Get FinancingVÖGELE’s WITOS Paving Plus Improves German Runway Paver’s Productivity
Georg Koch GmbH, a German paving company, recently took the opportunity to try out VÖGELE’s WITOS Paving Plus, a wirelessly networked system designed to document project data and identify ways to improve their efficiency. The team was paving an asphalt runway at JadeWeser Airport near Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony.
WITOS Paving Plus provides engineers, site managers, truck drivers, and paver operators with real-time oversight and data analysis from the planning stage through the end of the project. “When you see how you can get a little bit better every day, it’s incredibly motivating,” says Georg Koch Senior Site Manager Tim Gassmann.
Five Modules
WITOS Paving Plus comprises five modules. Prior to the start of the project, the site manager uses the Control Module to plan it using jobsite geometry. The Control Module can determine the number of mix trucks needed and provides real-time oversight of the job’s progress.
The mix truck drivers use the Transport Module, an Android app, to transmit their GPS locations and estimated times of arrival to the jobsite. At the asphalt mixing plant, the supervisor uses the Materials Module to calculate the cycles and arrival times of the mix trucks with the goal of just-in-time deliveries. It also documents the quantity of each truck’s load and the origin of the mix if multiple mixing plants are being used.
The JobSite Module is available to the paving supervisor on a tablet or an outdoor computer, and may also be accessible on the VÖGELE paver operator’s ErgoPlus 3 console. This module compares the progress of the paving against the planned pace, drawing attention to deviations from the plan. It displays the mix trucks’ locations, supports the entry of delivery notes and QR codes, and promotes continuous paving, VÖGELE says.
Finally, the Analysis and Documentation Module provides the site manager with data such as machine and truck idle time for evaluation and recordkeeping purposes at the end of each work day or the end of the project. The Analysis module can also incorporate HCQ (HAMM Compaction Quality) data from rollers made by sister company HAMM. It also compiles asphalt temperature data from VÖGELE’s RoadScan unit, if the machines are so equipped.
Paving More Efficiently
The Koch paving team used WITOS Paving Plus to construct the roughly 4,900-foot (1,500-meter) runway over the course of seven days. The company used a VÖGELE SUPER 1900-3i and two other SUPER pavers to lay down pre-profile, base, and surface courses with a crown and no joints.
“The system impressed us a lot right back at the planning stage, because it simply calculated a lot of the values itself—for example, the quantity of asphalt required,” Gassmann says. “If the capacity of the planned mixing plant is too low, the system issues a warning.” He added a second mixing plant to avoid running low on material during peak demand.
The Koch team started out using 15 trucks, but soon acquiesced to WITOS’ suggested number of trucks (13) as it became apparent that the extras weren’t needed. All told, the paving company realized a 13% improvement in productivity over the course of seven days. The number of trucks that were able to unload immediately improved by 38%, and there were 50% fewer trucks ahead of the paver waiting to unload.
“WITOS Paving is extremely practical,” says Koch Works Supervisor Theo Hülsmayer. “I was quickly able to see what key added value the system offers. I wouldn’t want to be without it now.”
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Source: Wirtgen Group