RER recently ran a roundtable of earthmoving manufacturers. We are presenting them individually for our readers. RER spoke with Corey Rogers, marketing manager, Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas, about the company’s latest technological developments, its new telematics system, the growth of compact equipment and more.
RER: What are the latest technological developments with your equipment?
Rogers: With the new HX series excavators we have increased the automotive style quality of our equipment through improved manufacturing, innovative design, enhanced quality control and new convenience technologies like Hyundai's exclusive Haptic Control module that puts everything at your fingertips. HL900 series loaders and HX series excavators both feature the largest, brightest and most comprehensive full touchscreen color monitors in their respective product classes. AAVM, our exclusive All Around View Monitoring system, is another technology that bridges automotive design with our excavators. This 360-degree surround-view and object-detection system makes the Hyundai excavator one of the safest machines on the market. Other products will feature a similar system in the near future.
What trends do you see and do you expect to see in earthmoving equipment in the near future?
Machine guidance and expanded telematics capabilities are all fast moving technologies that Hyundai is pursuing with great intensity.
There was a lot of interesting technology at the Conexpo show, such as use of drone technology in earthmoving equipment, virtual reality training and more sophisticated use of telematics. What were some of the new technological advancements you have made?
Recently our proprietary Hi-Mate telematics system was upgraded to offer operators, owners and fleet managers even more valuable information on their equipment through our new Hi-Mate 2.0 system. We also innovated and launched a new mobile app designed for quick access to Hi-Mate on the go - currently available for android phone users only.
Are you finding increased demand for any particular kinds of machines from the rental market?
The rental market is continuing to grow and projected to increase year over year for the next 3-5 years. We are seeing most of the growth in the largest volume market - compact equipment - which includes our 9A series compact excavator product line and small hydraulic breakers. However, as pipelines open up and coal recovers and other oil and gas or energy-related businesses grow, we see dealers and customers increasing their rental fleets with larger excavators and loaders to meet growing demand for those machines.
What kind of knowledge of technology is necessary for rental companies to help their contractor customers?
Hyundai machines are simple to operate but have the technology for sophisticated customization if the application requires. If a rental company wants the machine to default to specific settings, with both the HX series excavators or the HL900 series loaders, a fleet owner – either alone or with expertise provided by the Hyundai dealer - can easily select User Mode settings and instruct rental customers to only use User Mode for maximum performance and ease of use.
How have machines improved (or not improved) with the advent of Tier 4 technology?
With every new series - independent of Tier 4 Final evolution - new features, technologies, quality improvements and performance improvements come about. Tier 4 Final engine technologies have pushed the boundaries of environmental responsibility, increasing consumer awareness of protecting their environment, which is great for everyone. As engines and emissions restrictions are increasingly more strict, additional importance was placed on engine "ECU" communication and corresponding engine performance data availability to operators, fleet owners and equipment manufacturers. The integration of all systems has continued to improve.
Are earthmoving machines more fuel efficient than in the past? If so, how, and to what degree?
Hyundai's new HX series excavators and HL900 series wheel loaders are on average - depending on model - around 10-percent more fuel efficient than previous models. Fuel consumption and efficiency continue to be design priorities for Hyundai as we look to a cleaner environment and a more profitable value proposition for our customers.
