ACPA Concrete Pavement Progress Quarter 3 2020

Concrete Pavement Progress www.acpa.org 18 2 0 2 0 P A N D E M I C Suppliers Adopted Contactless Strategies Cement and equipment suppliers to the concrete paving industry also adjusted the way they interact with customers to minimize contact and discovered a more efficient way of handling business while protecting employees and customers. “We devised procedures to ensure appropriate physical distancing between people in our plants, enhanced PPE requirements, increased sanitation and improved hygiene practices, as well as heightened monitoring of the health of our workforce,” says Ernest Peterson, vice president, Sales –Mid- west for Ash Grove Cement Company, a CRH company. “We recognize that we must plan for the worst; so we developed completely separated teams or shifts to limit the spread of a potential infection and to support continuity for the business.” Exposure for customers and external business partners was limited by in- stalling barriers at terminals and plant truck loading areas and employing contactless ticket delivery for the drivers, says Peterson. “Keeping the driv- ers in their trucks and maintaining six feet of distance have been among the many ways to keep both employees and customers safe.” The employees at GOMACO also found themselves relying on videocon- ferencing for meetings and sales calls and adopting protective measures in the manufacturing plant, which continued operating throughout the pandemic. While sales people missed the person-to-person contact that is critical to building relationships, the company’s service department and engineers were able to demonstrate the importance of telematics for remote troubleshooting. “We have had GOMACO Remote Diagnostics (GRD) and telematics capability for our machines for several years, but this year has proven the value of the technology for our contractors with the technology,” says Bob Leonard, sales manager at GOMACO. “With travel for our service technicians restricted due to the pandemic, our service manag- ers and engineers relied on remote access to the machines to solve issues.” “We devised procedures to ensure appropriate physical distancing between people in our plants, enhanced PPE requirements, increased sanitation and improved hygiene practices...”