JCB Chairman Lord Bamford pictured with the newly launched JCB Hydradig.
JCB achieved underlying earnings of £214 million during 2015 despite difficult market conditions in most developing markets around the world and slower than expected growth in North American and European markets. Overall, the global market for construction equipment dropped by 14% during 2015. Market conditions in the first half of 2016 remain fragile with the exception of India, where there has been a return to growth after four successive years of market contraction.
Earnings for the full-year 2015 on an EBITDA basis were £214 million (2014: £294 million) before one-off restructuring costs of £10 million (2014: £11 million). Sales turnover was £2.34 billion against £2.51 billion the previous year, and total machine sales during 2015 were 59,844 (2014: 64,028).
JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “JCB’s trading performance during 2015 was resilient in the face of a further deterioration in market conditions around the world, particularly in the economies of Brazil, Russia and China. The global market is still uncertain and fragile during this year. ”
JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said: “In spite of difficult market conditions, we remain positive about the future. Recent product launches are proving to be very successful, particularly the revolutionary new JCB Hydradig, designed and engineered specifically for use in congested urban environments.”
The solutions provide enhanced collaboration and workflow efficiency.
Trimble introduced today three new software versions of its Building Information Modeling (BIM) and analysis & design solutions for engineering and construction – Tekla Structures 2016, Tekla Structural Designer 2016 and Tekla Tedds 2016.
The solutions provide enhanced collaboration and workflow efficiency for structural steel and precast concrete designers, detailers and fabricators, concrete contractors, general contractors and structural engineers.
Tekla Structures 2016: New User Interface and Advanced Information Utilisation Tekla Structures, the most advanced BIM software, makes accurate, constructible modeling of any steel or concrete structure possible. The new software version provides even more efficient modeling, allowing increased productivity by avoiding costly errors more easily in the fabrication and construction phases. The software is available and supported in 17 languages. Korean is also now available with this release.
The new Tekla Structures user interface offers a smooth user experience and shorter learning curve with several features that make modeling easier and accelerate the design process. The customisable menus and easily recognisable icons allow users to save time, improving modeling efficiency, while the consistent colours help them immediately spot what they are looking for in the models.
The new version also introduces more efficient utilisation of model information. Finding possible flaws during the design phase when they are simpler to fix compared to rework on the construction site can bring savings. Creating repetitive fabrication information, such as concrete covers for precast elements, can be automated for increased productivity. With Tekla Structures 2016, collaboration has become easier and more reliable with its advanced functionalities such as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) file change management.
Modelling made easy with Tekla.
When another discipline working on the construction project makes changes, Tekla Structures users can now see what has changed in the IFC reference model. In addition, visualisation and traceability improvements in Tekla Model Sharing leverage collaboration through sophisticated change management. The tool allows team members to work on the same model from any location or time zone to deliver projects faster and with more flexibility. The changes list allows for filtering and searching for specific ones.
“Many of the new features and improvements have been developed to address our customers’ requests. For example, drawing production is faster with functionality improvements and a 2D library that allows users to pick details for their drawings from a collection of ready-made 2D details, such as bolts, instead of drawing them. Reusing customer-specific 2D details saves even more time,” said Risto Räty, general manager of Trimble Buildings Structures Division.
Tekla Structural Designer 2016: Enhanced Collaboration Tekla Structural Designer 2016 is an engineering tool for analyzing and designing buildings efficiently. The new version features major performance enhancements in both modeling and processing time when analysing and designing structures, and can now easily handle even larger and more demanding models.
The software release expands its seismic design capabilities with additional structural design and detailing checks for concrete structures to U.S. codes, enabling use in higher classified earthquake regions. Designing pad and strip foundations to a range of international codes within the same model environment is now possible.
The new version also allows design of steel and concrete buildings to Indian codes. Tekla Structural Designer 2016 joins open BIM workflows with IFC compatibility, enabling smoother processes and reduces manual work. The users can share and review their designs with other project disciplines even at a very early stage of the Design-Build-Operate (DBO) workflow.
Tekla Structures makes accurate, constructible modeling of any steel or concrete structure possible.
Tekla Tedds 2016: New Options and More Flexibility The new version of Tekla Tedds – a solution for automating repetitive structural calculations – has been enhanced by providing additional features requested by its users. New options bring more flexibility and choices for the analysis and design of retaining walls, foundations and steel and concrete beams to both the U.S. building codes and Eurocodes.
The comprehensive calculations make work easy and fast, enabling users to avoid human errors when working with load combinations. Document templates that can be matched to company standards including custom layouts and logos save time and improve presentation.
Tekla Structures 2016, Tekla Structural Designer 2016 and Tekla Tedds 2016 are available now. To download, visit:
Mecca has unveiled plans to build the world’s largest hotel by 2017. The 10,000-room Abraj Kudai hotel will be built in the Manafia district, just south of the Grand Mosque. It will be a city within a city, hosting 70 restaurants, food courts, a bus station, shopping mall, conference center, ballroom and five floors dedicated entirely to the Saudi royal family; all will be set within a cluster of 12 towers standing atop a 10-story podium and centered around a massive dome.
As some fear that the “sanctity of the place” is being replaced by “Las Vegas-like” accommodation, which has had an overall impact on the affordability of the historic pilgrimage.
Meanwhile, the prayer halls at the Grand Mosque are being expanded to accommodate an expected seven million worshippers by 2040. Some of which will stay in the adjacent Abraj al-Bait clocktower – a luxury hotel that is the world’s second tallest building.
Caesar brings its porcelain solutions for outdoor application to the landscape, garden designer and architect exhibition in Esher, England
November 2014, Esher (England) — On November 18, the Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher, England, is hosting the latest edition of Futurescape exhibition, a day of meetings and lectures dedicated to the world of design, building and sustainability.
Ceramiche Caesar will be present at Stand 38 with Aextra20, the system of monolithic porcelain stoneware slabs with a premium thickness of 20mm, perfectly squared and rectified with anti-slip finish and suitable for outdoor destinations.
The characteristics of resistance of Caesar porcelain stoneware, as well as the precious aesthetics and the broad range of colours and trims means being able to meet any planning need of outdoor flooring, ensuring functionality and visual appeal.
The recent broadening of the range sees the addition of the colours of the new ONE series, including the Frame decor, the Graustein collection, the new porcelain stoneware exclusively dedicated to Aextra20 as well as the 60×120, 30×120, 75×75 cm sizes added to the traditional 60×60 cm format.
