 |
MC Magazine |
 |
Past, Present and Future
Cruising along at 40 years with NPCA, precasters
check the industry's rearview mirror - and the open road ahead.
By Bridget McCrea
Reflecting on 60 years of success in the
precast concrete industry, Tom Lendrum's thoughts go to a
few key milestones. As a young boy, he remembers hanging around
the plant watching his father's team manufacture precast products,
waiting patiently as they cured and then tagging along as
they were transported out to the yard.
Lendrum, former president and CEO of
Norwalk, Ohio-based Norwalk Concrete, also remembers how so
many precast firms - including his company - jumped into the
industry by making the first mass-produced burial vaults. And
lastly, he thinks about how industry growth was closely intertwined
with how quickly materials handling manufacturers could make
machines to move the most sizable precast pieces.
"The history of the precast business
is almost the history of materials handling equipment," says
Lendrum. "Without the ability to handle these products, we couldn't
build them."
That advent of larger, more robust handling
systems helped Norwalk Concrete make a move into septic tank
manufacturing in a post-World War II economy. The expanded focus
paid off for the company, which today continues to produce sewage
treatment equipment - albeit in a much bigger way. "We've seen
that aspect of our business evolve into bigger castings and
more sophisticated equipment," says Lendrum.
The firm sold its burial vault business
in the late 1970s, but not before franchising its patented process
to more than 100 companies throughout the United States and
Canada, essentially pioneering a movement that would find more
precasters "thinking globally" when it came to doing business
with customers and vendors. The movement fed a consolidation
trend, which resulted in fewer "mom and pop" shops and larger
national producers.
"You really can no longer be an entrepreneur
working out of your garage in this industry," says Lendrum.
"You have to look and act like a 'real company,' with executives
and employees who are knowledgeable about business management.
That's a very critical point."
A look back
Over the last 40 years, significant changes have taken place
within the precast industry, which was essentially founded by
many of the same "mom and pop" shops that Lendrum refers to.
Joe Wieser, president at Wieser Engineering and Manufacturing's
Maiden Rock plant in Wisconsin, started the company's precast
division 40 years ago, and he isn't sure if this is a particularly
beneficial trend for an industry where family-run companies
were once the norm.
"We've seen multinational companies getting
involved in the U.S. precast industry that weren't involved
40 years ago," says Wieser.
As the business shifts have occurred,
Wieser says his firm has stayed on top by keeping on the cutting
edge of technology, particularly when it comes to automation
and other tools that help precasters work smarter, better and
faster. He's toured plants worldwide in search of the best technology
options. Thirty years ago, for example, he says the company
began manufacturing dry-cast products and embracing the automation
that came with that trend.
Now the precaster is riding the rising
tide of the latest trend: self-consolidating concrete and structural
fibers. To get there, the company is working with chemical and
admixture companies to learn all it can about the trend. "Using
structural fibers in the mix design - and the self-consolidating
concrete - eliminates the need for vibration and takes the place
of steel reinforcing," says Wieser. "It's going to have a major
effect on the industry."
Also having an effect on the industry
are standards like plant certification, which Wieser says have
helped raise the industry's profile. Wieser, who was chairman
of NPCA's Production Committee the year the organization decided
to institute a plant certification program, says the group also
provided a valuable platform through which precasters can communicate
with, and learn from, one another.
Present at the first NPCA meeting in
1966 in Dayton, Lendrum says he was at first skeptical of the
organization's ability to effect change in the precast industry.
His doubts were proven wrong, and his firm has since taken an
active role in the organization, with Lendrum serving one term
as chairman in the mid-1970s and his son John chairing the association
in 2002. Since then, he says NPCA has helped the industry stand
on its own and "break out of the 'mom and pop' mold."
Raising profiles
With the advent of technology came changes in the way precast
products are made and in the way the precasters themselves do
business. Along the way, the industry has also raised its own
profile by producing quality products and by taking the steps
necessary to get the word out about those products. As a result,
Lendrum says more potential customers realize that mass-producing
concrete in controlled conditions results in a higher-quality
job and faster, cleaner installation on the job site.
"As long as the highway departments and
construction industry can accept the fact that they don't have
to do everything on the job site anymore," Lendrum explains,
"we're able to deliver precast concrete products like catch
basins and bridge sections at a lower price and better quality
than they can get by fabricating on the job site."
Expect that movement to continue, says
Lendrum, who sees a time when precast is incorporated into even
larger projects, as evidenced by Norwalk Concrete's recent production
of 25-ton bridge sections. "You're going to see more buildings,
highways, bridges and other large projects including precast
in the future," he adds.
That is, as long as the industry continues
to portray itself as "the material of choice" and as long as
the precasters and vendors behind the products continue to focus
on quality and customer service. "There was a period of time
when the precast product quality was frankly not what it should
have been, and architects and engineers lost faith," says Lendrum.
"Thankfully, that's turned around within the last 10 years."
At Modern Precast Concrete in Ottsville,
Pa., Vernon Wehrung, president and CEO, started in the business
in 1972, then moved into his current position in 1976. While
the industry was in its infancy in the 1940s and 1950s (his
parents started the company in 1946), he says the focus was
mainly on septic tanks and burial vaults. But as more engineers
and builders became aware of the value of precasting, versus
pouring on site, he says the industry took on a life of its
own.
"The first precasters were basically
just pouring everything in the plant instead of on site," says
Wehrung, who adds that the recent movement into self-consolidating
concrete has helped the industry's image. "The industry is evolving
nicely," says Wehrung, NPCA's immediate past chairman, "and
we're making everything from the basic products to utility buildings
to post-tensioning."
Still, Wehrung says the U.S. precast
concrete industry has a long way to go to catch up to its overseas
brethren. He's traveled the world over the last few years and
come to the conclusion that although the industry here may seem
mature by domestic standards, in reality it's still in its infancy.
"Our industry is far from mature compared
to the rest of the world," says Wehrung. In Austria and Japan,
for example, precast manufacturers utilize a combination of
turning devices and multiple forklifts for each product line,
whereas U.S. precasters are more apt to either switch turning
devices for products or use an overhead crane to get the job
done.
By taking a page from the book of their
overseas counterparts, Wehrung says precasters would be able
to get more work done with fewer human resources. Such innovations
can also help offset the rising costs of raw materials - from
steel to cement.
That's good news for precasters, who
have been hit hard by mounting prices of such goods, says Jim
Westhoff, president at A-Lok Products in Tullytown, Pa. Westhoff
sees better utilization of raw materials and alternative methods
for reinforcing concrete in the industry's future.
"In terms of cement, that means advancing
the way concrete is mixed and coming up with supplements for
cement that allow precasters to reduce water usage," which in
turn allows reduced cement usage, says Westhoff. He adds that
while the short-term outlook for raw material pricing and availability
is negative, "the situation is going to drive us to do new things,
which in turn will positively impact the industry."
Ron Burg, vice president at Construction
Technnology Laboratories Inc., a Skokie, Ill.-based wholly owned
subsidiary of Portland Cement Association, concurs. "With cement
in short supply, expect to see a continued use of innovative
and different materials, both in addition to - and to supplement
- the cement," says Burg. "We see that trend ultimately driving
the acceptance of supplementary and alternate materials within
the precast industry."
Full speed ahead
Historically, it's been fairly easy for the uninitiated to see
just how strong and solid precast concrete is. But when engineers
began to realize just how well precast minimized energy requirements,
optimized energy performance, increased building life, created
potential reuse of materials, and cut down on noise and dust,
selecting it as a material of choice became a no-brainer.
"Precast is perfectly situated for use
in construction as opposed to designing with other materials
or even other concrete designs," says Kenneth Kruse, director
of industry development at Cleveland-based DeGussa Admixtures
Inc. (formerly Master Builders).
Because of this, Kruse expects more
engineers and specifiers to incorporate precast into larger
projects in the near future as yet another way to minimize energy
usage within their buildings and maximize those structures'
lifespans.
Mike Gee, North American marketing manager
of admixtures at Grace Construction Products in Cambridge, Mass.,
also expects precast to play a larger role in that kind of building
sustainability in the coming years. Gee says the ability to
reuse precast will come to the forefront as customers strive
to "get materials to do more than they do right now."
Gee also sees a growing opportunity
for precasters to sell "concept to completion" solutions and
not simply a few pieces of precast concrete. That's a big change
from the old days, when precast concrete manufacturers did just
that: manufacture precast concrete.
"When I first started in this business,
a precaster's involvement in a project was limited to providing
the concrete portion of the structure," says Gee. "Now the movement
from component to full-service is on the rise.
Changing with the times
Over the last 40 years, precasters have kept up with the changing
needs of their customers, embraced larger, more complex projects,
implemented new strategies and tested new products. Over the
next 40 years, Ty Gable, NPCA president, expects the industry
to continue on that track as owners and specifiers become even
more demanding and educated than they are today.
"They want quality products that can
perform for 100 years in the manner that they expect them to
perform," says Gable, "and their patience for marginal quality
materials has shortened significantly over the last few years."
As the newly inducted NPCA chairman,
Joan Blecha, president of the Southeast Region for Hanson Pipe
in Jacksonville, sees challenges ahead for the industry as materials
shortages and price hikes continue to hamper the business environment.
Internally, she says precasters will need to balance recruiting
with cultivating a competent, knowledgeable workforce with management
of those external challenges - at least over the next 12 months.
"We all need to be very aware of the
conditions and how to manage them adequately," says Blecha,
who adds that NPCA will continue to share critical information
about the industry and key trends affecting precasters through
its various channels.
The good news is that precasters are
working more efficiently and watching their bottom lines more
closely than ever. As a whole, Gable says the industry is committed
to quality products, efficient manufacturing systems and value-added
services. "Many of them are not only producing precast concrete
products," says Gable, "they're also enhancing those products
with extras (such as finishes) that meet the customer's needs."
They're also cultivating one of the
most important aspects of their business: their workforces.
Going forward, Gable sees firms putting an even bigger emphasis
on that human capital. "Precasters will need to educate and
value their employees better than ever before," says Gable.
"That includes giving them a say in what goes on, training them
and rewarding them in a competitive fashion. Loyalty doesn't
come cheap, and if you want loyal employees you have to invest
in them."
Back to top
Milestones
in the Precast Concrete Industry
MC Magazine
Celebrates its 10th
Doug Hoskin Shares
NPCA History
Back to March/April 2005
Table of Contents
|
