Based in the idyllic market town of Wimbourne Minster in Dorset, PMC Civil Engineering are continuing to invest in the latest high-tech plant and machinery available which in the past 5-years has seen the fleet become dominated by Hyundai machines. PMC Civil Engineering is the brainchild of Directors Mike Page and Paul Cummings who were both successfully running separate groundworks companies, but after many hours of in depth discussion took the decision to amalgamate their two companies into one with a vision of providing an even better service to their clients.
Civil engineering companies by their very nature need high quality, reliable kit to enable them to deliver the project with as little downtime as possible. Over the years PMC had run a mixed fleet of machines, with examples from several major manufacturers, but after trying the various makes and having discussed new options with fellow plant owners, end users and operators, they decided to move forward with Hyundai as their single manufacturer of choice.
This decision appears to have paid dividends for PMC, as they have been running Hyundai for over 5-years now and according to Paul, all have been first class machines. Talking about the Hyundai fleet Paul said, “We have been very pleased with the Hyundai machines, they are strong, reliable, smooth to operate, extremely competitive on price and most importantly our operators love them and as we all know a happy operator is a productive operator so that’s good for us in all aspects”.
The company are delighted with the Hyundai machines and have recently bought two further HX220L excavators and two R60CR-9A excavators, which will be joining a fleet of over 20 models ranging from 3 tonnes through to 22 tonnes. In addition, PMC have ambitious plans to expand the fleet even further with the acquisition of more machines in the future as the workload increases.
PMC are geographically located at a crossover point for two Hyundai dealerships and they share the deals between them. This latest batch of machines was supplied by Molson Group in a deal arranged by Area Sales Manager Dan Guibarra.
With a keen eye on modern technology PMC are now investing in machine control systems for its excavators, one of the latest machines to come with this set up was an HX220L model has been working on a busy site in Calne, Wiltshire, where the company are currently engaged in all the groundworks and infrastructure for the development of 130 new homes. Talking about this technology addition Paul said, “This innovative GPS kit will assist our machine operators visibility of the jobsite, working areas and the accuracy of the excavation itself, in addition it offers huge benefits in terms of health and safety as there is no requirement for an engineer to be putting setting out pins, so no need for him to be in a machine working zone and reduced waiting times for the traditional setting out or re-setting out of the excavation”.
The machine control system fitted to this machine is Leica Geosystems iCON iXE 3D unit, the system allows the operator to work in 2D or 3D via the easy to use control panel, which can switch views with the touch of a button. This HX220 has been busy excavating for a large balancing pond which will hold much of the finished sites surface water when completed. In applications like this the machine control systems are ideal enabling the operator to get the dig right every time, with no costly over dig and making the whole process a one man, one machine operation which is extremely cost effective.
Further up the site another nearly new HX220L has been busy working on some plot drainage. Two 14 tonners consisting of a R 140LC-9A and a newer HX140L were tasked with loading wagons on a muckaway operation to remove the risings from the balancing pond excavation.
As is the nature of the house groundworks game, when the larger machines have done the bulk of the work, smaller kit comes in to work in the more confined surroundings, in back gardens and in between house plots. The most popular machines for this type of work on PMC are Hyundai’s compact radius 6 tonne models the 60CR-9A. Tipping the scales at 5900kgs the 60CR-9A is powered by the well proven Yanmar 4TNV98C diesel engine offering 47kw (63hp) @2200rpm.
This machines compact design makes it ideal in this housing site application. Every operator on this site had nothing but praise for the South Korean machines, with most stating that the high levels of cab comfort, speed and power, being the big bonus points from an operators perspective, which is often the case in all fairness with large fleet users of these machines.
It was clear to see that PMC has been nothing but a true success story, as within a few short years they’ve built strong relationships, with clients, staff, workforces and the supply chain, which has been reflected in repeat business, recommendations and employee retention.
For Paul out on site it’s all about attracting the very best staff in terms of groundworkers and machine operators who all work as a forward thinking team unit, it’s this building the company up from the bottom culture, retaining the best and nurturing the up and coming that puts them ahead of the game in every aspect.
Summarizing on the company’s success so far and what the future holds Paul said, “Although PMC have had great success in working towards our goals, we’re always seeking to accomplish more and to achieve the overall vision of being, by reputation, the Civil Engineering Company to work with and for. There’s no doubt about it we are excited for the future, with sustainable growth plans in place, an increasing number of projects being secured and more new kit on order its exciting times for PMC”.
