100 Divided By 120

Oct. 2, 2012

Construction Equipment’s editors have 120 years of industry experience.

Many of those years have been spent evaluating machines and trucks in the field; some of them have been spent working for and with OEMs who produce the products, affording us an insider’s perspective; others were spent marketing for equipment manufacturers—giving us the critical ability to separate actual attributes from hype.

Construction Equipment’s editors have 120 years of industry experience.

Many of those years have been spent evaluating machines and trucks in the field; some of them have been spent working for and with OEMs who produce the products, affording us an insider’s perspective; others were spent marketing for equipment manufacturers—giving us the critical ability to separate actual attributes from hype.

It all comes together every year when we pick our Top 100 Products. We evaluate hundreds of products in 9 different categories and publish the results in our December issue and online. We’ve been doing it since 1990.

The process is about as far from a popularity contest (and Internet voting) as you can get. After combing every issue and doing some additional research to come up with our individual choices, we meet as a staff to present our cases as to why our choices, the ones that weren’t unanimous, should make the Top 100.

As we face off across the conference room table, it’s one part Pro Football Hall of Fame nominating process and one part like the three-way stare down at the end of “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.” We won’t get into who ends up like Lee Van Cleef.

The products we ultimately choose have to meet one or more of these criteria: advances in technology, significant improvements to existing products, or new products that increase competition in their fields.

What company makes the product? It doesn’t matter. They’re not at the table.

It’s through this filter, and through the 120 years of experience, that we’ll once again present what we feel are the Top 100 Products of the year. It’s also why our December issue is a must-read (and save) for you, the equipment manager.

If you learn about even one product on this list for the first time, or better yet if you purchase one that helps complete a job a little faster, a little easier, or with a little more uptime and margin, then we’ve done our job.

(See our Top 100 Products of 2011 here.)

About the Author

Frank Raczon

Raczon’s writing career spans nearly 25 years, including magazine publishing and public relations work with some of the industry’s major equipment manufacturers. He has won numerous awards in his career, including nods from the Construction Writers Association, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, and BtoB magazine. He is responsible for the magazine's Buying Files.