According to event coordinators, this years Intermat in Paris was their best attended.  With 1,350 exhibitors, 67% international, and more than 200,000 visitors. This is a record for a B2B exhibition.  This includes 145,082 trade visitors which is up 15.8% from Intermat 2009. I personally attended the show in 2009 and it did appear attendance was a bit stronger. (Click here for videos I shot at 2009 show)

Business was brisk at this session with a large number of orders taken. “The total value of the equipment on offer over the 6 days was estimated at $2 billion, some 5% of which translated into orders, an equivalent of approximately $100 million,” says Exhibition Manager Maryvonne Lanoë.

This years Intermat was special for Machine Control Magazine as we had over 3000 printed copies distributed to exhibitors and visitors, much through

Intermat’s Press Village. The magazine was well received as technological innovations launched at Intermat were highlighted.

The next Intermat event will be held in Abu Dhabi on October 8-10th, 2012.

Until next time….

Randy Noland
editor at machinecontrolonline.com

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For over 40 years, WasteExpo has been North America’s largest solid waste and recycling tradeshow serving both the private and public sectors. With over 550 exhibiting companies, 40 conference sessions and workshops and over 11,000 total participants, no other show comes close to the size and scope of WasteExpo. Whether you come from the public sector, a small, medium or large private sector waste services company or a manufacturer or supplier, WasteExpo is your once-a-year event!

I hope to see you there and if you are interested in a meet-up to talk shop, please drop me a line. editor@machinecontrolonline.com
Regards,
Randy Noland
Managing Editor/Cofounder
Machine Control Magazine
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There is no better place to see all of the new 3D machine control system offerings in action than at Intermat, 2012 in Paris April 16th – Saturday April 21st. Occurring every three years, 200,000 international visitors are expected.  There will be a 30,000 sqm outdoor demonstration area to see all types of equipment and some will be outfitted with the latest 3D machine control technology. I hope to see you there and if you are interested in a meet-up to talk shop, please drop me a line. editor@machinecontrolonline.com

Randy Noland
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John Deere (Deere & Company) have made two announcements this month regarding alliances with Leica GeoSystems and Topcon Positioning Systems.

The Leica agreement for the moment pertains to Deere’s agricultural division while Topcon’s alliance seems focused toward construction. The general concept is not new as Deere offers an Integrated Grade Controls (IGC) program that gives positioning companies access to their machine controls. IGC facillitates access by 3rd party positioning companies for easier retrofit. But actually it goes a bit deeper.

This freedom of choice is fantastic for customers. More on this in my newsletter article next week…..

Both of the press releases are linked below for more information.

Leica & John Deere Press Release, click here
Topcon & John Deere Press Release, click here

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This month Machine Controil Online posted a very good article by Don Talend entitled “Leveling the Field”.  Not only is Don an excellent writer, but he obviously understands applications and the workflows of grading contractors.  In his story (found at http://machinecontrolonline.com/content/view/7879/ ) he highlights the utilization and financial benefits of  machine control.

In the article the contractor states that “ the system paid for itself on the first project”.  This type of statement always catches my eye as  I have long had a love of numbers and return on investment calculations.  However, the contractor does not go on to say what additional profit he made on the next projects he used that machine control system on.  If the system cost him, say $75,000 and he recovered that expense on the first job, then it made him an additional profit of $75,000 on the second job and the third and the fourth, etc.  This is the financial benefit that is most often overlooked.  Often the break-even point is solely focused on when new purchases must be charged to the current job, but the longer-term returns are significant.

I hope you enjoy Don’s article and look for statements about increases in productivity and cost savings that are realized by deploying machine control technology on the projects described.

Good luck this year

-Paul

“The grader install will be done today.” said Robert Crane. Rodney was happy to hear this, he could now do what he told Hanna; get the rest of the dirt work on her shopping center site done. A call to Tony Valenzuela got things rolling. “We need to do a full court press on the job for Hanna.” said Rodney. “I made a deal with her and need to make good on getting the parking lot and building pad done quick” Tony agreed and Rodney knew by the end of the day there would be plenty of activity on the site, another problem solved.

In an effort to verify his hard work on the site was not going unnoticed, Rodney dropped by to see Hanna at her office across town from the job site. He was greeted with a firm handshake and a smile.

“You threw a lot of people at my job, thanks” beamed Hanna. “I think I owe you a check and maybe even lunch.”

Rodney was taken back a bit, Hanna was all business and the invitation to lunch was met with a bit of uncertainty. Rodney figured nothing bad could happen because the lunch would be in a public place; though she could kick him out of her truck on the way back to the office while on the road.

“I really appreciate you taking care of us with this check.” smiled Rodney. “Lars has a habit of keeping us a step off the poor house all the time. I never know what to expect”

Hanna absorbed this and looked directly at Rodney. “Not to keep you confused, but I have a job offer for you.” whispered Hanna. “We are getting busy and we need another project manager to run some of our new work.” Rodney was stunned, this was not expected. He was told by a mentor of his if he was not recruited away at least twice a year, he was not doing a good job.

“I don’t know what to say.” said Rodney. “I will think about it and let you know.”

“Take your time, I know this is sudden.” added Hanna. “If you are interested, I will let you know the compensation package we are thinking about and see if it works for you”

After lunch, and shaking off the thought of changing jobs, Rodney got back to matters at hand. The company was always moving. Rodney’s job was to make sure that direction was forward.

Rodney took a call from Tony, the superintendent on Hanna’s parking lot.

“We had a neighbor near the job site call and complain about the noise. She has a baby and says he can’t sleep with all this ruckus and told us to stop. I told her we are able to make noise in this area until seven at night and would be done by five today.” said Tony

“You got things under control, why are you calling me?” questioned Rodney.

“Because she called the cops and the Dust control officer listed on the project notice at the front of the job site. We got a party here and nobody was invited. I got a job that is shut down, a dust control officer wondering why he is here and some cops trying to explain the law to a mad mother. Wanna come join the fun?” joked Tony.

Rodney knew what had to be done; his first responsibility was to the company and its reputation. This shopping center was an infill project, meaning it was surrounded by houses and other stores. Many locals tried to stop it and that did not help the mood of the neighbors in regard to the noise of five pieces of iron moving at the same time.

“I’m on my way, see you in twenty minutes.” said Rodney.

A friend forwarded me an article which appeared in the New York Times on Jan 25, 2012 by Thomas L. Friedman. The article discusses the impact that “quantum advances in both globalization and in the information technology revolution” has on our economy and unemployment. Basically the point the author makes is that technology advances replace what used to be average worker skills which used to be good enough to produce an average lifestyle. The lesson is don’t stop learning, keep investing in your own abilities and education.

I found it a very good read and wanted to share it.

Please click here to read

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Multiple media sources, including the Wall Street Journal, are reporting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided to revoke its year-old decision to allow the company LightSquared from proceeding with its mobile broadband system because of concerns it will interfere with GPS receivers.

Editors Note: I am understanding of both sides. The majority of my livlihood is directly related to the proliferation of GNSS. So I surely do not want this to be negatively impacted. But at the same time, I know that a ubiquitous wireless network brings better RTK GNSS as well as other related technologies. It seems this issue is an engineering challenge more-so than a political one, but that is what its become. Lets hope that wireless technologies are allowed to improve and compliment the GNSS, positioning world.

For more information, click here

Just a quick post-World of Concrete 2012 note.
From my experience, This years show was the best in 4 years. Our first print version of Machine Control Magazine was very well received. Sign up for free by clicking here. View the digital version by clicking here.

WOC images click here

Stay tuned for our newsletter blasting later this week.

-Randy Noland
Managing Editor/Cofounder
editor [at] machinecontrolonline.com