An exciting rebranding of a familiar and reliable line of construction equipment officially kicked off in mid-January, but the products themselves were formally introduced to the public at the ConExpo-Con/AGG 2023.
An exciting rebranding of a familiar and reliable line of construction equipment officially kicked off in mid-January, but the products themselves were formally introduced to the public at the ConExpo-Con/AGG 2023 trade show in Las Vegas the week of March 14-18.
DEVELON is the new name for South Korean-based Doosan's popular and diverse line of construction equipment. During the five-day trade show, Todd Roecker, vice president of growth initiatives for DEVELON North America, was joined by DEVELON Senior Marketing Manager Alice Banach and many others to highlight the newly branded company and its equipment.
Banach said that the new name evolved by combining the words "develop" and "onwards," which encompasses DEVELON's willingness to move onwards to the future through innovation and to relentlessly change the world with top-level products and solutions.
"We are excited about it because it is something that we can own and claim rather than being part of another company," she said.
DEVELON Brings New Machines to Las Vegas
To help build DEVELON's product awareness, Roecker noted that his company brought more than 15 machines bearing the new name to the annual trade show, attended by hundreds of dealers and contractors from around the world.
"There are several DEVELON machines in one booth, and then we have two at some partner booths," he said during the event. "By partners, I mean attachment makers that wanted to showcase their products on our machines. Additionally, we have our DX-65W-7 mini wheeled-excavator, a new product in North America, at a static display by the ConExpo entrance."
ConExpo presented DEVELON with a terrific opportunity to show off its new mini-excavator line, which many customers may not have seen before in the marketplace, according to Roecker.
Five models of DEVELON mini-excavators were on display at ConExpo, including a prototype of the all-electric DX-20ZE-7, a two-ton piece of equipment that is likely to be on the market next year. In addition, dealers and contractors could inspect the DX35Z-7, the DX-50Z-7, the previously mentioned DX-65W, and the DX89R-7, a new model for 2023.
But the new mini-excavator line was just one of many new DEVELON construction equipment that the manufacturer was enthusiastic about unveiling at the show. The others included new crawler excavators, dozers, an articulated dump truck, a wheel loader and a log loader.
The company also took the wraps off a prototype of its innovative new DTL35 compact track loader that is slated to be available early in 2024.
"What is neat is we get to leverage this major event to launch our brand on a global stage, but we also get to showcase how we are developing our new products," added Roecker. "For example, we have the new DD100 dozer on display here, and the DD130, which will be available to the public in the fourth quarter of this year."
He explained that the difference between the yet-to-be-released DEVELON DD130 dozer and the DD100 model are the sizes of the two.
"Larger sizes seem to take up a bigger share of the market," Roecker said, "and the DD130 has a bigger engine, more horsepower, more weights, and more pushing power. It also has a larger blade, which attracts a bigger customer base."
DEVELON Creates High-Tech Controls for Future Worksites
In 2019, Doosan introduced Concept-X, a comprehensive control solution for the construction site of the future. This forward-thinking initiative is now being utilized by DEVELON and will soon be commercialized, such as on the upcoming DD-130 dozer. In the meantime, the second generation of the manufacturer's innovative technology was highlighted in the DEVELON booths at ConExpo, Roecker said.
According to a description on the DEVELON website, Concept-X technology "can be used to survey worksite topography via 3D drone scanning, establish operational plans based on the topographical data, and operate construction equipment such as excavators, wheel loaders, and articulated dump trucks without humans at the controls."
The goal is to create a work site where difficult and arduous construction work can be performed autonomously, thus leaving people free to concentrate on more sophisticated analysis and management tasks.
"We get asked a lot of questions about Concept-X," Roecker said. "Our customers understand the concept of autonomous operation, but questions such as, ‘What are the brains behind it, how does it work, and how do you re-create the jobsite to become autonomous?' are often asked. So, we are highlighting our XiteCloud technology, which explains how that all comes together with 3D mapping of the construction site and the taking of soil samples, and the technology behind dividing that jobsite into work groups and work zones so we can accurately measure the performance taking place."
Machine With X-Ray Eyes
Another ingenious bit of high-tech can be found on the latest DEVELON wheel loaders to improve visibility and productivity for their operators.
The equipment maker's exclusive Transparent Bucket option offers a supplemental view from a monitor inside the cab. With an unobstructed view in front of the solid-iron wheel loader bucket, operators can see objects or challenging terrain to do their work safely and more quickly. The innovative system works by using two cameras — one mounted high and one mounted low — on the front of the machine. The system's processor automatically adjusts the camera inputs into a single image that makes the bucket appear transparent on an in-cab monitor — almost like X-ray vision.
The imaginative feature was demonstrated live at ConExpo on the DEVELON DL-320-7 wheel loader, Roecker said, along with "our all around View Monitoring System's object detection, so if there is an object or a person that is approaching that machine, it will highlight them as a danger so the operator knows that he or she needs to shut down the machine or stop running it for optical safety."
Not surprisingly, DEVELON's autonomous equipment works due to a lot of programming taking place before their use, but as operators increasingly become more productive, they can learn to run it a bit more manually.
"We spent a lot of time programming the work zones, programming the limits that they want as operators, such as the amount of material, and the height or depth that needs to be dug to move material," Roecker added. "And then, the system does it through DEVELON's proprietary global satellite software."
Complex-X does not employ artificial intelligence (AI) when it comes to autonomous operations, he said, but it does help measure a machine's identified failure points.
"We can set limits on the failure points, meaning that if you want to get to a 70 percent, 80 percent, or 90 percent failure point, AI can trigger an alarm that a technician is needed or that a part needs to be ordered and dispatched to the job site to fix that machine before it is critical and shut down," according to Roecker.
After Conexpo attendees inspected all the inventive hardware and clever features found on DEVELON's new and upcoming construction equipment, Banach and Roecker heard an overwhelming number of positive comments about the manufacturer's re-branding and the machines from construction professionals, said Banach.
"The dealers are giving great feedback about us being our own brand, which is really what DEVELON is all about, along with producing innovative products," she explained. "I am glad the dealers are excited, and I think our customers, as 2023 progresses into 2024, are going to be thrilled about all the new models and what we have to offer." CEG
Craig Mongeau
Craig Mongeau has been Construction Equipment Guide’s editor in chief for the past 21-plus years. He directly manages CEG’s Northeast and Southeast editions (which includes New England, Georgia and Alabama state supplements); Superintendent’s Profile; Crane Guide; Northeast and Southeast-based anniversary magazines; and special event publications. He also oversees CEG’s Midwest and Western Editions as well as all CEG website content.
A Hofstra University graduate, Craig began his publishing career as a staff writer for local Southeast Pennsylvania newspapers. He then became an associate editor and book editor of Springhouse Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based medical publishing house and then worked as a managing editor of Rockhill Communications, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., where he created and managed content for a national Voluntary Hospital Association website.
Originally from Pittsfield, Mass., Craig has lived in North Wales, Pa., for the past 27 years. He has been married to his wife, Hillary, whom he met in college, since 1998 and together, they have two daughters, Jolie and Aubrie.
Read more from Craig Mongeau here.
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