Shaving off 1 minute of time at the plant could save $832 per truck annually. Managing ready mix concrete logistics is best summarized by an adaptation of the Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Dispatchers cannot change the…
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Application programming interfaces and the API ecosystem explained. What if you could reconfigure your business processes to be faster and less costly by easily offering new products and services from emerging providers … and offloading your non-core competencies to outside providers? What if, in the competitive market you are in, you could bind your customer to your products and services…
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Artificial intelligence is in the house—and it’s about to shake things up! Google, now a verb per Merriam-Webster, controls over 90 percent of the internet search market. Yet the search engine colossus lost over $100 million in market valuation on February 9 when its newly released AI chatbot, called Bard, gave a widely publicized wrong answer for an astronomy question.…
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Artificial intelligence pushes decision-making to the edge. In January, Bloomberg News reported that Microsoft is investing $10 billion in OpenAI, a startup company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI is the maker of ChatGPT (an online chatbox) and other tools that can generate readable text and images in response to short prompts or questions. In terms of ready-mix concrete U.S.…
Read MoreFive resolutions for the ready-mixed concrete industry. Happy New Year! From here on out, may our days be filled with more light, hope and resolutions for a better future. Taking a cue from Abraham Lincoln, who said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it,” let’s build a better outlook for our businesses and our industry. We…
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Embrace the paradox: Invest in tech partners and people now, while an impending recession makes talent and time abundant. DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION RATIONALEResearchers preparing the 2022 KPMG U.S. Technology Survey Report asked businesses: “What are the key drivers of your organization’s digital transformation and corresponding investments?” As the United States slides into a recession, our industry is starting to feel it.…
Read MoreGeopolymer concrete and fiber-reinforced polymer rebar can be the perfect match for sustainability in structural applications. Steel and concrete have a love-hate relationship. Steel brings tensile strength to concrete, making it stronger for structural applications. Alas, concrete lets water seep into the relationship and corrode the hope for a lasting union. To fix this marriage, Dr. Ruth (Westheimer) has been…
Read MoreWith Ethereum’s blockchain radical overhaul, look for digital currency to come to an industry near you. We have all heard of the cryptocurrency called bitcoin. Ether (ETH) is the second most popular cryptocurrency, and it’s about to expand into vastly new areas thanks to a recent development with the platform on which it is used: Ethereum. The Latin word aether…
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Integration of data AND business process empower freedom of choice in a concrete technology ecosystem. The Walt Disney Co. is a world champion of vertical capture. The company’s theme parks offer families a complete package of entertainment, dining and lodging. Yet in Orlando, Fla., many visitors choose to complement or even skip Disney World for other cool things like Comcast’s…
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Albert Einstein famously mused “If you can’t explain it to a 6-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” This can be applied to how many in the construction industry view ultra-high-performance concrete, or UHPC. While this type of concrete has been around for a long time, it is often dismissed as a complicated and expensive option. “It’s complicated” may not be…
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