Licensed professional engineer, Dan Schellhammer, wears a big hat: He’s vice president of business development for Midstate Reclamation, Inc., Coughlin Company, Alpha Milling, and Performance Equipment Service, a group of companies brought together under Warren Equity Partners. Their common bond is asphalt reclamation.
Dan is based in Lakeville, Minnesota, where he started working for Midstate Reclamation back in 2013. But the other companies under his wing hail from St. George (Utah), Denver, and San Antonio.
A singular goal unites them: To become the premier asphalt recycling contractor in the United States.
Currently, they operate as separate entities. But the companies are pushing to integrate onto the same ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) software.
And the group’s biggest challenge has been leading asphalt reclamation into the 21st Century, with “AMG milling,” a 3D roadway modeling technology that’s transforming construction processes in the field. As early adopters, they are leading the way.
Q — What is the advanced technology your company introduced?
A — Asphalt milling has been around for at least 40 years. Asphalt roads get old, tired, weathered, and reach the end of their serviceable life. You can tear the road out and do a total reconstruction. Or you can take a layer off the top and replace it with new asphalt. That eliminates cracks, bumps, and flaws, makes the road smooth — and costs substantially less than total reconstruction.
The industry has found that the better job we do to remove that asphalt layer, the better the finished surface will be. We used to need big pieces of equipment to tear out the asphalt. But various human errors could create a pretty rough ride for the final roadway.
”[T]he Self-driving technology is there, ready to go. The way we see it, it wouldn’t affect the number of jobs. It would change the type of jobs people are doing.”
With AMG milling — that’s “automated machine guidance” — we can go out ahead of time and scan the roadway with 3D lidar scanner technology. We enter that information into computer software and create a 3D model of the roadway surface.
The technician smooths out the 3D model’s profile and creates a new, computerized surface. We establish the grade and other markers in the program. Then we transfer the data to the milling machine, which produces the correct profile to mill to the new surface. It creates a really smooth roadway.
The AMG system works well for MnDOT, the Minnesota Department of Transportation. We’ve worked closely with them to develop their specifications and workflow and are excited about the direction that could take us.
AMG technology also has the self-driving capability. But the construction industry isn’t moving in that direction. Mostly because, if a self-driving mill didn’t work the way it’s supposed to, nobody knows who’d be holding the bag in a lawsuit. We need legislation to address that.
But the self-driving technology is there, ready to go. The way we see it, it wouldn’t affect the number of jobs. It would change the type of jobs people are doing. They’d become more technical.
Q — What were the challenges in putting this technology into place?
A — First, we had to internally identify a “technology champion.” Someone to lead the effort, ready to roll up their sleeves and get to know the technology inside and out; and understand its capabilities and limitations.
Initially, we got internal pushback that, if the technology becomes autonomous, it would take jobs away. But once our team learned the technology, they understood it would require adjustment to workflow, not necessarily take work away from them.
“[T]he precision of AMG technology greatly reduced MnDOT’s risk of overruns. Risk has shifted to the contractor. With AMG technology, contractor bids have tolerances within 1%.”
Next, we interviewed vendors. It was important we had an active partner and good tech support. We didn’t want to be troubleshooting by phone with someone in Florida or overseas. After an RFP process, we selected a vendor with a strong local presence: They had good relationships with MnDOT, which we do a lot of work for. And they could help us “sell” the technology to the construction industry.
We had a project on I-90 involving the roadway and access ramps, where we created separate 3D models for the road and ramps. But they didn’t match up. The machine wanted to take nine inches off the ramp surface instead of two. We later learned the models are separate files. We should’ve checked in the design phase that the surfaces matched up. So, it took a day or two of troubleshooting to figure it out.
And, in the old way of milling, asphalt quantity overruns were a big problem. They cost MnDOT as much as 20% more per project. But the precision of AMG technology greatly reduced that risk. Overruns risk has shifted to the contractor. Now contractor bids have tolerances within 1%.
MnDOT isn’t even using the full benefit of the technology yet. We’re able to verify, in real-time, the depth of the cut of our mill versus the 3D model. That data is transmitted to the cloud. A technician could access the data and check the work remotely, eliminating the need for an on-site inspector.
“[I]f you’re doing something new, you don’t know what you don’t know — which is kind of scary. Our team wouldn’t have been able to figure out questions on their own without the help of an expert.”
We’re big proponents of reducing greenhouse gases. So, one less inspector driving to the job every day is one car off the road and gas that’s not being burned. And the whole AMG milling process is more efficient, resulting in fewer greenhouse gas emissions from producing additional material for overruns.
Q — What were your greatest digital transformation success factors?
A — As we talked about, identify a technology champion within the business who will help direct your workflow.
Before you select a final vendor, make sure you’re comfortable with them and they’ll provide the support you’ll need. Because if you’re doing something new, you don’t know what you don’t know — which is kind of scary. Our team wouldn’t have been able to figure out questions on their own without the help of an expert.
It was also important that our vendor was a true partner and would work with us to “sell” the technology. A sale for us means that a project coming through MnDOT’s contract bidding system specifies that AMG milling must be used. That gives us the opportunity to bid on it.
But a slew of people — designers, engineers, inspection groups — need to be comfortable with that before the project goes up for bid. And MnDOT project design development starts five years in advance. Our vendor identifies potential projects, gets them into the workflow, discusses the benefits, and gets people comfortable with the technology. Then in five years, the project’s available to us as a sale.
Q — What are the biggest mistakes to avoid?
A —As early adopters of the technology, we had to start conversations to convince individuals of the value. They’d discuss it with a larger group, and give us feedback. And that went back and forth several times. So, start by narrowing the project scope and identifying the problem it will solve. We’ve learned you don’t want to solve a problem that doesn’t need to be solved — it wastes time, energy, and money.
“Our company embraces technology — we’re not scared of it. But we also know it’s not a smooth road. Just get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and it’ll be fine.”
Make sure the project team is adequately trained. We trained our people in the offseason until they were comfortable with the new technology. Beyond the technology champion, take the time to train those who’ll be out on the grade, doing the work, and utilizing the technology every day.
And once they buy in and understand the process, learn to listen to their feedback for making improvements, and the process will work better for everyone involved.
Without that training, there would have been lots of questions when we got off the job. And you want your customer’s experience to be a good one — or they won’t adopt the technology. Our team knew the process forward and back. Any of them could answer any of the questions the customer asked.
We didn’t have a formal organizational change management plan in place. It’s within our culture to plan and discuss things, change the plan occasionally, and get buy-in at all levels. But we have the lofty goal of becoming the premier asphalt recycler in the U.S. So, as our business grows, we’ll have to create a formal plan and blend that culture into the new companies or regions we’re working in.
Our company embraces technology — we’re not scared of it. But we also know it’s not a smooth road. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and it’ll be fine.