It took almost a year to convince Eren Insaat to implement the Cat® AccuGradeTM Grade Control System on its equipment fleet—but nearly $19 million USD in cost savings later, the Turkish company is a believer.
With the government of Turkey as its customer, Eren Insaat took on a 63-kilometer section of a 221-kilometer-long irrigation canal project. When finished, the canal will transport water from the Ataturk reservoir to irrigate agricultural land in the summer months.
Unfortunately, the project started slowly, with losses mounting every month. The rocky terrain slowed accurate grading, and Eren Insaat could only work during daylight hours due to the need for continuous grade checking. (Five grade checkers were required per machine.) The fine grading process also required multiple passes. Plus, fuel consumption was extremely high—a significant issue in Turkey, where fuel prices are among the world’s most expensive.
Company leaders had been exposed to AccuGrade, but internal resistance held them back. Surveyors didn’t believe the technology could achieve the required accuracy on such large equipment. The machine chief wasn’t convinced machine operators could handle such sophisticated systems. And the project coordinator was concerned about the required investment—about $1.4 million USD—on a project with tight budgets and timeframes.
Ulimately, though, Eren Insaat made the decision to move forward, installing AccuGrade on 15 excavators, one motor grader and one dozer. The impact has been immediate.
“Previously the grading process was holding up the paving work, but this is no longer the case now that we are using AccuGrade,” says Yasar Eren, Eren Insaat’s chairman. “The efficiency is about 400 percent greater with the GPS control—the men can work not only faster but also more accurately.”
With efficiency gains like these—and significant reductions in the number of machines and workers required on site—Eren Insaat expects to finish the job about 30 percent faster than originally scheduled. That translates into fuel savings of $11.9 million USD and salary and general cost savings of more than $6.8 million USD.
“You have increased my productivity 100 percent, because I’ve seen the possibility of working 24 hours,” Eren says.
