Volvo Construction Equipment has a long history of supporting community projects that spread social good. Now, in what has been a challenging year for people worldwide, the company is putting a renewed focus on this work with The Building Tomorrow Project.

From building schools for children in Beijing to building homes in hurricane-devastated Panama City, Florida — The Building Tomorrow Project seeks to create real change throughout the globe.

Putting real action behind the project’s purpose, one such example is the company’s commitment to tackle a key issue in the United States: disaster relief efforts.

In February, Volvo CE turned its attention to hurricane-affected Panama City, Florida, where some families have been displaced for nearly two years since Hurricane Michael destroyed 10,000 homes in the county in October 2018. Twenty volunteers from Volvo CE and local dealer Cowin Equipment assisted in Habitat for Humanity rebuilding efforts there before the nonprofit organization’s planned builds were temporarily put on pause due to COVID-19 concerns.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, Volvo CE has committed to supporting Habitat for Humanity in North America: including in disaster relief areas such as Panama City and in communities served by local Volvo CE dealers.

While building efforts were temporarily paused during the health crisis, the building is beginning to resume across the United States. While those efforts ramp up, the organization is encouraging virtual volunteerism to help raise funds in support of future build sites. In addition to the company’s commitment to supporting home builds as projects resume, Volvo CE North America recently donated $116,000 to Habitat for Humanity — a result of the company’s partnership with Discovery’s Gold Rush TV show and the sales proceeds of a custom Gold Rush excavator announced earlier this spring. The same sale also resulted in a $174,000 donation to Building Homes for Heroes — an organization that builds custom homes for U.S. veterans in need.

“Through our partnership with Volvo CE, Habitat is better poised to address the recovery work in areas affected by natural disasters and the affordable housing crisis that exists in communities around the world,”

says Colleen Finn Ridenhour, Chief Development Officer for Habitat for Humanity International.

The work in Panama City is just one of many projects to be highlighted as part of The Building Tomorrow Project. In addition to helping families build adequate housing in North America, Volvo and its employees are helping to empower underprivileged youth in India by providing them with machine operating skills and contributing to the construction of hospitals and schools in Zambia, China, and Latin America. While these are just a few examples, similar community projects are happening all over the world.

But none of this is new. Volvo CE has always been driven by the idea that through the passion, hard work, and collaboration of its people, it can make a meaningful contribution to thriving and sustainable societies.

Bill Law, Volvo CE Head of Brand, Marketing and Communication, says:

“The Building Tomorrow Project is not a campaign. It’s a commitment that we have lived and breathed from the very start of our business. It is an ongoing pledge from our Volvo CE family to millions around the world that we’re working to change lives for the better and provide communities with what they need to rise above societal challenges.”

Source: Volvo CE

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Futurists forecast the coming trends in science, technology and business. They help companies understand how the innovations of today will impact the industries of the future. Volvo CE recently engaged David Zach and Glen Hiemstra — known for their work with dozens of innovative fortune 500 companies — to provide expert forecasts on where the industrial industries may be headed.

Stephen Roy, senior vice president for the Americas, Volvo CE, said:

“In order to build tomorrow, that means having a good sense of what tomorrow may look like. While no one can be 100% certain about what the future has in store, these professional futurists can give us an educated guess based on the research, science and economic trends we see today. We asked students from the Columbia College of Hollywood to animate some of these forecasts so that we have a vision of the possible future from those young persons who will soon inhabit it.”

Presented below are a sample of the forecasts for each industry. Each one includes a link to view a more in-depth report on each industry that includes many more forecasts presented in richer detail. Scroll down to view the Columbia College of Hollywood’s animations.

Road Infrastructure

• Nanotechnology will enable roadways to be built from more resilient glass-like materials.
• Photogenic cells along roadways will capture solar energy for transporting to local power grids.
• Self-healing epoxies will enable bridges and other metal structures to “heal” themselves from damage.
• Roadways will have embedded censors that provide road, weather and traffic conditions.
• Autonomous equipment that is fully electric and emissions free will handle duty-cycle work.
• Sensors in construction equipment will provide data for predictive analytics and increase uptime.

Construction

• Buildings of all sizes will be increasingly modular, utilizing more prefabricated elements.
• Entire rooms and their furnishings will be built in a specialized location, then installed at the job.
• Flying drones will monitor construction on job sites, reporting critical data and visualizations.
• Rolling drones will travel up and down building shafts and behind walls to take readings.
• New paint polymers will improve air quality while wall sensors monitor for chemicals, smoke and fire.
• Entire neighborhoods will be 3D printed, then completed with prefabricated elements.

Waste Management and recycling

• Companies will have more responsibility over the entire lifecycles of their products and the materials used to make them, creating a more “circular economy.”
• Vehicles that collect waste and recycling will be fully electric, reducing emissions and noise.
• Waste and recycling bins will become autonomous, driving themselves to collection points.
• Robots will use artificial intelligence to separate materials, “eating” some of them for energy.
• The gamification of the industry will lead the work to become more scientific and videogame like.
• Machines that accept recyclables will show what those materials will be used for in the future.

Agriculture

• Vertical skyfarms near cities will boost the amount of food that can be grown on a single piece of land.
• These indoor farms with multiple stories give the ability to control weather, irrigation and pests.
• Plants on all farms will be tagged with RFID and sensors to control nutrient and water intake.
• Autonomous electric construction equipment will help prepare lands and transport harvests.
• Robots that use artificial intelligence will pick crops and sort them for either human use or composting.
• Halophytes, crops grown in saltwater, will help tackle freshwater shortages around the globe.

Mining

• Autonomous and remote-controlled equipment will remove humans from dangerous situations.
• Humans will control mining equipment from remote locations via simulators that give tactile feedback.
• Automated, fully electric machines will handle repetitive duty-cycle work with no emissions.
• With programmed, autonomous machines, mining operations will work around the clock.
• Robots will move in to pick materials from mine shafts and use artificial intelligence to sort them.
• We will increasingly extract materials from the ocean, asteroids and other planets.

Source: Volvo CE

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Nors is taking over 22 Volvo CE locations, including those in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. With almost 90 years of experience in the industry and operations in 16 countries, including the U.S. and Mexico under its jointly owned company, Ascendum Machinery, Nors has built a reputation as an outstanding dealer that is focused on providing unique solutions to its customers.

Tomás Jervell, CEO of Nors, said:

“We believe that Strongco will benefit from Nors’ global presence and brand recognition, and from its long experience in the automotive and construction equipment industry to further enhance its superior performance and future growth. And we are very much looking forward to working with Volvo CE across Canada,” “We plan on investing heavily in staff expertise, as well as improving parts availability. The goal is to provide the highest uptime in the industry to Volvo CE customers, and we are ready to achieve it.”

Nors is one of the longest-standing partners of Volvo Group. The family-owned company was founded in 1933 by Luís Óscar Jervell, the current CEO’s grandfather. It began as a Volvo Group partner in Portugal, selling and servicing trucks and buses, and in 1970 it started selling Volvo Construction Equipment products. The $2 billion USD company began its global expansion in the 1990s, entering the African market, then North and South America. Nors operates dealerships under the Nors Group, as well as through joint ownership of the Ascendum Group, which is one of the largest distributors of Volvo CE in the world.

Stephen Roy, senior VP, Volvo CE North America, said:

“It’s fantastic to have such a seasoned partner expanding its successful operations and business model further across North America, and we are looking forward to the improvements they will bring to Canada. Together we will enhance our Canadian sales and service efforts to improve the experience of our customers when working with Volvo CE. This new partnership has enormous potential.”

Source: Volvo Construction Equipment

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With California joining Washington State and Florida in declaring a state of emergency to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus Covid-19, all business areas within the Volvo Group have decided to withdraw from their participation in next week’s Conexpo exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada. This includes all relevant Volvo business areas, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Penta, Volvo Financial Services, Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, SDLG and Terex Trucks.

“We are great supporters of Conexpo, and despite being in advanced preparations for this year’s event, we believe it is the right thing to do to withdraw at this late stage. Our first concern is the wellbeing of employees, customers and the wider public,”

said Melker Jernberg, Executive VP & President of Volvo CE.

“It’s very disappointing not to be attending, but our first priority is the health and safety of our employees and others. Given this, it is with reluctance that it has been decided not to participate in this year’s show.”

Source: Volvo Construction Equipment

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Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has reported a modest decrease in sales and operating income. The company continued its R&D efforts during the period and used the quarterly results to announce the next phase of its program to launch an autonomous electric hauler.

Net sales in the third quarter decreased by 4% to SEK 17,921 M (18,598). Operating income was also slightly down, at SEK 2,180 M, compared to SEK 2,587 M in the corresponding period in 2018. This equated to an operating margin of 12.2% (13.9%). Profitability was hampered by brand, market and product mix, as well as higher R&D and selling expenses.

Net order intake in the third quarter decreased by 9% compared with the same quarter in 2018. Deliveries decreased by 2%, to 16,460 machines.

Up to the end of August, the European market was up 4%, driven by stable growth in Russia, Germany, Italy. North America saw an increase of 7% over last year, thanks to demand for large excavators, haulers and wheel loaders. South America was up by 10%, driven by growth in Brazil. In Asia (excluding China) the total market was down 11% from last year, spread across all markets. The Chinese market was 7% above last year, thanks in part to increased sales of compact excavators.

“After several years of high market levels, demand for construction equipment is slowing down,” commented Melker Jernberg, President of Volvo CE. “Although many markets are coming off their previous high levels, we expect the underlying need for infrastructure development in many markets to support the industry in the longer term.”

Volvo CE also announced that it has signed a contract for the first commercial pilot of its autonomous battery-electric load carrier. The trials will be conducted with customer Harsco Environmental in Sweden, and represent the next stage in the process of industrializing the technology.

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The new EC60E crawler excavator from Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is built to fit any jobsite – from confined spaces to major construction projects. This machine offers improved traction, excellent swing force and high lifting capacity to achieve outstanding results, fast. With a compact design, long arm, and optional fixed boom and offset boom, the versatile and powerful EC60E is suitable for a large range of applications.

Power + control = easier, faster operation

To ensure optimum performance shift after shift, this machine is equipped with a Volvo Stage V/Tier 4 final engine and adjustable hydraulic flow. The effective cooling system is driven by 44.3kW of power to eliminate overheating.

The EC60E’s highly responsive controls ensure the machine does exactly what the operator intends for fluent movement throughout operation. The operator can set the machine to their own style and to suit the job at hand for easier control and increased performance. The auxiliary hydraulic flows, electric dozer blade and boom offset speed can be adjusted by the operator and tailored to three different work response modes –‘Active’, ‘Normal’ or ‘Soft’.

The EC60E is fitted with an upgraded hydraulics system that features a new design of main control valve. Offering the operator additional functionality, when a higher hydraulic flow is required for a certain movement, the main control valve can combine the flow of several pumps to optimize the machine operation. Particularly for grading, flow can be combined into the arm cylinder to make arm speed faster.

Multi-function tool carrier

For outstanding versatility, the EC60E can be equipped with a wide range of durable attachments that are suitable for a wide range of applications, including utilities, building, agriculture, landscaping and forestry. These attachments can be easily changed to save time and reduce costs, and the machine’s design, hydraulics, piping and in-cab switches combined with the Volvo attachments range to allow the EC60E to take on a variety of tasks with ease.

The addition of either a mechanical or a hydraulic quick coupler allows attachments to be changed quickly and efficiently. A complete range of buckets from general purpose reinforced buckets to ditching buckets is available, allowing the machine to work on a wide range of applications. Volvo’s durable hydraulic breakers are fully compatible with the EC60E. The wide range of breaker tools (or bits) has been built to break all kinds of material and combines excellent performance with low noise and vibration levels. The machine can also be equipped with the Volvo thumb, designed to work with both Volvo direct fit buckets and quick coupler to make many tasks possible, including piling, placing, loading, lifting and carrying.

Lower costs, greater uptime

The Volvo engine and improved hydraulics work together to offer superior fuel efficiency. With the auto engine shutdown option – a feature offered by Volvo alone – the engine stops automatically after a pre-selected time, lowering fuel costs and noise. Helping to lower fuel bills further is the standard-fit ECO mode. When activated, the function slightly decreases the engine speed – but not performance, resulting in lower fuel consumption. A stopped hour meter reduces maintenance costs and increases the resale value of the machine.

The EC60E is equipped with a number of features combined to increase machine availability and reduce downtime. Ground level service access and convenient greasing points reduce service time and maintenance costs. Service intervals can easily be monitored via the in-cab screen, which shows reminders when maintenance is needed.

This excavator is equipped with Volvo MATRIS software that analyzes operator behavior to improve efficiency, boost productivity and reduce fuel and maintenance costs. Volvo also offers the VCADS Pro diagnostic system, making it easy to control the machine.

Source: Volvo Construction Equipment

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Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) unveiled its latest concept machine – known as the LX2 – to industry specialists, policymakers, the media and academics at the Volvo Group Innovation Summit on Wednesday September 12th. The electric compact wheel loader prototype delivers zero emissions, significantly lower noise levels, improved efficiency and reduced operational costs, compared to its conventional counterparts.

The LX2 was presented at the Volvo Group’s fourth Innovation Summit – which was held in Berlin, Germany – alongside autonomous and electromobility innovations from across the Volvo Group. The event focused on infrastructure and transport in cities of the future as well as how new concepts can have a positive impact on society through increased transport efficiency, reduced environmental impact and improved traffic safety. At the summit, Volvo CE also demonstrated its EX2 fully-electric compact excavator prototype and presented the company’s electric site research project.

ELECTRIC OPERATION

The LX2 is a second-generation prototype that is part of a research project and is not commercially available. To make the machine electric, the combustion engine has been replaced with a lithium ion battery. This stores enough electric energy to operate the machine for eight hours in its most common applications, such as light infrastructure construction and landscaping. The LX2 also incorporates two dedicated electric motors, one for the drivetrain and one for the hydraulics. Decoupling the subsystems has led to higher efficiency in both the systems and the entire machine.

“The LX2 is a revolutionary zero-emissions prototype that offers improved efficiency and lower operational costs, without compromising on machine performance,” says Ulrich Faß, Emerging Technologies Manager. “It incorporates the latest advanced chemistry battery technology. As it’s electric, no particulate matter, nitrogen oxide or carbon dioxide are released into the environment. This, together with the fact that it has extremely low noise levels, makes it ideal for use in cities and densely populated areas, as it can be used without disturbing people. This is the same for the EX2 100% electric compact excavator, therefore the machines would be ideally suited to working alongside each other.”

Like the LX2, the EX2 is also part of a research project and is not commercially available. The prototype machine delivers zero emissions, 10 times higher efficiency, 10 times lower noise levels and reduced total cost of ownership compared to its conventional counterparts.

CLEANER. QUIETER. MORE EFFICIENT.

At the summit, Volvo CE also presented its electric site research project which aims to transform the quarry and aggregates industry by reducing carbon emissions by up to 95% and total cost of ownership by up to 25%. Volvo CE and its customer Skanska Sweden are currently testing the electric site solution in a real production environment for ten weeks at Skanska’s Vikan Kross quarry, near Gothenburg, Sweden. The system incorporates prototype electric and autonomous machines including the HX2 autonomous, battery-electric load carrier, the LX1 hybrid wheel loader and the EX1 cable-connected excavator. These machines are part of a research project and are not commercially available.

Source: Volvo Construction Equipment

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