Issue link: https://mastery.commandalkon.com/i/1440159
7 | Embark All of the intricacies that go into running a business operation can be challenging enough, but when you throw in the "unknown of unknowns" during this era that we are living in, Quarry Managers can really start to feel the heat. "Some businesses in the construction materials and building realm had to implement new processes overnight to adhere to new mandates promoting social distancing," said Kerry Dougan, Market Manager at Command Alkon. "Luckily, aggregate operations are the original social distancing operations, and camera technologies and automation solutions further reduce manual touchpoints and hand-to-hand exchanges. However, one area that COVID did wrap its tentacles around is the way that businesses across the construction supply chain transact." Electronic ticketing was being sparsely adopted in the industry, but the pandemic expedited the implementation of technologies that enable these paperless transactions. Having these capabilities enabled businesses to optimize operations by getting people in and out of the plant safely and keeping electronic records to track cost, mitigate risk, and reduce manual tasks. Taking advantage of solutions like these also provides new abilities to keep tabs on trucks and the drivers operating them. "With the rising costs of raw materials, scarce labor resources, and an uncertain economic situation, the implementation of new technologies to automate business processes and enable data accessibility is pertinent to success," says Mark Kuhar, editor for Rock Products and Cement Americas magazines. "The lack of connected information — which has plagued the industry for years — has led to disasters when it comes to production and profitability. A combination of automated data capture using network- connected devices and web-based reporting and analytics tools will help support the quarry of the future." Finding Labor Is Becoming More Laborsome Technology is not only instrumental during this era but Aggregate Perspective Key challenges and trends for aggregate suppliers. Aggregate Perspective.