Volvo Construction Equipment provided company updates last week during a ConExpo-Con/Agg press conference, detailing new products such as the EC560 excavator alongside strategic investments – including the $40 million measure that brings the production of excavators and four large wheel loader models to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
To capture additional details about these updates and the direction Volvo CE is headed, Portable Plants caught up with Scott Young, president and head of the North America region, who also touched on jobsite connectivity, safety and other technology topics during our exclusive visit.
Portable Plants: During the Volvo CE press conference, we heard a bit about the EC560 excavator, a 56-ton machine. Can you provide some perspective on the fit there in aggregates and what Volvo’s aim is for those operating quarries?
Young: We have a range of excavators. We’ve got the excavator lineup up to 95 tons, 75 tons and then we’ve also gone into that 50- to 60-ton class.
We see the 560 used in quarries – for example, where they’re using one big breaker or for infrastructure on-site. Those are great applications.
We also have lifetime frame warranties and some of the strongest hydraulics in the industry. When we upgraded the solution on the 560, [we incorporated] electro-over-hydraulic controls, so it gives them a better operator environment and an easier work format. Plus, there’s a lot of integration for the tools they use into the display system. All of that’s become more integrated and easier to use.
Portable Plants: We’re hearing a lot more these days about jobsite connectivity. From the Volvo CE standpoint, how is that manifesting in the real world?
Young: When connectivity started, it was really about getting information from machines. We’ve evolved that for quite some time now. It’s probably been almost a decade that we’ve had ActiveCare Direct. That’s where we take the connectivity and all the alerts you might get as a customer, but we try to simplify that.
The other aspect that comes into this: More customers are starting to look at the outcomes they get. That’s what we’re trying to focus on.
It’s one thing to know where the machines are. We might know where a service truck is on-site. We have fleet management systems and tools that help manage safety on the site. But how do they manage productivity on the site? That’s the connectivity side.
Then, you have the machine, and it’s how the people integrate with it. Really, it’s about helping them make better decisions – whether it be for safety or productivity.
I think it’s evolving in terms of what customers are looking at. I don’t think we’re in the beginning innings. I think we’re in the middle innings where people are trying to understand how to integrate that into their site solution in totality.
Portable Plants: You mentioned safety. As an industry, we continue to talk about powered haulage and related accidents. Certainly, the industry has made tremendous gains over the years, and it’s exciting to see safety technologies coming in. All that said, what’s your assessment of where we are today on safety tech? What are some of the tools quarry operators should be using? And what might be next?
Young: When people were looking at how to put processes in place for safety, now you can augment that with some of the connectivity solutions. That helps support a more proactive safety environment.
MSHA (the Mine Safety & Health Administration) is an example. They’re starting to evolve their requests – their demand on pit and quarry, aggregate and mining applications. They’re looking for operators to really review technology to see how it makes things safer.
I think that’s the biggest change: End users are asking for solutions. That’s why we want to be there with them.
Whether it’s in our machines – air filtration is super important to make sure the operator is safe not only from a health standpoint, protecting against anything that’s airborne – but also by making sure we have object and person detection on our wheel loaders.