DemoExpo Special
DEMOLITION The industry magazine like no other
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One Vision seemingly unencumbered by ego and is (too) willing to let others take the credit while he stays out of the spotlight. But make no bones about it. There is noone working in the UK demolition business that is more knowledgeable, more passionate and more committed to the industry than Adrian McLean. He runs a seriously bloody good demolition company and he is probably the best President the Institute of Demolition Engineers has never (yet) had. Certainly, the IDE fellowship that he was recently awarded has never been more richly-deserved. If the DemoExpo is a success - at the time of writing, at the end of the opening day, the jury is still out - it will be due directly to McLean’s dedication and hard work.
The UK’s two incestuously interwoven trade associations would have your believe that last week’s DemoExpo was a joint effort between the pair of them. ‘Tis rhubarb. The DemoExpo owes its very existence to one man working tirelessly in the background. And that man is Armac Group’s Adrian McLean. The Expo was McLean’s brainchild; he nurtured it through an often difficult gestation and birth; and it was held – quite literally – in his company’s backyard. And while he has had assistance along the way – most notably from the IDE’s Duncan Rudall - the day-to-day organisation – including the last-minute creation of a helipad – all bear McLean’s distinctive yet seldom discussed hallmark. Not that he would tell anyone as much. While others crave the spotlight and public adoration, McLean is
Mark Anthony
Editorial Mark Anthony - Mark Anthony Publicity markanthony@markanthonypublicity.co.uk 07973 456 166
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Published by ©Eljays44 Ltd - Business Intelligence Eljays44 Ltd. County House, 3 Shelley Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 1TT 01903 234 077 Demoliton is published 6 times a year by Eljays44 Ltd. The 2013 subscription rate is £60 per year. Subscription records are maintained at Eljays44 Ltd. County House, 3 Shelley Road, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 1TT, UK.Articles and information contained in this publication are the copyright of Eljays44 Ltd and may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publishers. The publishers cannot accept responsibility for loss of, or damage to, uncommissioned photographs or manuscripts.
STUFF
Goodbye to a Good Man Richard Comley’s untimely passing robbed the industry of one of its most honourable men. Mark Anthony pays tribute.
It is often said at times like these that an individual battled cancer. But battling wasn’t Comley’s way. Instead, he took it the same way that he seemed to take everything – With a boyish, toothy grin that would make the Cheshire Cat look positively miserable by comparison. I interviewed him numerous times over the years, and enjoyed his company – and that of his family - at countless industry and social events up and down the country. But for all his achievements and accomplishments in his chosen profession, my fondest memory of him is only slightly demolition-related.
Death is no longer the constant companion to demolition that it once was. But while the industry has unquestionably become a safer place in which to work, the spectre of death still seems to lurk close by. So it seems somehow unjust that Richard Comley – a man who fought a valiant, personal battle to make the industry safer - was taken prematurely from his family and friends by something as banal and prosaic as an illness.
A few years ago, in better economic times, the NFDC held its annual convention in Monte Carlo. Among the “guests” was the representative of a well-known equipment manufacturer who seemed determined to drink the principality dry at his employer’s expense. At some point, this embarrassing individual “lost” his shoes; a fact that he was willing to share – loudly – with anyone in earshot.
Of course, his illness was no secret. With typical good grace and good humour, he recently stepped aside to allow Richard Dolman to take up what should have been his own chairmanship of the National Demolition Training Group; not because he thought that illness would prevent him from doing the job but because he believed the ongoing treatment might prevent him from doing it to the very best of his ability.
With nothing more than a gesture of his eyes, Richard Comley guided my gaze upwards. And there, dangling precariously from the roof of the salubrious Monte Carlo hotel, was a pair of scuffed and misplaced shoes.
And that, in a nutshell, was the mark of the man. In a dog-eat-dog, ruthless and often cut-throat industry, Richard Comley was one of those unique individuals that would put others first; that would place industry betterment above any personal ambition or ego; who hid an encyclopaedic knowledge of the industry’s rules and regulations behind an ever-present grin and a transitory moustache.
There were numerous suspects, but the case of the Great Shoe Scandal of Monte Carlo remains unresolved to this very day. However, based upon the Cheshire Cat grin that Richard Comley was sporting as he walked away, I have my suspicions.
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stuff
App Happy News Apps News, as it happens; in the palm of your hand. That is precisely what the iPhone and iPad can now deliver using a variety of apps that not only keep you abreast of developments across the world and within this industry but that allow you to personalise your news experience to match your own interests. BBC News As the name suggests, this is the iPhone and iPad-compatible delivery system for all the latest news from Britain’s premier news service. Sorted by categories including Top Stories, World, UK and Sport, the app provides an excellent snapshot of the day’s news and is regularly updated.
Flipboard While the BBC News and Sky News apps ring you global news, Flipboard allows users to compile news of their own, converting social media feeds from the likes of Facebook and Twitter into a magazine format that you can browse at your leisure.
Sky News Prefer your news in a more visual format? Then the Sky News app is the one for you. In addition to extensive video content, the app also allows users to view Sky News live from their handheld device. The “Your Report” facility also allows users to become citizen journalists in their own right.
DemolitionNews Modesty would normally forbid us from including our own handiwork. But if demolition is your primary interest, the DemolitionNews app is the one for you. It is the mobile version of the DemolitionNews.com website and is the only industry app to benefit from daily updates.
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A H a r d R a i n ’ s a G o n n a Fa l l
A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall
British summer time weather may have dampened the DemoExpo site but it did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those in the outside equipment area. Mark Anthony braved the elements.
The signs were there for all to see. DemoExpo had been planned for the same weekend as the Wimbledon tennis, the British grand prix and the Glastonbury festival; three annual events that are plagued with rain as a matter of tradition. Anyone expecting to stroll the aisles of DemoExpo in shirtsleeves was either foreign, or mad.
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But demolition folk – particularly those in this green and pleasant land – are pretty much used to working in the pouring rain. And a constant drizzle that marked the first day of DemoExpo and which, curiously, seemed to flow uphill to make the site’s highest point the muddiest, did nothing to prevent the several hundred visitors from doing the rounds of the stands. And even those that had previously done the Bauma route march and the Plantworx tour would find plenty to admire and, hopefully, to add to their shopping lists. To access the showground, visitors were forced to walk below the outstretched boom of the Caterpillar 320 excavator that had tried to rip off James Bond’s face in the recent Skyfall movie.
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A H a r d R a i n ’ s a G o n n a Fa l l
Why are C&D & different to the rest?
Quite why this had been modified to place the cab on the right-hand side of the machine for the movie, perhaps only the director will know. Perhaps if an excavator is to kill Britain’s most famous spy, it at least needs to drive on the correct side of the road first.
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High on the list of must-see machines at the show was the new ABC high reach from Kocurek, an endlessly variable, high utilisation 45 tonne base unit that boasts eight configurations from 28 metres high reach down to 14 metres and ultimately back to standard digging mode.
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A H a r d R a i n ’ s a G o n n a Fa l l
It was appropriate, given the location of the event that the machine was decked out in Armac livery, the Birmingham-based company having become the first to take delivery of the latest innovation from the Kocurek stable. Further up the aisle – and deeper into the mud – was an impressive display of crunching, munching and pulverising power with ECY Haulmark and Worsley Plant conducting impressive, side-by-side attachment demonstrations.
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Meanwhile, INMALO and LDH Attachments had very smartly occupied the entrance to a vintage plant zone containing a steam engine (that had seen demolition duties as a winch) supplied by AR Demolition; a pair of ageing but well-preserved Caterpillar tracked loaders; and an equally wellmaintained Hitachi excavator. Pick of an impressive bunch, however, was an RB22 crawler crane complete with wrecking ball; a nostalgic reminder of days gone by made all the more poignant having been a restoration hobby that the late Richard Comley never got to finish.
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A H a r d R a i n ’ s a G o n n a Fa l l
Despite having already spent big on Bauma, Plantworx and a whole host of other shows, it was pleasing to see some manufacturers – notably JCB, Caterpillar and Volvo – still happy to demonstrate their commitment to the industry with large and varied displays. But perhaps this isn’t so surprising. For while exhibitions like Bauma and Plantworx are impressive in their own right, both have a tendency to side-line demolition equipment, pushing it to the outer reaches of their respective show-grounds like some dirty secret or mad uncle. At DemoExpo, demolition equipment was the only game in town. And for that reason alone, it is a recipe for success.
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A H a r d R a i n ’ s a G o n n a Fa l l
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A H a r d R a i n ’ s a G o n n a Fa l l
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DADDY COOL
Daddy Cool
So when DemoExpo came to his backyard, Cormac was always going to be a part of it. Behind the wheel of a golf buggy, he gave me a guided tour of DemoExpo and the outer reaches of the site where he spends his weekends. It’s fair to say that he knows the site even better than his father. It’s also fair to say that he drives a little faster when his dad’s out of sight too!
For one young lad, DemoExpo was like being handed the keys to the toyshop and the sweet shop next door. Mark Anthony reports.
This lad knows his plant. In addition to pointing out the sections of the site where he drives his gokart, he knew machines intimately by make, model and manufacturer. When I asked him which machine he’d most like to take for a spin, he pointed out the Dorton Group high reach excavator, the largest machine on the site. As a child of the computer age, he also wanted to get his hands on the high reach simulator. But, to show that he has been raised with an awareness of the industry’s heritage, he also said he wanted to try the RB22 crawler crane and wrecking ball.
Most young boys think their dads are cool. Aside from a week in the 1970s when I would have happily swapped mine for Bobby Moore, I certainly did. But for one plant and demolition-loving lad in the West Midlands, there were a few days last week when his dad went beyond every day, run-ofthe-mill cool; beyond Beckham cool; beyond Bowie cool. In fact, for a short time, Cormac McLean’s dad couldn’t have been cooler if he was wearing an Armani tuxedo carved from polar ice and cucumber underpants.
Meeting Cormac was like a throwback to the good old days of boys accompanying their fathers to the plant yard to get a healthy coating of oil and grease together with a deep understanding of the industry in which their fathers worked.
Visitors to Armac’s Arden Brickworks know Adrian McLean’s son Cormac. He is the diminutive yet self-confident kid who is at home behind the controls of a machine as most kids his age are with a football at their feet. And he wields influence, does Cormac. He consumes information about demolition and is the very reason that DemolitionNews.com and this magazine keeps its content “family-friendly”, despite being a predominantly male industry.
In an era in which such practices are often viewed as unsafe and ill-advised, it is pleasing to see this industry tradition being maintained. Judging by my brief encounter with him, the Armac legacy will be safe in Cormac McLean’s young hands.
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Money, Money, Money
Money, Money, Money While the DemoExpo is a welcome addition to the exhibition calendar, the organisers must be careful not to overstretch exhibitors, as Mark Anthony reports.
Demolition equipment manufacturers have been through a rough few years. They have seen demand for their equipment fall in line with the global economy; they have seen margins whittled away to virtually nothing; and some have seen staff laid off – many in huge numbers – in an attempt to survive the longest economic recession in living memory. And yet, the financial demands on those manufacturers have continued to grow.
Many of those present at the DemoExpo last week exhibited at both Bauma and, more recently, at Plantworx. Each of them will have paid for a stand at these shows, had to ship men and machines to those shows, had to pay for hotel accommodation at those shows, and had even had to supply sufficient pens, mousemats and carrier bags for people to swipe from their stands at those shows. Throw in the fact that many would also have advertised in show previews and reviews, and even the smallest manufacturer or dealer is staring down the barrel of a bill that might exceed ÂŁ10,000 or more per show.
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Money, Money, Money
Think about it for a second. A tiny UK manufacturer, possibly one with overseas ambitions, could be “required” to attend half a dozen IDE and NFDC regional meetings each year; a pair of IDE seminars; an NFDC Convention or annual general meeting; an EDA seminar or two; and to sponsor any one of a number of new innovations that are taking place at the time.
And to what end? So that they might meet a demolition company’s plant manager who will then nail them to the wall on price and credit terms. We are in danger of not just killing the goose that laid the golden egg but of turning its skin into a lampshade and making an omelette from the eggs.
And as someone that runs a magazine and a website that is funded solely by advertising from that very same (and very small) group of people, I am every bit as culpable.
If anything, this situation is worse within the confines of the demolition business. Every new initiative – whether that is an exhibition, seminar, publication or website – comes with a price tag that all too often lands in the lap of the equipment manufacturers.
The organisers of Hillhead and Plantworx have, very sensibly, agreed to an alternating year schedule to ensure that they don’t overstretch the exhibitor base. So even if DemoExpo is a rip-roaring success, I would urge the organisers to think long and hard – for the manufacturers’ sake - before they decide to make it an annual event.
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Present Arms
Present Arms DemoExpo marked the official introduction of two of the NFDC’s latest initiatives: the world’s first high reach excavator simulator; and the DRIDS data sheets. Mark Anthony checked out both. No self-respecting expo these days is complete without a little bit of “death by PowerPoint”. And while the subject of those presentations was hotly anticipated, DemoExpo was no exception. First up was DRIDs which sounds like a communicable disease (I can’t come to work today, I have a nasty dose of the DRIDs) but which actually stands for Demolition and Refurbishment Information Datasheets. In a gigantic clash of the acronyms, DRIDS are a joint effort between the NFDC and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and are designed to help demolition and refurbishment contractors identify, handle and process the various materials they might encounter. These datasheets are available online and as a new (iOS only at present) mobile app. We took the mobile app version for a test spin.
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Present Arms
I do have a couple of gripes, however. First off, each material is accompanied by a simplistic description. Surely handing the average demolition professional an app that describes glass is a little like handing your granny a set of guidance notes on egg sucking.
The app begins with a few pages of explanation of how it works and what it can do. There is a quick guide to the way in which material types are broken down, together with instructions on how to use the built-in QR code scanner to help identify specific materials.
And if someone can’t identify wood just by looking at it, chances are they’re in no position to be driving a mobile phone app. I am sure that this element would be useful for more complex, less easily identifiable materials, however.
Once you get past that, you are presented with 11 materials categories including composites, flooring, hazardous, and inert. Each category contains multiple materials – the inert category, for example, includes bricks, concrete, glass and roof tiles among others. A click on each of these materials types brings up another menu detailing where that material sits in the waste stream hierarchy, how it is to be handled and stored, specific PPE requirements and – at the very top – a GPSdriven list of processors capable of handling and processing the material.
The second gripe relates to the way in which the materials processors section has been handled. At present, it contains only NFDC associate members. And while this means that my secondclosest processor of glass is 108 miles away from my current position, it is sensible to launch the app with a controlled group of providers.
It’s all pretty slick, easy-to-navigate, and well thought out. And the fact that reports can be extracted to spreadsheets for a project file or Site Waste Management Plan is a nice touch.
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Present Arms The high reach simulator, by comparison, looks like an excavator seat and vertically-mounted widescreen TV sat on a plinth. Don’t be fooled though. Although I didn’t get to try it personally (the gremlins beat me to it) I am told that it feels very much like the real thing; the controls and seat moving and reacting just as they would in a real excavator. The NDTG claims that the simulator, which will be housed at the group’s Resurgam House headquarters, is suitable for foundation training of industry newcomers, and for up-skilling excavator operators from standard 360 to high reach standards. There is no question that the simulator is an impressive piece of kit and the training group is to be applauded for this bold and forward-thinking investment. But, being ever-cynical, I do have a couple of concerns.
However, moving forward, the Federation intends to charge companies to appear on this list; and those costs have the potential to sky rocket. The nominal charge is £50 for associate members and £100 for non-members. But that charge is per sheet per year. So a non-member company that is capable of processing all the 36 current categories of waste currently listed is facing a £3,600 annual bill. And with new materials being added, that bill can only grow.
For one thing, it does not and will not address the ongoing problem of clients insisting upon experienced high reach operators whilst refusing to allow training to take place on their precious sites. The simulator does not qualify a user as a card-carrying member of the high reach operator elite. In addition to that, this is just a simulator in which a wrong move might result in an imaginary machine toppling over onto a fictitious site to cause invisible damage. The worst that can happen is that the simulator session comes to an end.
The second big money item on the presentation agenda was the high reach excavator simulator that the NFDC and NDTG have developed in conjunction with equipment giant Volvo and simulator software specialist Oryx. The first thing you notice is that the simulator looks like no simulator you have ever seen.
On site is quite a different matter; a wrong move can kill. And the NDTG, and the company employing anyone that graduates from the simulator, must take care that any residual cockiness or feelings of invincibility are eradicated long before that operator moves onto the real thing.
Over the years, I have been in car, boat and aeroplane simulators and the one thing they all shared was an enclosed cabin to provide a truly immersive, virtualreality experience.
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