The Portland Cement Association and the Global Cement and Concrete Association discussed the industry's initiatives to limit global warming at New York Climate Week 2022.

The Skokie, Illinois-based Portland Cement Association (PCA), in partnership with the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), for the first time in their organizations’ histories, co-hosted a panel discussion Sept. 20 at the New York Climate Week 2022.

The event demonstrates PCA’s and the London-based GCCA’s commitment to participating in the global conversation aimed at cutting carbon emissions, the PCA says in a news release.

Panelists showcased the industry’s decarbonization progress since launching its Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality in October 2021. They also discussed the next steps to accelerate efforts. While the PCA discussed U.S. cement companies’ advancements, GCCA provided a global perspective.

Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General for Climate Action and Just Transition Selwin Hart delivered the keynote speech at the event, calling for governments to expedite industry efforts more actively.

Panelists also addressed specific policies that are vital to building a green, net-zero concrete future and discussed innovative tools available to stakeholders and policymakers worldwide.

“Cement and concrete are now at the heart of the U.S. infrastructure plan,” President and CEO of the PCA Mike Ireland said. “There is much work to be done. PCA in collaboration with GCCA and so many others are doing amazing things already. Our industry has long recognized the need for emissions reduction and has taken steps to increase efficiencies for many years, but we’re in a unique position to do much more. We’re already seeing encouraging signs of progress on our Roadmap. We must collaborate across the entire value chain to reach carbon neutrality.”

Hart said urgent action is needed to avoid exceeding a climate temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius and to meet other goals set in the Paris Agreement.

“We urgently need all hands on deck,” Hart said. “GCCA represents 80 percent of the cement industry—responsible for 7 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. You have the power to shape history. Your global association was the first heavy industry association to set a net-zero commitment, but that means the easy part is done. We need you to be champions of net-zero credibility by bringing your entire industry and supply chain on board, including specific plans on how you will all reach net-zero and what immediate steps you’ll take to cut emissions significantly each year.”

PCA member companies represent the majority of U.S. cement production capacity. Through their Roadmap, PCA and member companies have been working with industry partners globally, including research groups, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions working toward a net zero future.

“We’re coming up on one year since we formally launched our Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, and we’ve exceeded our expectations for near-term progress in such a short time,” President of GCC of America and Chairman of PCA Ron Henley said. “We aimed to increase the use of available lower carbon cement products, and we’re already seeing more requirements from architects and builders requesting lower carbon cement options. Carbon capture, utilization and storage is another big issue we want to accelerate addressing, and we have a number of pilot projects looking at this from various angles. We are working with the administration to get more funding to expand and provide breakthrough technologies.”

CEO of Votorantim Cimentos North America and Vice Chairman of PCA Filiberto Ruiz said cement producers have reduced energy use by 40 percent.

“But this is not enough—we need to accelerate reductions across the value chain,” he said. “At the cement plant, we can continue reducing emissions and add value to materials otherwise headed to landfills by reusing them as fuel. In the U.S., cement producers are only displacing their use of fossil fuels by 15 percent, on average, in comparison to 30 or 40 percent in other countries. Recently, we have been working with the [U.S.] Department of Energy to reduce the use of fossil fuels, but to do so we need new permitting and other regulation changes.”

Next month marks one year since the release of the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, which identifies the timelines, technologies and supporting policies needed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The Roadmap also provides direction and incentives within the industry and others across the cement-concrete-construction value chain.

The company's Salinas, California, store has only offered Case's agriculture equipment until now.

Sonsray Machinery’s store in Salinas, California, has been focused on Case IH agriculture equipment, but it is now expanding its offerings to include Case Construction Equipment (Case CE).

Customers can conveniently find both equipment lines under one roof. The state-of-the-art facility is equipped for new and used sales, rentals, parts and services.

“Bringing CASE Construction Equipment (CASE CE) to the Salinas market is a great move,” says Sonsray Salinas General Manager Tim DeFrese. “There has been no dealer representation for Case CE for over 10 years. The local contractors are excited to have Sonsray here to fulfill their equipment demands, especially with parts and services for their existing equipment. Having access to fully qualified technicians to handle all of their service needs is long overdue. As a dual branch, the Salinas team is looking forward to taking care of both our agriculture and construction customers.”

Case CE also has unveiled new excavators.

Founded in 2012, Sonsray Machinery, Torrance, California, is a major Case CE distributor on the West Coast with 15 locations in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Arizona. The business offers new, used and rental equipment, as well as parts and service.

At Scrap Expo, experts at Sierra International Machinery discuss the importance of proper maintenance of shears, balers and loggers.

For John Sacco, president and co-owner of Bakersfield, California-based Sierra International Machinery, and Ricardo Diaz, lead technician at Sierra, maintaining shears, balers and loggers is exactly like maintaining a Ferrari.

During Scrap Expo, which took place Sept. 13-14 in Louisville, Kentucky, Sacco and Diaz discussed how operators should maintain balers, loggers, shears and two-ram balers and why it's vital to operations in sessions titled Logger/Baler and Shear/Baler/Logger Maintenance and Two-Ram Baler Maintenance.

“The price of a Ferrari is the same price as [shears], two-ram balers and conveyors,” Sacco said during the session. “If you won’t keep your Ferrari [in poor condition], why would you keep a piece of equipment you’re going to spend more money on like that?”

Diaz said that the cost of repairs varies depending on the size of the repair and the time it takes to ship parts. It could range between $500 and $80,000, and a broken logger/baler or shear/baler/logger could cause up to three weeks of downtime.

To ensure these machines stay in shape, Sacco and Diaz advised performing basic preventive maintenance on them daily, weekly, monthly and annually. Some basic preventive maintenance tasks that operators need to have on their checklists include:

Ensuring basic preventive maintenance tasks are preformed is the responsibility of a scrap yard’s management team, Sacco said.

In addition, Diaz suggested that operators inspect these balers, loggers and shears while they are running to get a full view of how they move. He said to look at areas including circuit boxes, doors and pumps. He stressed that even if a smaller part on these machines break, that small break can snowball into something worse if left unchecked.

Preventive maintenance also means being prepared to replace something if it breaks. Sacco said that operators should have at least one replacement part for parts of machines that see the most wear. For shear blades, he advised having two replacements on hand because the time it takes to ship shear blades has increased since the start of the pandemic.

Proper employee training and testing could also be the difference between clean and damaged equipment. Sacco said companies should perform drug tests on their equipment operators, stressing that they should never allow someone under the influence to operate machinery to ensure the safety of both the employees and the equipment.

Equipment storage and the layout of the scrap yard also play an important role in equipment longevity. Sacco and Diaz said balers, loggers and shears should never be parked next to scrap piles or drums since that would pose a fire risk.

Additionally, Sacco and Diaz said the environment a machine is stored in determines how it should be maintained. For example, they said machines on concrete surfaces may not get dirty as quickly as those that are placed on the ground.

Diaz said operators also should check gauges that come with their machines. He advised against operators removing these gauges from the machines since those are helpful for making diagnostic tests.

Sacco and Diaz added that operators need to be willing to invest in their equipment, noting that it’s better to spend a little bit of money on their equipment now rather than a lot of money on repairs later.

Exodus Global business unit adds Caleb Summers as a field service technician.

Connect Work Tools, part of Superior, Wisconsin-based Exodus Global, has announce that Caleb Summers has joined the company as a field service technician.

“I’ve worked with Caleb in the past and knew with his breaker experience and work ethic he would be a great fit for our Connect team,” says Brian Hawn, Connect Work Tools vice president of service. “I am excited to see him in the field working with and training our customers.”

Summers most recently was a breaker specialist at St. Louis Bobcat/Doosan and brings with him a breaker knowledge and equipment repair knowledge, and is certified in automotive technology.

“I am honored to be part of Connect Work Tools and Exodus Global companies as a team member,” Summers says. “Everybody has been super nice and welcoming me into the family.”

Summers will support Connect Work Tools’ customers with installation and repair of the company's hydraulic attachments throughout the United States.

Connect Work Tools product support and breaker specialist Johnnie Gibbons says, “Caleb is knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. We’ve worked together in the past on various projects. I believe he will bring a lot to our team.”

Connect Work Tools, based in Cleburne, Texas, was founded in 2015 and offers attachments including hydraulic breakers, compactors, rotating grapples and pulverizers for the construction, demolition, recycling and mining industries. Connect Work Tools also offers rebuild services and reconditioned equipment.

Exodus Global’s other divisions include ShearCore, BladeCore and OilQuick Americas.

The upgrade and expansion of the New Philadelphia, Ohio, plant positions the company to meet demand as the truck industry transitions to CNG and electric vehicles.

Proving that large-scale manufacturing and innovation are alive and well in America’s heartland, Battle Motors, New Philadelphia, Ohio, has announced the company’s expanded production facility is open and fully operational.

A game-changer for the company, the factory’s size has increased significantly—from 125,000 square feet to 325,000 square feet—or more than five football fields. Located in New Philadelphia, the facility is where Battle Motors manufactures diesel, clean natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (EVs) for vocational vehicles, including waste collection trucks.

Founder and CEO of Battle Motors, Michael Patterson, says the plant’s expansion is the “most ambitious” project the company has undertaken.

“We have made the investment in the expansion of the physical plant, acquired the right technology, and most importantly, have made a commitment to the people of Central Ohio by already adding 200 employees to our workforce and creating high-tech jobs at a truly momentous time,” he says. “It’s game on.” 

The modernized facility will maximize the throughput of the company’s multiple production lines and transform operations as Battle Motors scales up to meet the demands of the evolving transportation landscape. From additional production lines, shipping bays and receiving docks to the latest technologies used for fabrication, paint application and vehicle assembly, Battle Motors hopes to lead the heavy-duty truck industry in the nationwide deployment of EVs. 

The company invested $32 million in the facility to jumpstart fabrication, production capacity and vehicle delivery. The investment enables the team at Battle Motors to manufacture its full line of trucks with innovative feature sets including a best-in-class powertrain paired with the Battle Motors “Smart Cab,” featuring a digital instrument cluster and proprietary software, RevolutionOS. 

“Reaching this milestone is definitely an achievement we’re very proud of,” Battle Motors Chief Operating Officer Cody Boggs says. “Our team of local labor and contractors minimized the disruption that can be expected with an expansion of this size, and our production numbers throughout have been really impressive. Working within the limitations of our original factory, we still hit record numbers month-over-month, reaching our 2021 [production goal] by July of this year.” 

Battle Motors executives are more optimistic than ever about future production, which will be driven by the new facility’s continuous assembly flow and automation upgrades and powered by vertical integration capabilities including 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC machining.  

The company owns additional acreage adjacent to the new facility where the build-out of new assets is planned, including research and development and prototype fabrication spaces, as well as a test track.