Steve Franklin, founder of Eltirus, attended AggNexus 2024. He writes about what he learned and what digital transformation looks like in practice.
Over two days in September, some ninety attendees met at the Joe C Thompson Conference Centre at the University of Texas in Austin for the first AggNexus Digital Innovation conference.
The idea was to bring together the leading construction material technologists with industry decision makers who were serious about changing their businesses. While the group may sound small, the horsepower in the room was remarkable, with decision makers from most of the major players in the North American market (I have never seen so many senior people in one room) in attendance.
The format was unique. Participation was by invitation. Each of the technologists had five minutes to explain what problem their business solves and the value of it. Producers could then seek them out in the room assigned to each technology company and get a detailed demonstration, ask questions etc.
Later there were three panel sessions, composed of half technologists, half producers who talked through some of the big issues on their mind, namely:
- Buying or creating your software
- Challenges and opportunities in digitalisation for the industry
- How AI will influence the industry going forward
The thing that struck me the most, was how hungry the producers were for change and how actively engaged they were with the technologists. This wasn’t some “prove to me that digital transformation is relevant to my business”, it was “show me how”.
The reach for digital solutions to solve problems is very strong in North America with the sheer breadth of what some companies are working on being quite remarkable.
Why is digital transformation important?
The short story is this – while my generation was happy to do things with paper and spreadsheets, the generations following are not. They see it as old, inefficient and slow – and they are right.
We have certainly seen innovation across the industry – the popularisation of drone survey for stockpile management is a good example, but there is so much opportunity for effective data capture and analysis, digitisation and management of quarry sales, maintenance, planning, optimisation of fixed plant and logistics, hence the decision to bring people together for AggNexus.
What problems were attendees trying to solve?
Attendees ranged from the large multi-nationals to the regional players (noting of course that many of these are in the ten – twenty million tonne per annum range).
In general, the sort of questions they were trying to solve were something like:
How do I identify opportunities in the market or targets for expansion?
Burgex are a mining consulting company based in Utah that have built a software product called Mineralocity.
In essence, a geographic information system tool that covers continental USA, it shows who all the producers are, their estimated (or known) production, the estimated demand in the areas they service and the geology of the regions in which they operate.
Mineralocity is the ultimate tool for anyone in North America trying to understand gaps in the market, opportunities for organic expansion or targets for mergers and acquisitions.
Unfortunately, there is no equivalent in the Australian or New Zealand market at this time.
How can I ensure that my operational processes are being carried out?
Hailing from Sweden, Checkproof provides a user-friendly, all-in-one platform primarily for the construction materials industry.
The platform digitises maintenance and health, safety, environment and quality management, with tasks including, quality and maintenance routines, defects, deviation, and incident reporting.
CheckProof’s client base spans across several segments from within the construction materials industry, ranging from asphalt, cement, aggregates, concrete, and OEM among others.
How can I reduce the cost of materials in my concrete?
Concrete.ai, based in California, harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to optimise concrete production and quality. Its advanced algorithms and data analytics tools help producers enhance mix designs, reduce costs, and achieve sustainable, high-performance concrete solutions.
How do I ensure I don’t run out of rock?
Eltirus, based in Brisbane is a global consulting company that works to help the construction materials, cement and industrial minerals industries better understand what’s in the ground, how to extract it sustainably and how to ensure compliance to plan and statutory requirements.
Application of digital transformation tools to quarry resource management can save tens of millions of dollars and the potential embarrassment of putting a quarry in the wrong place, being tripped over by unpredictable geology or simply not being able to work out how to schedule extraction.
How do I make sure I am meeting targets?
Enable is an operational reporting software product from Eltirus.
The best way to hit targets is to know what they are, and then track performance through the month against them. Eltirus Enable was written with just this in mind – collect the data (as automatically as possible) and then present it in a way enables the players to see the score and what they are playing for without having to hop backwards and forwards through multiple systems and spreadsheets.
How do I make it easy for my customers to order from me?
GoBuild360 are based in South Africa. It provides an enterprise resource planning-integrated e-commerce solutions tailored for the construction industry. Its platform offers robust customer portals and delivery apps, enabling seamless order management, real-time tracking, and efficient payment processing, enhancing overall sales and operational efficiency.
What can I do to optimise my deliveries to maximise truck utilisation?
INFORM is a pioneer of AI-powered operational excellence in aggregates and ready-mix logistics. Its transport planning and execution software allows dispatchers and planners to move more payloads with fewer trucks each day, resulting in savings such as a cut in logistics unit costs by up to 20 per cent, an increase in loads/truck/day by up to 37 per cent and a reduction in truck fleet size by up to 30 per cent.
How can I ensure I am getting the best price?
PriceBee is the leading pricing and quoting tool for construction materials. Integrating with common weighbridge/allocation systems and point of sale systems, it allows salespeople to quickly quote its clients and ensure that the price is right.
How do I know for sure that my inventory is correct?
Based out of Seattle, Stockpile Reports is the brainchild of David Boardman. It focuses exclusively on stockpile measurement, validation and certification of quantity.
Stockpile Reports is unique in offering solutions that can use fixed cameras (say at a concrete plant), drones or an innovative iPhone app that now in use in over one hundred and five countries since release last October. This app allows you to measure a stockpile using any late model Apple iPhone. The latter is a great tool for anyone who just needs to get a quick quantity check and is especially useful to anyone in the contract crushing game. Stockpile Reports also certifies stockpile quantities, a truly unique service. In essence, they have a process and QA approach to the measurement of stockpiles that they will stand behind and can be used for corporate accounting purposes.
Do I know what is going out the gate and to who?
TAC Insight delivers cloud-based logistics and operational solutions for the construction materials industry. Its flagship product, Fast-Weigh, streamlines ticketing, dispatching, and reporting, providing real-time visibility and control over material movements and transactions. •
For more information, contact steve.franklin@eltirus.com or visit eltirus.com
