General Business Files

A commercial development of any size is a serious undertaking. Get it right and you come away with a good profit and happy buyers or tenants. Get it wrong, and you could lose money and your reputation, making it difficult to obtain financing next time round.

The project

A proper project plan should take you all the way through your development. By necessity, it needs to be comprehensive, but the detailed requirements of such a project often turn the project plan into a complex document that confuses everyone who reads it. Use the following steps to help keep everything organised:

Write a clear initial plan outlining each “chunk” of the project:

• Land purchase
• Use and design
• Planning requirements
• Initial building requirements
• Central building phase
• Fitting-out
• Marketing
• Sale or rental

Each of these areas should be further broken down so that you know exactly what has to be accomplished and in what order to make the project successful. It is a good idea to use the available expertise of your architect, designer, construction company and other advisers to ensure that everything is covered.

The timetable

A project should always have an achievable timescale. Trying to accomplish a development too quickly could result in corners being cut and in a lower standard of build and finish. This in turn will have a negative effect on your ability to rent or sell the development on at completion. A realistic timescale is essential, and you should have an estimated time schedule against each of the items in your project plan so that you can see which items can be done simultaneously and which need to be done consecutively.

Keeping on track

A commercial development uses the talents and expertise of a large number of people and there will be an ongoing requirement to source and track contractors to make sure that everything runs smoothly. It is important that there is someone in charge of the project on a full-time basis to keep it on track. This allows contractors to have a single person to report to and shows everyone that the project is being effectively run.

Successful commercial projects are those that have been carefully planned, costed and scheduled before any work starts on the site. These projects are always fluid and you should be prepared for things to change along the way, but without a clear plan and a method of executing that plan, your commercial development could be at risk.

The largest manufacturers of heavy construction equipment are located in the United States, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Whereas the second largest and less competitive manufacturers of heavy construction equipment are found in Canada, China, Russia, Latin America, South Korea, Italy, Belgium and Sweden. Yet this position can shift easily with today’s ever changing market trends and with developing countries being able to attract heavy construction equipment manufacturers by offering low material and labor costs.

The global demand of heavy construction equipment is widespread and on a large-scale of production with almost thirty percent entering the foreign market every year. This market has been defined by the major flows among the already developed countries and by the large-scale importing by the developing countries with little domestic production.

Next to the United States, Japan has been the dominant net exporter of heavy construction equipment with Germany and the United Kingdom following close behind. The United States is also a major importer of heavy construction equipment, importing in ample amounts and running a moderate sized trade surplus. In a developing world and given the variety of construction equipment prevailing in major geographic regions and even in individual countries, it’s typical for heavy construction equipment to find some use by private contractors and public agencies as well. Purchasing used heavy construction equipment is also an option.

Production designs and manufacturing technology for heavy construction equipment are well established and are making advances on a regular basis. Tractors, loaders, mixers, cranes and other heavy construction equipment containing automatic transmissions, electric controls, engine monitoring systems and many can now be programmed to repeat the same cycles. Other advances to enhance operator comfort are air conditioned cabs, tilting steering wheels and noise reduction devices.

The global heavy construction equipment industry primarily consists of almost one thousand companies, with smaller businesses specializing in small equipment, e.g. parts and attachments. Some of the major manufacturers include: Caterpillar, Komatsu, Case, Volvo, Deere, New Holland and Hitachi. All heavy construction equipment manufacturers must plan strategically and decide whether their company will continue to expand and stay strong or whether their company should draw back, perhaps sell out and abandon the industry. These decisions have many companies choosing to form partnerships with other companies as an effort to flourish and continue on, as Caterpillar had fused with New Holland to form CNH, Inc. The emphasis is on cost-cutting, competitiveness and down sizing.

There is an increased emphasis on research and development, making the manufacturers of heavy construction equipment seek a competitive edge in many ways. With Caterpillar and Komatsu, for example, being two of the leading producers and spending the most on research and development by using computer design along with manufacturer systems. As technology develops, all major manufacturers of heavy construction equipment will find new and improved way to test and improve their products to stay one step ahead in the competition.

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