Gunlake Trucks Adopt AI Technology – How It Benefits Your Next Major Build

G’day from Gunlake Team.

We have been busy upgrading our trucks and internal processes. Our Sydney customers are going to be pleased with the new and improved changes. Let’s talk Ai technology and not the ‘Terminator’ kind. The kind that is going to help bring improved products and less waste to the world.

Verifi machine learning technology is the first of its kind. There’s nothing comparable on the market quite like it. It transformed our internal processes and fleet of concrete delivery trucks. The benefits it has brought to our employees, customers and partners have been outstanding. Constantly exceeding all our expectations.

Gunlake is a proudly Australian-owned Family company spanning four generations in the quarrying and concrete industry. We strive to deliver industry-leading service and quality products of construction materials to the Greater Sydney Region. We have a fleet of 95 concrete agi drivers and 5 concrete plants in the Sydney area.

Many in the industry know there is a level of guesswork in ensuring that the concrete slump is delivered to spec – what the customer ordered. Even seasoned tradesmen use their experience and guesswork to ensure the product slump is to spec. It’s been the best method available thus far. However, Verifi is changing this.

Our delivery truck drivers love how it takes the guesswork out of concrete delivery. Allowing them to know for certain the customers are getting exactly what they ordered.

Until Verifi, there has been no way to track the concrete through the different stages. Batching at the plant to arrival on site is a grey area for concrete producers and deliveries. Now that Gunlake has this technology installed, we have complete transparency and control over the concrete.

If there are issues with the concrete once it’s been laid, this gap in sightline is often the centre of many disagreements and disputes. Verifi closes this gap in sightline. It provides real-time information to the operations team and the delivery truck drivers while maintaining the slump of the concrete throughout its journey to the customer.

What is Verifi, and How Does it Work?

Verifi helps concrete producers deliver consistent quality concrete. It’s an automatic slumping and Ai technology – that constantly gathers data to improve the consistency of the mixes.

The key benefit of Verifi is at the batching location when the plant sets the concrete slump target. En route to the delivery location, Verifi sensors measure the slump and temperature of the concrete in the drum. The system will add water and ad-mixture during transit to keep the slump on target, maintaining the correct water/cement ratio. Depending on the slump targets and other variables like weather.

When the truck reaches its location, Verifi makes any final slump adjustments. For example, if it needs mixing, the external display shows you this. It will also display the number of revolutions remaining for adequate mixing.

Many underestimate how uncomplicated Verifi is to use.

Verifi turns the delivery vehicles into smart trucks. It’s like a concrete monitoring app installed within. Then back at the office, the operations team can access the app and monitor the output data. They see how the concrete behaves in real-time across all the trucks currently delivering.

If you can use a smartphone, you can use Verifi.

The constant feedback and automatic adjustments give all parties the confidence that they are delivering quality concrete.

If any queries arise about the quality of the concrete, Gunlake can share the data. Like what the exact slump was at the time it was poured. This minimises and aids in any litigation that can arise. It keeps all parties honest.

At first, Gunlake employees were naturally curious about Verifi and its impact on their day-to-day. Wanting to know,

• How accurate the system was?
• How does it measure and monitor the concrete?
• What information does it provide?

After understanding it has a 95% accuracy rate and it’s simple to understand and use, the uptake company-wide was seamless. Many thought it might undermine their ability to use concrete. When in fact, learning it’s quite the opposite. It’s like having a trainer with you 24/7, enhancing your ability to read how the concrete looks.

Some of the key metrics we collect and monitor through Verifi are

• Slump
• Water addition
• Water cement ratio
• Concrete temperature
• Return concrete
• GPS Tracking
• Batching accuracy

With more metrics available to collect.

We have found that these key metrics offer the most immediate value for all parties. It’s all in the cloud. Readily available for customers if they request it. Depending on what you want to look at in particular, you can most likely pull up a report on it.

Why We Adopted This New Tech

The original technology emerged in the early 2000s. Then evolved and launched officially across the US in 2012. Currently, 60 companies worldwide use Verifi and over 6000 trucks have it installed.

We are the only concrete supplier in NSW with the tech. Verifi landed in Australia in 2019. So far Gunlake is leading the way in demonstrating the ongoing benefits to customers.

Company-wide changes are handled more efficiently with medium-sized organisations. They can adapt to changes in technology and customer preferences much faster.

Being a medium-sized company we were able to adapt to the new technology quickly. Compared to large multinational conglomerates, where decisions like this can take years. It’s like changing the direction of a large superyacht versus a massive cruise ship. Being a forward-thinking agile company in this day and age is important to keep up with customer needs and expectations.

Businesses in New Zealand and Gunlake here in Sydney are winning business because they use Verifi. Builders, engineers and architects like the technology because they know the concrete will be exactly to spec. No matter who is on-site to manage the pour.

One notable change we saw with the adoption of Verifi is an improvement in the delivery of special-class concrete. This product range is designed to meet strict engineering specifications, including super flat floors and major infrastructure projects around Sydney. Verifi makes it easy to keep the slumps consistent and decreases the risk of future problems like cracking, delamination and dusting.

How Verifi Will Change Your Next Project

If there is one piece of advice we can provide to our customers it’s that concrete is a process, not an art. It’s not something to experiment with, especially if you are inexperienced. The type of mix, the weather and the distance between the plant and the delivery location impact the integrity of the concrete.

There are several benefits customers can enjoy when they use a concrete supplier like Gunlake with Verifi.

Let’s have a look at them.

1. Fewer Faults After it Has Been Placed

As a result of placing concrete in specification limits, faults caused by the properties of the concrete and other external factors at the time it’s laid are reduced. Like cracking and dusting. Stress-induced faults stemming from inadequate detailing or site practices are not preventable. But most, if not all, faults due to the properties of the concrete are greatly reduced with Verifi.

2. Less Concrete Loads in the Landfill

It’s not uncommon for a load of concrete to show up on-site; upon inspection, the customer realises it is not to spec. Typically, the load is then sent to the landfill. The setbacks that then occur cause ripple effects throughout the entire project. Imagine scheduling the slab pour for a massive multi-story apartment infrastructure only to send it to a landfill. Then having to reschedule all the other contractors depending on the slab pour timeline.

Trucks with Verifi installed can maintain the most volatile of mixes like our Special Class concrete. The chances of a load tracked by Verifi ending up in the Landfill are significantly reduced if not eliminated.

3. Less Impact From the Weather

With a dynamic product like concrete, you need a way to monitor it every step of the process. We adopted a method to help ensure that concrete is supplied within specification limits to our customers.

Weather-related impacts on your load especially when it’s out for delivery are a thing of the past. While in transit, the slump is constantly monitored and adjusted Verifi keeps the concrete as close to the slump target as possible. Once on location, Verifi will then do other adjustments, like more mixing to bring back to target.

The Future of Verifi at Gunlake

Using data to improve customer service is a major priority for us.

We are excited about the future that Verifi offers the company. The data allows us to analyse multiple areas of operation more accurately. Pin-pointing the parts of the business that show room for improvement. Like batching times.

Verifi also offers the opportunity for a smoother customer journey, like reduced delivery times and a more controlled and consistent product. The goal is to deliver concrete within slump specification to the market.

More buildings around Sydney are showing up on the radar, riddled with building defects, like the $15 million Mascot Towers disasters in Sydney. Construction phases of the major building site are being more closely scrutinised by building inspectors. This puts pressure on even the most seasoned engineers, developers and architects to ensure the quality and longevity of the buildings.

If engineers, developers and architects want to minimise the pressure of building defects and guarantee the quality of their projects, using partners with Verifi installed will help in the journey to achieving this. It will put them ahead of their competitors.

Implementing a system like Verifi offers engineers a way to improve the quality control of the concrete and significantly minimises liabilities or future defects. This is all done automatically for you. Giving you back more time for planning and designing.

We also use the data to optimise and perfect future mixes and develop improved product lines. The system measures how different loads and mixes behave across different weather patterns and transit time frames. For instance, how a more volatile mix changes over a 2-hour delivery time. The data from this trip can be analysed and then considered with mixing and testing back at the lab.

Verifi provides Agi truck drivers with more security and less responsibility for product control. If you are an experienced Agi truck driver or completely new, you will appreciate driving a truck with the Verifi installed. If you follow the system correctly, you will rarely have an issue. The data is there to back you up. Nothing will come out of your pocket. We want to ensure truck drivers feel supported and confident in the company they are delivering for.

We know this takes an effective team of people and systems in the background to make this happen. At Gunlake, this is what you get.

Contact Gunlake for custom advice and a quote on what you need to make your next construction project happen.