Machine Control Makes Big Difference for Small Contractor
by Jeff Winke
September 26, 2011
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H&H Enterprises adopted productivity-enhancing technology to save time and improve results.
Colo. company uses 3D GPS to outmaneuver the economy, competition.
If Greg Haight, president of H&H Enterpises in Steamboat Springs, Colo., is correct, in 10 years it will be unheard of for any earthmoving contractor to say they don’t need technology or that it’s not worth the investment.
Why? Haight believes those contractors won’t exist.
“In 10 years, if you don’t have 3D GPS machine control technology, you’re not going be in business,” Haight says. “I don’t care how big you are, how established you are, you’re not going to be competitive without this technology.”
As a small company, H&H Enterprises’ story is inspiring for those trying to succeed in this tough economy and intimidating for large companies that believe their marketplace dominance is secure.
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Haight ordered a GPS base station, a rover and two GCS900 Grade Control Systems for 3D machine control on his heavy equipment.
At its peak, the company grew to about 10 employees and a small fleet of equipment. Currently H&H Enterprises has five employees, including Haight.
Haight’s interest in engineering played a role in the company’s early adoption of technology—namely Trimble systems—and what it has done to ensure the company’s growth, even during an economic downturn.
“I’ve placed an emphasis on achieving quality results, which I believe I could better control by remaining small,” Haight says. “With so few of us on the payroll, we all have to be flexible and be good at a lot of tasks—all of us are equipment operators and can each run multiple pieces depending on what is needed on a project.”
In such a small company, Haight says everyone has to take complete ownership for the quality of the work performed.
“Everyone we have working at our place is pretty sharp, which has made it possible to adopt technology faster,” Haight says. “I research everything thoroughly—read the trade magazines, attend the shows and pick the brain of my local Trimble dealer, Wagner Equipment.”
The company completes site prep on projects ranging from custom homes and ranches that can be 15,000- to 20,000-square feet, to large commercial projects, such as the Xcel Energy Hayden Station, a coal-fired, steam-electric generating station in Hayden, Colo.
Taking a Risk
The Hayden Station project is a good example of how machine control technology has been instrumental to H&H Enterprises’ success.
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The company completed the complex project more accurately within the original timeframe because of their use of new technologies.
In the span of the pond, there is 5 feet of fall and a clay bottom that needed a 6-inch topsoil lift before being seeded. Haight bid on the Hayden Station project with the assumption he could use new Trimble technology. It was a gamble, but he assumed that they could learn the technology quickly and thoroughly enough to exploit its advantages.
“In our presentation to the power plant, we explained that we’d be more efficient surveying the site and creating the site-plan design using Trimble technology than by relying on a traditional survey crew,” Haight says.
After winning the Xcel Energy Hayden Station project, Haight called his local Trimble dealer to place an order for a GPS base station, a rover and two GCS900 Grade Control Systems for 3D machine control on his heavy equipment. And he asked for crash-training on the equipment.
“As a smaller company, we have always tried to get machines and attachments that would cut down labor and increase productivity, while giving our customer a better product,” Haight says. “We had grown from a transit to a laser, then from a single slope laser to a dual slope laser. So, when this project came along, it was the right timing and the right project to adopt Trimble 3D machine control—we knew it would benefit our customer and it would benefit us.”
Did it work as planned? “Yes, it did,” Haight reports. “Using technology, we were able to significantly cut the cost of the project.”
More Than Just Hype
Haight says he believes strongly in getting the most from H&H Enterprises’ existing resources—both machines and people.
“From my business perspective, adopting productivity-enhancing technology makes sense,” Haight explains. “I’ve always looked for ways to save time and improve results. The Trimble technology does both. I remember when we first were looking at it, and I was reading about 30 percent increases in productivity and I was thinking that there’s probably X amount of hype and we may not do that well. But we did.”
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H&H works on the Xcel Energy Hayden Station, a complex project involving roadwork and reshaping the bottom of a 28-acre pond.
“That level of efficiency, that’s pretty hard to relay to somebody who isn’t familiar with the 3D process,” he says. “It’s not just in that final grading. It’s not just in being able to grade without stakes. It’s the whole phase of being able to take the controller out and visualize what you have and getting in the machine and being able to drive the project and see where you have cuts and fills. It’s pretty phenomenal for an excavating company to have that technology. These are incredible tools.”
For many companies, the transition to technology can be intimidating and a bit scary.
“It amazes me to see some of these larger companies that aren’t embracing the technology,” Haight says. “Some are sitting there with lots of equipment trying to figure it out—‘How can I get into this? Is it even worth it? We’ve done this for 50 years this way. We don’t really need to change. We can’t save that much time. We’ve got a surveyor on staff’—and they aren’t willing to invest the time or look into the future.”
H&H Enterprises finished the Xcel Energy Hayden Station pond project on time, even though the scope of the project grew significantly.
According to Haight, there was approximately 40 percent more subgrade than originally specified in the contract. “Because of the Trimble systems we completed a much larger project more accurately within the original timeframe—you can’t ask for more.”
Haight says the systems’ benefits have extended beyond the pond project.
“The Trimble technology has elevated our company to a higher level,” he says. “We can confidently bid and win bigger and more complicated projects than we ever could.”
Jeff Winke
Jeff Winke is a business and construction writer based in Milwaukee, Wis. He can be reached through www.jeffwinke.com.
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