You need good partnerships and people to move muck better

At a recent visit to the newly opened AccXel training school in Gloucestershire, which has received funding from the KW Bell Group, I caught up with Peter Bell. He is the Managing Director of one of the group's companies, Bell Contracting. Founded as a family business by Peter's father, Keith Bell, in October 1965, I wanted to understand how the business has grown and its approach to the future.

Peter: "The group has a turnover of around £90m, which is made up of three divisions, Bell Contracting, Bell Plant and Bell Homes. Our growth has accelerated dramatically over the last decade as we have changed the way in which we approach working with our customers, who are some of the major housebuilders in our region.

"Those customers wanted more of a partnership approach, so we recognised we had to solidify our own approach to partnerships within our core supply chain and, in particular, the plant we use. So we started to work with our local JCB dealer, Holt JCB and JCB Finance to look at how we could manage our fleet and get the right equipment matched for the jobs onsite. 

"The aim was to develop a better approach to managing the movement of muck that was safer and more efficient. This also involved changing our methodologies and how team members worked together, from engineers to surveyors, site managers and operators. As part of this process, we created another more technically orientated partnership with Leica Geosystems, combining surveying, 3D modelling and machine control as one seamless delivery model.

"This achieved two goals. It made our JCB machines more efficient whilst also questioning why and how we moved muck. Not to mention taking another approach to safety. We could have just changed our operations when new safety regulations came out, but we looked ahead as an end user and challenged our suppliers to help us improve our business, rewarding them with new equipment orders.

A great example of this is how we have re-defined our equipment language. Take our recent investment of well over a million pounds in the relationship we have with JCB. We have purchased a fleet of their new and safer cabbed site dumpers and called them earthmoving vehicles. Why is this important? Well, the old style site dumper is one of the most abused pieces of equipment on site. And across the industry, there are not only huge costs for repair, but unfortunately, injuries also occur when the kit is not properly used and managed onsite.

"By rebranding the equipment, investing more in each unit and delivering proper training, we have changed attitudes, increased safety and improved the way we move muck. And it's not rocket science to see how this has increased our productivity.

"When it comes to the kit itself, I don't think any good manufacturer makes a bad digger now, so to have a successful approach to plant. It's all about what's the price.

"Then you have to look at the cost to run a machine over, say, a three to five year period and understand the residual value. And oh, by the way, on the journey, am I getting great service from my dealer? And if the answer to these points is positive, then that part of your journey is over.

"The next part to consider is how you take that leap of faith with technology, and for me, about five years ago, we did exactly that, combining the Leica Geosystems solutions with drone data to create 3D models that have transformed the way we work.

"It has been a revolution for our business. You know, I never believed that you would get 55 year old excavator drivers to buy into a machine control solution within 24 hours, but it happened to us. And the productivity of the jobs we are now doing is off the scale. We don't bang pegs in the ground anymore. Everything's built on a 3d model, and it's effectively plugged into the machine.

"My excavator drivers and my foreman can actually physically see what they're actually trying to achieve right in front of them. And now they don't have to be close to the machine or climb into trenches anymore.

We now also regularly receive feedback from our teams onsite and work together to implement better ways of doing all our tasks, involving our equipment and technology partners and now, of course, taking full advantage of having the AccXel construction training school on our doorstep.

"This is the final piece of the puzzle, as the critical part of this business is finding the right people and investing in them. In my time in this industry, I have seen a huge problem in the way we attract and retain talent.

This in-turn has led to a real skills shortage that we are only just properly addressing at the same time as technology adoption is exploding. It's now all about how we promote our sector, invest in training, and all think about moving muck better as every drop of fuel counts.