CRH

CRH holds inaugural Women’s IMPACT Conference in Washington, D.C.

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A total of 31 female leaders from across CRH’s businesses joined together in Washington, D.C. in mid-March to celebrate Women in Construction Week. The event was in the lead up to International Women’s Day as part of CRH’s inaugural Women’s IMPACT Conference. The women engaged with Congress to educate them on the issues facing the industry.

Over a two-day span, the group met with 45 representatives, senators, and chiefs of staff and lobbied Congress to discuss critical issues for the construction materials industry including workforce development, infrastructure funding, and regulatory and permitting reform.

“The conference gave us a platform to tell our story as women and construction industry professionals,” said Sheila Barkevich, hot mix asphalt (HMA) performance manager for CRH Americas Materials. “Decisions made at the federal level can directly affect our lives and businesses. It’s up to us as industry experts to help guide them to make the best decisions. To be given the opportunity make an impact with this amazing group of women was an awesome experience.”

With an estimated 1.1 million women working in construction, women now represent 9.9 percent of the industry workforce. The gender pay gap is significantly smaller in construction occupations, with women earning on average 99.1 percent of what men make. The U.S. average is 81.1 percent.

CRH has set a goal to achieve 33 percent female senior leadership by 2030, aligning with the standard set for FTSE 100 companies.

CRH brought dozens of its female leaders to Washington, D.C. for its first Women’s IMPACT Conference. Over two days, they met with 45 representatives, senators, and chiefs of staff, including Rep. Roger Williams.

Boucher succeeds Hartery as CRH chairman

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As announced last fall, Richie Boucher steps up as chairman of the board at CRH. Photo courtesy of CRH.

Richie Boucher took the helm as chairman of the board at CRH on Jan. 1, succeeding Nicky Hartery, who stepped down on Dec. 31, 2019, CRH reports. “I would like to thank Nicky for his excellent stewardship of the CRH board during his tenure as chairman and for his commitment to CRH as a non-executive director since 2004, during which time he also held roles of senior independent director and remuneration committee chairman,” Boucher said in a news release. “I and my board colleagues wish him well in the future.” The leadership change was initially announced in September 2019.

Midsouth Aggregates uses drones for inventory management and mine planning

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MidSouth Aggregates implements drone program for consistent asset management. Photo courtesy of Kespry.

Kespry announced Midsouth Aggregates, part of CRH, is using the Kespry drone-based aerial intelligence platform for inventory management and mine planning. With granite and limestone reserves located throughout Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, Midsouth Aggregates produces a variety of aggregate products.

“Kespry’s drones and software really sped up inventory management,” said Jerry Adkins, senior production manager, Midsouth Aggregates. “Kespry gave us a consistent measuring tool, whereas in the past we’d use other vendors who would do LIDAR and ground surveys. They would come on site, do the flights and it would usually take a couple of weeks to get the data. Then we’d have a different vendor come in later in the year using a different method for measuring.

“We brought it all in house and inventory management became something we could do monthly with more consistency and control,” he added, noting that he now has real-time status of sales yards and pits, as well as the ability to forecast blast tonnages and verify the forecast with a flight of the muck pile once the shot is on the ground. “Kespry is the best innovation I’ve encountered in my 19-year career. It really makes our lives easier. I would recommend it to anyone. Everyone I’ve introduced it to has been blown away.”

Midsouth Aggregates also uses Kespry for comprehensive short-term and long-term mine planning, including granular analysis of pits across its operations.

“Kespry gives us the ability to look at our pits in 2D and 3D,” Adkins said. “The volumetric tools allow us to do short-term and long-term mine planning. As a mining engineer, I found that very useful. Kespry is very user-friendly so we’ve been able to train our plant managers to do the same type of planning. In the past, we’d have a mine planner doing that for us. So, that’s improved the overall outlook of how they manage their pits.”

“We’re incredibly pleased to see how Kespry has helped Midsouth Aggregates optimize its inventory management and mine planning processes,” said George Mathew, CEO, Kespry, adding that the aerial intelligence platform is purpose-built to integrate with the complex workflows of companies like Midsouth Aggregates so they can benefit from real-time reporting and analytics.

Kespry Cloud, which enables companies to access inventory management and mine planning data 24×7 on any device, has also played a major role in creating internal visibility and transparency at Midsouth Aggregates.

“The Kespry Cloud has been awesome,” Adkins said. “I can look at all of our locations in one place and get fast access to all the data. It’s a really great communication tool as well. We use it in meetings with upstream management, contractors and our hourly employees to show them mine plans and real-time photos.”