MAKING THE GRADE Adding Smart Construction Retrofit to its standard excavators improved efficiency for Sons Construction Inc.
New technology has
“We were doing footers on a warehouse, and I dug played a major role in for about half a day without Sons Construction Inc.’s anybody shooting grading,” (SCI) growth since its said Justin. “Retrofit gave inception in 2005. The me more control over what I general contracting firm is was doing, and that is great led by owner Justin Raper if I need to overcut, undercut and his father, David. or dig outside the perimeters Justin Raper, “It started off as a general of the model. Since you aren’t Owner contracting business, and guessing while operating from there, it progressed and don’t have to wait on into doing design builds someone, you can be more accurate and larger scale projects,” said Justin. and operate faster.” Now, the company prefers to Smart Construction Retrofit helps take on large commercial and operators transition from traditional industrial warehouse projects, with machinery to technologically recent jobs ranging from 50,000 to 450,000 square feet.
Increase accuracy, speed To further maximize efficiency, SCI added Komatsu’s Smart Construction Retrofit to its Komatsu PC138USLC and PC88MR excavators. Retrofit is an entry-level 3D guidance kit, so operators get the advantage of seeing where they are on a project and their relation to target elevation. The kit includes four inertial measurement units mounted on the bucket, arm, boom and frame of the excavator. Sensors are installed in the front of the machine, and two GNSS antennas for GPS are mounted on the rear.
advanced equipment, according to Justin. “If you take somebody who’s been operating a long time and you try to throw a lot of technology at them, it can overwhelm them,” said Justin. “If you can put them into a Retrofit system and slowly ease them into it, they’re more adaptive to it. They still dig just like normal, but they have a screen they can follow. All they need to do is just look at the screen and read numbers, listen to chirps and whistles, and they get interested fast. I can set it up for them, and there’s not a whole lot of a learning curve.” ■ With Komatsu’s Smart Construction Pilot app and a Komatsu PC88MR excavator equipped with Smart Construction Retrofit, SCI owner Justin Raper sets up a model. Retrofit is an entry-level 3D guidance kit, so operators get the advantage of seeing where they are on a project and their relation to target elevation.
Users download Komatsu’s Smart Construction Pilot app and use it with their connected device. They can get audio alerts that will change tones the closer operators get to finish grade. That, along with the visual representation on the app, helps keep operators from digging too deep, saves time and lowers costs. Retrofit also has a payload system that weighs material, and operators can see that in real time to ensure proper tonnage is being loaded onto trucks — something typical aftermarket systems don’t have.
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