grader or dozer, the software capability allows the system to control the movement of the blade moving the dirt, and it’s accurate to 15 millimetres vertically and eight millimetres horizontally. It ties right into the equipment’s hydraulics, so the operator can use a switch and the system will move the blade up and down.”
As an added benefit, this technology also allows you to put operators of different experience levels on a machine and still achieve accurate results, helping customers address the skilled labour shortages that have been prevalent in Alberta.
“In the current economic climate, to be able to renew, build and repair infrastructure as efficiently as possible from a dollar perspective, there’s nothing that makes you more efficient than these technologies,” Docherty said.
This award is the top honour given out to Trimble’s heavy civil construction distribution channel. Trimble is an international company best known for providing the most reliable and rugged construction technology available. The award recognizes the top total net purchases for the particular technology brand.
While this technology has been beneficial to SITECH’s customers, not all heavy equipment operators are taking advantage of grade control, site positioning and software. Statistics Canada’s recent Survey of Innovation and Business Strategy stated that only 12.5 per cent of Alberta construction companies are actively investing in new technologies.
In the last three years, Finning’s SITECH division has achieved 27 per cent year-over-year sales growth, proving there is a demand and benefit for software as a service in Alberta.
Finning Canada is a division of Finning International Inc., the world’s largest Caterpillar equipment dealer. Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta Finning Canada sells, rents and provides customer support services for Caterpillar equipment and engines in British Columbia, Yukon, Alberta and the Northwest Territories and a portion of Nunavut. They serve a diverse range of industrial markets, including mining, forestry, construction, pipeline/oil field construction, agriculture, government sector, marine, transportation, fisheries, and the commercial transport industry.
SITECH Western Canada Solutions Ltd. is a global distribution network for Trimble solutions, the most reliable and rugged construction technology systems available to the heavy civil construction contractor.