This is my last editor’s note for McElroy Connections as I have decided to pursue a dream of mine in a new industry. In my seven years with McElroy, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people throughout the world. I have been fortunate to witness first hand the incredible growth of the polyethylene pipe market, particularly in the way that it is used to improve and rehabilitate our ailing water system infrastructure. I am moving on knowing that those of you in the trenches will continue to carry forth the message of the tremendous benefits of polyethylene pipe and McElroy fusion equipment.
Over the next few months, McElroy Connections will feature editorials from various guest editors from within the industry. I’m certain that you will enjoy what they have to say as much as I have enjoyed writing for you.
In closing, thank you to all of you for your readership, feedback, and in most cases, friendship.
Sincerely,
Drew Wilson
Almost a month ago to the day, I was in Las Vegas exploring the over 2 million square feet of exhibitor space at ConExpo, one of the worlds largest construction industry trade shows and the largest tradeshow of any kind in North America.
While at the show, I spoke to numerous exhibitors and visitors to our own booth. Everyone I spoke to was generally very upbeat about the economy and the future of their particular industry segment, yet the question of how to increase productivity was a common topic for discussion. This was an easy conversation for me since McElroy has consistently looked for and developed tools and techniques that allow PE pipe contractors to maximize their productivity and decrease costs on the job site.
One such technique is referred to as piggybacking; or using a single fusion technician to simultaneously operate multiple machines. When fusing polyethylene pipe, there is a point in the process known as the ‘cool down time’. This lasts approximately one minute per diameter inch of the pipe and during this time, the pipe must remain secure in the fusion machine. As such, this can sometimes result in some idle time for the operator.
When piggybacking, the operator uses this idle time to begin the fusion process on a second (or perhaps third) machine. Once the fusion joint on the second machine is completed and enters its own cool down period, the operator can go back to the first machine, begin work on a new fusion joint and the entire process repeats itself. This technique, especially when coupled with another new tool from McElroy called the PolyHorse, can result a significant productivity increase which translates to a nice boost to your bottom line.
One initial question contractors have concerns the additional equipment costs that are involved. However, several articles and case studies have been done that clearly demonstrate the cost benefits of this technique. For example, Tucson, Arizona used this technique with tremendous success on the largest bypass job in U.S. history. With eleven McElroy fusion machines on the jobsite setup in a piggybacking arrangement, they were able to complete the job in just four and a half weeks.
This technique can also be used as a competitive advantage. In Dalton Georgia, the contractor was able to complete a job in a quarter of the time estimated by competitors. In less than a year, the contractor was able to fuse together approximately a million feet of pipe.
Our sales and technical support staff McElroy, or any of our distributors, can provide you with more information about how you can implement this on your next job. If you have already utilized piggybacking on the jobsite, we would love to hear your story so please feel free to contact us.
Paul Brodsky
Guest Editor
pbrodsky@mcelroy.com
918-831-9285 |
