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House passes bill defining aggregates as strategic, critical

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NSSGA reports a bill to speed development on federal lands of strategic and critical minerals, including aggregates, passed the House on Thursday. Development would be sped up by limiting the review duration of drilling permits and requiring concurrent rather than sequential consideration.

The bill in this case, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, would require the secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to more effectively develop domestic sources of minerals of “strategic and critical importance.” As NSSGA reports, the text of the bill indicates this would include “minerals that are necessary…to support domestic manufacturing, agriculture…and transportation infrastructure.”


Ohio promoting aggregates awareness this week

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The Ohio General Assembly has designated this week as Ohio Aggregates and Industrial Minerals Awareness Week. The goal is to educate the public, increase awareness and recognize the important contributions of the state’s aggregates and industrial minerals industry to construction and transportation, as well as to the state’s economic viability. The general assembly also plans to recognize the aggregates industry’s environmentally responsible stewardship of the state’s resources.

Martin Marietta shares second-quarter results

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Martin Marietta Materials Inc. released its second-quarter results today, noting that its heritage aggregates business-operating margin expanded 150 basis points and that the company’s specialty products group posted record second-quarter net sales.

“Our second-quarter results once again reflect the powerful combination of increases in shipment volume and average selling prices in our heritage aggregates product line,” says Ward Nye, Martin Marietta’s president and CEO.

Underlying the increases are continuing indications of recovery in certain areas of Martin Marietta’s markets, Nye adds, predominantly in the western United States. In particular, heritage volume growth in Texas was driven by increased shipments to both the energy sector and the residential end-use markets.

“Looking ahead, the positive momentum generated in the first half of the year, together with the recent passage of a new federal highway bill and regionalized improvement in home building, have bolstered our optimism for construction activity,” Nye says.

Vulcan Materials releases second-quarter earnings summary

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Vulcan Materials Co. shared its second-quarter earnings summary last week, announcing that its aggregates segment gross profit improved 9 percent due to increased productivity and cost-reduction initiatives.

Vulcan’s aggregates shipments increased slightly on a same-store basis from the prior year period, notwithstanding the pull-forward effect of seasonally favorable weather conditions during the first quarter and the effects of Tropical Storm Debby in Florida in June. Overall, Vulcan shipments decreased 1 percent due to the sale of operations in Indiana last year.

Also, aggregates pricing increased slightly, offsetting some of the earnings effect of a less favorable geographic mix.

“Despite weaker volumes in several of our most profitable markets, aggregates segment gross profit margin improved by 220 basis points,” says Don James, Vulcan’s chairman and CEO. “Cash earnings per ton of aggregates increased to $4.57 per ton.”

James adds that trends in both private- and public-sector construction markets are positive.

“In particular, we are encouraged by the passage of the new multi-year highway bill by Congress in late June, which should provide state departments of transportation with funding certainty they need to move forward on infrastructure programs,” he says.

Main to meet with aggregates operators in Seattle

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MSHA Assistant Secretary of Labor Joe Main will speak and take questions in Seattle next month as part of MSHA’s planned outreach to the aggregates sector this summer, NSSGA reports. Main will conduct the stakeholder meeting Sept. 10-12, and Bruce Chattin, the executive director of the Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association, will serve as host.

Pinniger retiring after 16 years with NSSGA

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Joy Pinniger is stepping down as NSSGA president and CEO effective Nov. 2. Pinniger plans to retire and relocate for at least part of each year to live with her husband in England.

“I know I speak for the board, our members and our staff in expressing our decidedly mixed feelings about accepting Joy’s decision to leave,” says Ron Summers, NSSGA board of directors chairman. “We would have preferred her to stay here and continue leading NSSGA, as she has done an outstanding job for the association and the industry for nearly 16 years. Yet we are also happy for her in her recent marriage to a British citizen, and anticipated that this would cause the couple to soon make a decision on their future location.”

Pinniger joined NSSGA in 1996. According to Summers, she helped her membership and staff achieve success over the years by building the association’s strength, which was instrumental in achieving public policy goals.

“With diplomatic leadership, Joy’s policy, management and motivational strength has helped our members reinforce message and build relationship bridges to fend off unjustified regulations like PM10 and inappropriate legislation that doesn’t properly distinguish aggregates operations from others,” Summers says. “She is a synthesizer of inputs, highly consultative and yet when a decision is made, she holds tough on applying it.”

As a former chief staff executive to a governor, Pinniger shared commitment with NSSGA members to improve partnerships with state associations.

“We’re only beginning to see the impact from applying 21st-century technology in assisting NSSGA in bringing together a more unified and informed voice of the industry,” Summer says.

As for NSSGA’s future, Summers says a recruiting and selection process for a new leader will be announced soon.

Kleemann showcases equipment, facilities at Technology Days

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Wirtgen Group hosted its Mineral Technology Days event last Thursday and Friday in Windhagen, Germany, where Kleemann’s latest crushers were among the equipment demonstrated for U.S. invitees and more than 1,000 invitees from around the world.

Three specific Kleemann systems were demonstrated, including one involving the Mobicat MC 125 Z jaw crusher, the Mobicone MCO 11 cone crusher, a Mobicone MCO 11 SX cone crusher and a Mobiscreen MS 20 D screening plant. The system crushed and screened greywacke, a variety of sandstone, and Kleemann showed how the equipment can be interlocked so production is fluid from start to finish.

Kleemann also crushed concrete in another demo and recycled natural raw materials like mixed rubble, concrete and asphalt in a third, exhibiting the strength of a magnet that removes debris.

In addition to the Kleemann equipment demos, invitees also saw Wirtgen’s new 4200 SM surface miner in action. Invitees also had the opportunity to sit in on lectures from experts like Bramco-MPS’ Lee Heffley, who talked to a global audience about how mobile equipment like Kleemann’s is changing the way U.S. producers do business.

Still, as Heffley noted, some producers hesitate to move toward more mobile equipment because they are not ready to abandon existing equipment investments.

“The best way to introduce equipment is with a progressive strategy,” Heffley says.

While Technology Days involved participants from around the world, many of the U.S. producers in attendance also received a tour earlier in the week of Kleemann’s 1.4-million-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Göppingen, Germany. The facility, completed in 2009, relies on 26 overhead cranes to move the parts needed to build Kleemann’s equipment. Invitees also learned that many of the parts used to manufacture equipment are actually produced at the Kleemann facility.

Those on the tour also saw crushers being assembled. Kleemann says assembling one crusher takes about one week, but an intense testing period follows that takes a few more weeks per crusher to ensure quality functionality.

NSK

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NSK’s SAF pillow blocks are ideal for meeting the harsh conditions found in the mining and aggregates industries. Manufactured with heavy-duty cast iron and available in a number of sizes, the blocks keep water and contaminants away from the bearing while keeping lubrication inside the housing. The triple-ring labyrinth seal comes standard on all housings with stronger sealing options available where contamination is at a higher risk.

Cross porting removes heat from the bearing when used in circulating oil systems. Landing platforms accommodate vibration and other types of sensors.  Bigger inlet holes offer superior performance in high-temperature applications, while temperature strips prevent the potential damage that can result from overheating. All NSK SAF pillow blocks are easily interchangeable with a full range of other manufacturers’ units.

NSKAmericas.com


ConExpo-Con/Agg 2014 Preview – If It’s New, It’s Here

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ConExpo-Con/Agg will represent an immense unveiling of all the newest equipment, technology and product breakthrough in construction. From earthshaking big iron to groundbreaking innovations, it’s all assembled in one place to help you work smarter. ConExpo-Con/Agg 2014 — If it’s new, it’s here!

ConExpo-Con/Agg 2014 will feature:
• 2,400 exhibitors showcasing new products and technologies from for every major construction industry including asphalt, aggregates, concrete, earthmoving, lifting, mining, utilities and more.
• Over 130,000 attendees that range from contractors, to dealers & distributors, to service providers, engineers, producers, municipalities, and more.
• A comprehensive education program during the five-day exposition with sessions emphasizing industry issues and trends, management and applied technology.

Get the latest show updates by pre-registering today. http://www.conexpoconagg.com/Attendees/

Martin Marietta’s quarterly revenues, earnings rise

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Martin Marietta Materials Inc. reported double-digit increases in revenues and earnings for the third quarter. Ward Nye, Martin Marietta president and CEO, says the ongoing recovery in private-sector construction, drove the company’s third-quarter growth.

“I am especially proud of the fact that our company achieved these strong results despite the continued public-sector construction headwinds,” Nye says. “The combination of a 12 percent increase in consolidated net sales over the prior-year quarter and our ongoing focus on controlling costs resulted in a 13 percent increase in earnings per diluted share. These results reflect new third-quarter records for both net sales and earnings from operations in the specialty products business, as well as volume and pricing growth in the aggregates product line.”

According to a press release, Martin Marietta’s aggregates business experienced volume and pricing increases from all reportable segments and pricing growth in all product lines. Aggregates product line shipments increased 8.1 percent, and the specialty products business benefitted from strong dolomitic lime sales to achieve a 13 percent increase.

“We are encouraged by significant improvements in our markets and believe, as do most third-party forecasters, that significant upside potential remains in both the residential and nonresidential construction segments,” Nye says. “Additionally, our aggregates business will benefit from the current boom in shale gas production, as well as planned follow-on development. We are confident that these trends bode especially well for our business.”

The nonresidential market, which comprised 30 percent of Martin Marietta’s third-quarter aggregates shipments, increased 19 percent. Growth was notable in both commercial construction and the energy sector, according to the company. The residential market achieved volume growth of 15 percent and accounted for 13 percent of Martin Marietta’s quarterly shipments.

“Shipments to the infrastructure end-use market were essentially flat with the prior-year quarter,” Nye says. “Federal budget and deficit disputes and the uncertainty over future highway funding levels beyond the September 2014 expiration of [MAP-21], have contributed to the reluctance of many states and municipalities to commit to large-scale projects.”

CalCIMA distributes awards to several members

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The California Construction & Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) recently recognized several members who made outstanding contributions during 2013.

Jim Good, retired and previously with the law firm Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden, received the association’s President’s Award. Good, who served CalCIMA as counsel since its inception in 2007, has been a longtime legal advisor to California mining companies, according to a press release.

The Benjamin J. Licari Distinguished Member Award went to Michael Toland, president of Spragues Ready Mix. According to CalCIMA, Toland has been a leader in promoting the association and membership with his colleagues.

The association’s Spirit of the Industry Award was given to Toby Goyette, environmental manager at Syar Industries Inc., and John Lane, EH&S project manager with Teichert Materials. Goyette was recognized for his leadership of an industry work group to respond to a draft industrial storm water order from the state water board. Lane was recognized for his leadership in developing a new air permit for industry to use portable equipment.

Another award, Associate of the Year, went to Katharine Wagner, partner with Downey Brand LLP. Wagner was recognized for her legal input of industrial storm water proposals and coordination with other interest groups.

John Kolski, community and government relations manager for Stevens Creek Quarry Inc., received CalCIMA’s Special Recognition Award. Kolski was recognized for outstanding efforts to support legislative initiatives, the association says.

Life in the fast lane

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A NASCAR career is Greg Biffle’s No. 1 work-related commitment, but the driver with 19 career victories is also at home in the mine.

NASCAR driver Greg Biffle’s journey into aggregates stems from his very own crushing and screening equipment.

Triple B Stone

Triple B Stone’s 36-in. x 19-ft. twin blade mill pre-conditions minus-1.75-in. gravel and sand before sending it to a wash screen.

Greg Biffle is the first to admit that playing with toys is still a priority in his life despite juggling a busy racing schedule, time with his wife and daughter, a foundation for animals and a family business. But Biffle, a 44-year-old NASCAR driver, is not playing in the sandbox anymore. His toys have evolved from Tonka trucks to heavy-duty construction and aggregate equipment – and the bigger, the better, he says.

Biffle grew up loving anything with a motor and wheels. But it wasn’t until he started purchasing property in the southeastern United States that he thought about running equipment himself. His affinity for iron grew quickly.

Biffle started with a dozer, but his affinity soon developed into a considerable spread of crushing and screening equipment, which he used to landscape his 1,000-acre ranch in the mountains of North Carolina and his lake home.

“He’s like a little kid with Tonka toys,” says Jeff Biffle, Greg’s brother. “Now, he just does it with real equipment.”

In 2004, Greg began to work with a local company to build the shoreline of his manmade pond using natural river rock. But when the economy collapsed in 2008, the company shut down its mine for good, leaving Greg without a means to finish his landscaping with the same beautiful natural stone he fell in love with several years earlier.

“It was ironic how things happened,” Greg says. “I mentioned to the guy I had done some excavating and dozer work on the property and that I needed some more river rock, and he said the mine that the rock came from was just sitting there idle with a current permit.

“I realized very quickly that river rock is very expensive – I was paying $1,800 per dump truck for the material – and [considering] the entrepreneur that I am, I thought, ‘I’ll just go take a trip up there to look at the mine.’”

The surface mine, located in Speedwell, Va., was slightly more than five acres with about 60 percent of the rock mined. Already armed with several pieces of mining equipment, Greg thought to himself, “I already have the equipment, I won’t even have to buy anything. This will be fun.”

Greg and Jeff Biffle

Greg Biffle is best known for his NASCAR accomplishments, having won 19 career Sprint Cup races and accrued more than $50 million in winnings over a 12-year career. To Greg’s left is his brother Jeff Biffle.

“And that’s how naïve I was,” Greg says.

New business opportunity
After Greg purchased the permit and the land, he soon realized a market existed for the handsome natural stone that came from the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. He reached out to Jeff, who previously worked in the structural steel industry, and hired him as vice president of operations to run Triple B Stone.

Greg and Jeff tried to use the equipment already owned, but they quickly discovered they could only dry screen the material in optimum conditions.

“The material would have to be virgin material and super dry, and even then we were having trouble blinding the screens,” Greg says.

Knowing they would have to invest in better equipment, Greg and Jeff met in 2010 with Leon Luadzers, regional sales manager of KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens, during ConExpo-Con/Agg. There, they were introduced to the Astec Industries family of companies.

Because Greg was unable to get the material clean enough for landscaping, Luadzers suggested KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens’ twin blade mill and RS1822PH portable triple-deck screen as a way to prep the material.

“One of the problems Greg encountered early on was the need to wash the material twice, which added a lot of processing cost and time,” Luadzers says. “There is a rule of thumb in processing that says you add at least 50 cents per ton each time you handle raw material.

“We agreed that the best solution would be the 36-in. x 19-ft. twin blade mill, which would pre-condition the minus-[1.75]-in. gravel and sand before sending the material to a new, larger wash screen,” Luadzers adds. “The blade mill would break up soluble mud and clays through its combination of double-pitch spirals and paddles, which agitate the gravel and sand. This function was critical in producing an end product free of mud and clay balls.”

The twin blade mill was followed by a KPI-JCI RS1822PH portable plant, which consists of a 6-ft. x 16-ft. triple-deck horizontal vibrating screen with spray pipes on all three decks. This plant produces four washed products, including 1.75-in. x 0.75-in., 0.75-in. x 0.5-in. pea gravel and sand. A KPI-JCI 36-in. twin sand prep sand screw is mounted below the screen to clean and dewater the sand.

“Once we did that – once we conceded that it was the only way we’d be able to do this operation – that’s when our success came,” Greg says.

Triple B Stone

Triple B Stone’s RS1822PH portable plant, from KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens, consists of a 6-ft. x 16-ft. triple-deck horizontal vibrating screen with spray pipes on all three decks.

Lifelong learner
Greg admits it’s been a journey full of trial and error to get Triple B Stone to the point where it is today. Now, the company has 20 acres permitted to mine, and it hoped to sell 30,000 to 50,000 tons of material in 2013.

Greg points to his early start working for his parents’ steel business in Washington state as a pre-teen as the main reason he has his entrepreneurial spirit.

“I wasn’t handed anything,” he says. “Shoot, as a kid, I worked for my parents and saved my money so I could buy my first motorcycle. I really took to that mindset – that hard work and dedication would get you what you wanted.”

While Greg laughingly acknowledges it may have been easier to simply mine his own river rock and quit the business, anyone who follows NASCAR knows he is anything but a quitter.

“Nobody wants to lose. Nobody wants to be defeated,” Greg says. “Once I had my mind set to it, I decided I was going to make this process work. I wasn’t going to throw in the towel. And that probably hurt me a little bit – how stubborn I am. But today, it’s helped me create new ventures.”

That same determination that drives Greg to racing wins also helped him flourish in an industry he knew little about. With Jeff managing day-to-day operations, Greg is confident they’ve mastered the process and are set up to be successful.

“The operation is running like a Swiss watch,” he says. “We are very busy producing material and our sales are strong right now. Things are running really, really smoothly.”

Although Greg is not physically on location each day, he visits the site at least once a month, and when he’s on the road he’s found a way to stay in tune with daily operations.

“I put cameras up at the mine so I can see on my laptop or my phone whether the machines are running or not,” Greg says. “And really, it’s only for my pleasure. I take a lot of pride in it. We worked really hard on it, and I like to be able to see it. I may not be able to be there every day, but this way I get to experience a little part of it.”

Take note
Greg Biffle originally used his crushing and screening equipment to help landscape a 1,000-acre North Carolina ranch.

Atlas Copco crusher, screen demoed at dealer event

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Aggregate producers and recycling professionals saw new crushing and screening equipment in action at Pine Bush Equipment’s Holmes, N.Y., location. The event introduced Atlas Copco‘s PC2 jaw crusher and HS1 screen to Pine Bush customers and served as a step in the training process for the dealership’s sales force.

Pine Bush Equipment specialist Dave Ewald says the Powercrusher PC2 is a great fit for rental or purchase, in both recycling and small job aggregate work.

“The PC2 and HS1 have a small footprint, and that is important to a lot of customers who have sites where other screens might not fit,” Ewald says.

The Powercrusher PC2 crusher features quattro movement, which causes a figure-eight motion in the moving jaw. This increases feed capacity and produces a post-crush at the crusher outlet, according to Atlas Copco. The initial swing-stroke movement of the jaw gives 100 percent crushing across the entire surface of the jaw plate, the company adds. The PC2 material inlet measures 40 in. x 28 in., with a capacity of 330 tph.

As a supplement to the Powercrusher, the single-deck HS1 screen enables customers to produce two salable products. The screen box has large clearances to help eliminate blockages, Atlas Copco says, even when the crusher is producing a high output volume. The recirculating conveyor option deposits oversize materials back into the crusher’s hopper.

Ewald says the HS1 screen can provide both fines for pre-pavement work and aggregates for drainage or fill.

Eric Amberson, Atlas Copco’s Powercrusher product line manager in the United States, says the versatility of the equipment is a key feature.

“The screen offers the advantage of being able to produce two products from one machine,” he says. “The PC2 can also create its own spec product out of the end of the jaw when the screen is not attached.”

Cemex CEO dies, successor not yet named

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Cemex Chairman and CEO Lorenzo H. Zambrano died suddenly May 12 at age 70 in Madrid, Spain.

Cemex

Lorenzo H. Zambrano

Cemex spokesman Francisco Lebrija says he died of heart failure, while in town for a company meeting, according to Bloomberg News. The company has not yet announced his successor.

Zambrano was named CEO in 1985 and has served as chairman since 1995. His grandfather founded Cemex in 1906.

The Cemex website features a page where people have left messages in honor of Zambrano.

A private funeral was scheduled for May 14 in Monterrey, Mexico, Reuters reports.

Perfect Pricing: An app helps maximize freight rate

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An industry-customized app is helping Bluegrass Materials win more jobs and maximize its freight rate.

PQ1406_bluegrass1Pen and paper. That’s how Pat Malaney did business with customers for the overwhelming majority of his 28 years selling aggregates. “I’m old school,” says Malaney, a sales manager at Bluegrass Materials in Atlanta. “I would always carry around my notebook and write things down. If I had a phone call from a customer looking for a sales quote, I’d have to write everything down and call him back.”

Within a day or two of a conversation with a customer, Malaney would have to make a trip into the office, read through his notes and spend a few minutes analyzing the route from the customer’s site to the quarry so he could issue a competitive quote.

The time Malaney spent calculating sales quotes in the office was time he preferred to spend in the field selling aggregates. Fortunately for Malaney, as well as every other salesperson at Bluegrass, the company adopted a newer, more advanced way to issue quotes on the fly.

The system Bluegrass adopted is actually an app developed by a Georgia-based company called Catavolt. The app is specifically designed for the aggregates industry and it gives salespeople the ability to quickly deliver quotes, as well as gain geographic market intelligence and competitive data to which they previously did not have instant access.

“Now, I pull off to the side of the road, pull up a projects map and ask the customer for cross streets or an address,” Malaney says. “The app automatically pulls it up for me. I can see, for example, that from that point to my quarry it’s 12 miles – and my competitor is 35 miles away. Well, I have a haul advantage. And the aggregate business is driven by how far your stone can or can’t go.”

Seeking a solution

Bluegrass Materials’ Pat Malaney formulates a quote on his iPad using the Catavolt app.

Bluegrass Materials’ Pat Malaney formulates a quote on his iPad using the Catavolt app.

Malaney, who’s been with Bluegrass since it acquired four Atlanta-area quarries last year from Lafarge, developed the concept for an aggregate-specific app at Lafarge with former colleague Cameron Garrett, who’s now a director of sales and pricing at Summit Materials.

“We were talking about a large project sometime in early 2012,” Malaney says. “We were sitting at a computer using Google Maps and trying to figure out freight rates and our competitors’ locations. We both said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we had an iPad and we could somehow build and track jobs via pushpin’ – something that could figure out all the miles for us.”

Jason Teter, another former colleague who is now with Vulcan Materials, encouraged Malaney and Garrett to pursue the idea. Garrett found a partner in Catavolt midway through 2012 after considering about five other companies, Malaney says.

“Catavolt was able to show us some ideas as we were talking to them about what we wanted to do,” Malaney says. “They said give us 48 hours, and within 48 hours we had a rough system.”

According to George Mashini, Catavolt’s CEO, his goal is to help companies quickly go from a concept like the one Malaney and Garrett had to a mobile application, without writing code or forcing them to adapt to existing software.

“From what we understand about the material-delivery business: If we enable the folks who are out [in the field] to have the right information about their specific territory at that point in time, they can do a much better job against competition,” Mashini says.

“For too long, companies were tailoring how they did business to software,” he continues. “That doesn’t make sense to me – that you would go to a vendor, see how they thought of the world and try to adapt to their software. That’s why we made this platform – so we can mold to their needs.”

Smarter salespeople

The app is especially useful in the Atlanta market, Malaney says, because he estimates more than 35 quarries are located there. So it’s highly competitive.

“You really need to find where your niches are,” he says. “The app lets me maximize my price because I have a good idea of what [a competitor’s] haul advantage or disadvantage is. [The competitor] can deliver the rock there for one price and I can be in at [slightly less].”

The app also helps Malaney and others better realize when they should not pursue certain opportunities.

“Sometimes it doesn’t make sense for me to go when my competitor is right near a customer,” he says. “I’ll take the phone call and give a price, but I shouldn’t have the customer go all the way from where I’m at.”

The Catavolt platform allows aggregate producers like Bluegrass Materials to pin areas on a map, showing jobs won, jobs lost and more.

The Catavolt platform allows aggregate producers like Bluegrass Materials to pin areas on a map, showing jobs won, jobs lost and more.

The app is also useful for Bluegrass in that it shows salespeople where they’re losing jobs.

“If I’m looking for a job that’s right down the street from a high school that I’m close to, I can see that I should be getting those jobs,” Malaney says. “In that case, obviously either my freight rate isn’t correct or I’m pricing incorrectly.”

So the next time Malaney makes a bid to the same potential customer, he expects to win it after making the necessary adjustments.

“Maybe the next time I bid, depending on whether I won it or lost it, I can raise [the price] or lower it 10 or 15 cents per ton. Then I may be able to pick that job up.”

Based on the way Bluegrass is using the app, all jobs, regardless of whether they were won or lost, will remain in the Catavolt system for three years. Bluegrass can identify deeper trends that way, Malaney says, and the company will erase three-year-old jobs won or lost once three years from that moment have passed.

“Our boss, owner Ted Baker, iPad and he can pull up any one of our markets, look at one of our quotes, what we’re quoting, what the trends are and how many tons we’ve won,” Malaney says.

Those using the app can quickly identify broader building trends, Mashini adds.

“One thing about the industry I’m seeing is that the economy is rebounding,” he says. “Construction is rebounding, and we’re finally getting out of a downturn. So they’re getting to see what’s working and seeing quarter-over-quarter growth.”

Malaney adds that the app is intuitive enough that little training is needed to use it.

“Remember, I’m old school,” Malaney says. “This iPad, this program – you would be foolish not to use it.”

The app offers other benefits, as well.

“It gives you several tools to have conversations with your customers,” Malaney says. “I can share information with my customers. If they typically work on the east side of Atlanta and there’s a job going on and they didn’t call me for a quote on that specific job, I can say, ‘Hey, why aren’t you working on this project?’”

Time best spent elsewhere

Seen here is the primary crusher tower at Bluegrass Materials.

Seen here is the primary crusher tower at Bluegrass Materials.

Time savings is the greatest benefit of the technology, according to Malaney. He estimates that between him and others who previously entered job data into a system, a day’s worth of work is saved each week.

“On a busy day you can have 10 or 15 quotes, and if I don’t know where all of those locations are and I’m out making sales calls, then I have to find a place to get my laptop, pull up Google Maps and try to figure it out,” Malaney says. “With this program, it’s a matter of entering your passcode, pushing a button and within three minutes I can find exactly where a job is and how many miles from a quarry it is. I can figure out my freight rate.”

The app is also capable of finalizing orders, he adds, although Bluegrass is currently negotiating that setup with Catavolt.

“We have the system all the way as it goes to a quote,” Malaney says. “We’re now negotiating with Catavolt for them to set us up like we had it previously at Lafarge. An order can be uploaded in Catavolt to our [main] system in 15 minutes, and the hauler can go pick the material up.”
If that enhancement is added, even more time should be saved.

“If you’re a true salesman you want to be traveling to another customer, sitting with a customer, on a boat, at lunch or wherever you prefer to be,” Malaney says. “We’re born to talk and gab. Your customers are going to end up being friends the more time you spend with them.”

Malaney estimates that a salesperson’s top 10 customers represent about 80 percent of a salesperson’s business, and a salesperson’s best relationships are obviously most likely to be with their biggest customers. So the less time handling tedious tasks at the office means more time in front of other customers.

Pat Malaney believes the Catavolt system helps Bluegrass Materials win more bids and increase its tons sold.

Pat Malaney believes the Catavolt system helps Bluegrass Materials win more bids and increase its tons sold.

“Everyone below your top 10 customers are your bread-and-butter customers,” he says. “They typically don’t get the chance to meet me. Now, I have the chance to go see those smaller customers.”

To further enhance his relationship with small to midsize customers, Malaney has another concept in mind for Catavolt.

“One thing I’m going to present to Catavolt: We already have a lot of our customers in the system,” he says. “But I want to be able to go to another screen, say if I’m already down in south Atlanta and I’d like to call on some customers. I want to go to another screen that shows me all of my customers by my pin versus jobs by pin.”

That way, Malaney and others can get more value from each trip.

“The GPS on the app follows me wherever I go, so I could go see a bunch of smaller customers, whereas in the past, I would have to go somewhere to open my laptop, find their address and Google Map it,” he says.

 

Early adopters

Catavolt’s first aggregates customer was Lafarge, but Bluegrass Materials, Lehigh Hanson, Summit Materials and Vulcan Materials are now using the Catavolt platform in one form or another.

“We were lucky some of the first few adopters were some of the largest industry companies,” says George Mashini, Catavolt CEO. “People saw an action working. Maybe they even thought they lost some deals, or they weren’t as good in front of the customer, whereas a competitor is giving a quote right then and there.

“It takes forward-looking individuals inside those companies to have the will and drive to want to reshape their business,” he adds.

Take note

The Catavolt app delivers metrics such as tons quoted; jobs won and lost; and pending jobs.


Martin Marietta Materials reports second quarter record net sales

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Martin Marietta Materials Inc. reported its second quarter results, which include a 22 percent improvement in the West Group, a 5 percent overall increase of line pricing for aggregate products and a 13 percent increase in aggregate product line volume.

“Second-quarter 2014 results reflect strong operational performance and demonstrate our ability to significantly grow overall earnings and expand margins as construction activity begins to recover from historically low levels,” says Ward Nye, chairman, president and CEO of Martin Marietta. “The powerful combination of increasing aggregates volume and pricing growth, along with quarterly record net sales for Specialty Products, resulted in record consolidated net sales of $602 million.”

Nye also credits the company’s success to employment growth, stability in public-sector construction activity with the company’s growing markets and the acquisition of Texas Industries Inc.

According to an article on Yahoo, since the prior-year second quarter, Marietta Materials has earned almost $1 million more in consolidated net sales and has increased its aggregate product line pricing by 7.7 percent.

Vulcan’s aggregates earnings up in second quarter

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Vulcan Materials Co. released its second quarter earnings results for the period ending June 30. Compared with last year’s second quarter results, the company’s net sales were up 9 percent, or $60 million, whereas gross profit was up 32 percent, or $42 million.

Gross profit from the company’s aggregates segment totaled $162 million, an increase of 27 percent, or $35 million. Revenues were $596 million compared with $508 million the second quarter of last year and include sales generated from producing and selling aggregates tons as well as revenues from aggregates distribution, delivery and other services, including truck brokerage services. The company says it recently expanded its truck brokerage services so it could better serve customers and generate additional earnings from each ton shipped. Gross profit margin on growth in revenue associated with producing and selling aggregates tons was in line with its expectations, it says. Revenue growth from its transportation-related activities contributed to earnings, but as expected, at a lower margin percentage.

Aggregates shipments increased 10 percent compared with the prior year. Key markets reporting more than 15 percent volume growth included Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Florida and Southern California grew 11 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

Freight-adjusted pricing for aggregates increased 3 percent, or $0.33 per ton, as compared with last year’s second quarter, a price improvement for virtually all markets. This widespread price improvement, combined with reductions in the company’s production costs shipped, drove a $0.49 per ton, or 15 percent, increase in gross profit.

“We are maintaining our outlook for full year freight-adjusted aggregates pricing to improve 3 to 5 percent from the prior year,” says Tom Hill, Vulcan’s president and CEO. “The overall pricing outlook for our aggregates products continues to improve with the recovery in demand for construction materials. As we look ahead to the second half of the year, we expect continuing margin improvement driven by price growth, operating leverage, and other cost controls.”

 

Masaba adds regional sales manager

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Masaba hired Bob Brewer as its western region sales manager. According to Masaba, Brewer has more than 35 years of experience in the construction and aggregate industries.

NSSGA to host webinar on legislative issues

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The NSSGA is set to host a webinar that will provide updates on key legislative issues that are of importance to NSSGA members, as well as environmental, safety and health regulatory developments. The webinar will also cover pending litigation related to NSSGA and other regulatory issues that are affecting the aggregates industry.

The webinar will be taking place on September 4 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Learn more about the event here.

Practice makes perfect

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I’m not exactly an all-star golfer.

Sometimes I’ll expect to hit a beautiful drive up the fairway but end up topping the ball about 10 ft. in front of me. I don’t expect that, but it happens far more often than I prefer.

Like my drives, I’ve learned in my short time with Pit & Quarry that the aggregates industry is sometimes completely unpredictable. I took this notion away from last week’s Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference in Cleveland, an event that gave industry leaders the opportunity to discuss issues and develop solutions. The roundtable, like a round of golf, is a practice in a sense: Participants leave with a better understanding of how to face industry issues when they return home.

The industry constantly deals with unanticipated troubles, even if the issues don’t directly stem from their companies. For example, MSHA’s mine inspections have been an ongoing issue for years. Another example: the Highway Trust Fund. With another short-term bill passed, aggregate producers and their vendors expect to lose business opportunities that would have been otherwise possible with long-term funding.

During this year’s roundtable discussion, someone asked participants to raise their hands if they expected their companies to have a more successful year in 2015. Some raised their hands, but the number of hands raised was far from the entire group.

So what about solutions? The roundtable gave industry leaders a chance to voice their opinions, offer advice and express concerns regarding a number of issues, including the highway bill, MSHA and the economy. Participants had the opportunity to discuss potential solutions to bigger problems. For example, should MSHA require its representatives to lead safety and educational programs?

This year’s roundtable participants were able to relate to each other and discuss how their companies are dealing with issues. And that’s what the roundtable is all about: Allowing industry leaders to leave with a network of colleagues and a sense of preparedness for handling issues that arise in the industry.

The roundtable, in a way, is like preparing for a big golf outing. The only way to get better is to practice, take advice and use what you learned. After all, practice makes perfect.

 

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