NPCA Blog
Precast Concrete: Paving a Better Future
If you’ve ever driven on a road that is past its prime, you know how quickly road repairs and replacements can become urgent. Potholes, cracks and uneven driving surfaces can lead to unsafe driving conditions, vehicular damage and driver frustration.
Until recently, road replacement required extended lane closures. That’s all beginning to change, though, thanks to precast concrete pavement systems (PCPS). On Jan. 10, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) 
and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) held a PCPS Showcase in DeLand, Fla. to highlight the benefits of using PCPSs.
The FHWA and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are also championing PCPSs as part of their Read More »
Comment on this post...Meet a Precaster-Wieser Concrete Products
This month we are pleased to feature Wieser Concrete Products
as part of our Meet a Precaster blog series. The following answers have been provided by Andy Wieser, President and current NPCA Board member.
Q: Where are you located?
A: We have four precast production facilities in Wisconsin, one in Illinois, and distribution sites in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Q: How long have you been in business?
A: My father, Joe Wieser, started the business in 1965 with just Read More »
Precast Forecast: No Change in 2012
It’s anything but typical. The economy has been
in recovery in the United States since June 2009, but if you’re connected in any way with the construction industry, you wouldn’t know it. While the nation’s official barometer – the gross domestic product – has been very slowly rising for the last seven quarters, construction hasn’t followed suit, and as the construction industry goes, so goes the precast sector.
We can trace the recession in construction back to September 2007. That means we’ve endured more than four full years of declining business. So will 2012 be the year we turn it around?
Not likely, I’m afraid. Although the good news Read More »
Comment on this post...Keep Your Guarantees Simple
This blog post was written by Scott Flood and originally appeared on the Inside Indiana Business website.
There’s something about guarantees that terrifies the most confident businesspeople. They know their product or service is excellent, and that current customers tend to be overwhelmingly satisfied. But when it comes to backing that confidence with a simple promise, their poise begins to wither.
Usually, that’s because of one of two things. The first is that they really don’t have such a high level of confidence in the quality of their product or service, which means they face a much bigger problem than offering a guarantee.
In my experience, the other reason is far more common. They’re afraid that Read More »
Comment on this post...Why I Choose To “Occupy” My Thoughts with Thankfulness
As I sat down to the Thanksgiving meal at my house this year, I thought about just how thankful I am for many things.
Later on in the day, I saw a news story about the Occupy movement, and the juxtaposition between Thanksgiving and the “occupiers” struck me because they represent the exact opposite of thankfulness. I can appreciate people standing up for what they believe in, and certainly movements against inequality have played a major role in shaping our country for the better, but this is one I just can’t see eye to eye with.
The last time I checked, America was still the land of a different word that begins with the letter “o” and ends with the letter “y.” There is more opportunity for an individual Read More »
Comment on this post...The Light is Green: Step on It!
I have a bad habit.
Every time my wife asks me to be home by a certain time for an evening engagement, I stay at the office too long. It drives Miss Barbara crazy because she hates being late.
The other night we had to be somewhere at 7 p.m. and I walked in at about 6:50. She was at the door waiting, keys in hand, so we hopped in her car. A few minutes later, we were waiting at a light when it turned green and the poor sap in front of us – who didn’t know not to anger my wife when she’s behind schedule – didn’t go. She hit the horn and at the same time she muttered, “What are you waiting for, a shade of green you like?”
How often are we guilty of sitting idle, just waiting for a shade of green we like? Our current economic situation, for example, Read More »
Comment on this post...Meet a Precaster-Western Precast Concrete, Inc.
This month we are pleased to feature Western Precast Concrete, Inc. as part of our Meet a Precaster blog series. The following answers have been provided by Leo V. Feuerstein, Secretary/Treasurer.
Q: Where are you located?’
A: El Paso, Texas
Q: How long have you been in business?
A: My father, Robert Leo Feuerstein, founded the company in 1946.
Q: How long have you been a member of NPCA?
A: We have been an NPCA member since 1984, as far as my records go back.
Q: Why did you join NPCA?
A: We joined NPCA to assist our company in attaining a higher standard of quality and production.
Q: What products do you produce?
A: We produce all standard underground precast concrete utility products such as sanitary and storm sewer manholes in 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 foot diameters, precast concrete storm sewer inlets for both municipal and highway construction projects, and electrical and communication vaults for local electric and telecommunication suppliers.
In addition, we produce impact barriers of different sizes and shapes from the standard jersey barrier to specially formed barriers for the Department of Defense. For the local restaurant, laundry facilities and mechanic trade, we produce both grease and sand interceptors. As we like to say, if it is precast concrete for the utility trade, we are here to produce your product.
Q: What are the top attributes of precast concrete? Read More »
Comment on this post...Ten Ways to Lose . . . Even When You’re the Best
We all know precast concrete is quite often the best material for the job. Between it’s durability, low maintenance costs, long service life and overall quality, it offers more than the competitors. Why is it, then, that it’s not always the material specified? Sometimes it can come down to tweaking your sales strategy. This blog was originally written by Barbara Weaver Smith, Ph.D., Founder and President of The Whale Hunters, on October 18 and covers some good things to keep in mind during your sales efforts.
- Your service is too specialized. It’s great to have a niche. But if you are the only one in that niche, there’s a serious danger that you don’t really have a market. The companies you’re trying to sell to are not only unfamiliar with you, perhaps they’ve never heard of or thought about the service you provide. So you have to sell them twice: once, that they should consider buying the service you provide, and second, that they should buy it now, from you.
- Your story is too complex. If you have a very comprehensive service or if your service is highly customized, it may appear too complicated in the mind of your buyers. They will seek simpler solutions (yes, these may be inferior) to avoid having to deal with the complexity you are bringing to the table.
- Your rules of engagement are too rigid. Today’s customers are being cultivated to get whatever they want. They want this AND that AND that AND this as well, and they want it on their terms. If you have strict rules about how, when, and under what circumstances you will deliver, you may leave business on the table unless you reconsider.
- Your message is stale. Maybe you are the leading authority in your market space. Over time, it’s possible that your message to market has become wordy, pompous, even old-fashioned. You run the risk that an inferior upstart will capture a new tagline or a new promise and appeal to your market.
- Your message is “overkill.” When you are the best, and you know it, there’s a great temptation to document all the ways and all the reasons for which you are the best. That kind of message can backfire because it’s too hard to follow, too hard to understand, and especially too hard for your buyers to explain to their bosses.
- You are out of touch with your changing market. How long have you been “the best?” What are your competitors doing? What are you missing? When you stop thinking like an underdog, you can miss minor and even major signs that the marketplace needs and priorities are changing.
- You are internally focused. Some companies that are the best in their field are completely focused on R&D to develop new products and services. You have the resources and the market share to sustain that approach, but you may be missing out on your message to the market.
- Your company is too modest. This one is sooooo hard for me to understand. But yes, we have clients who think that promoting the background and talents of their team, or documenting a few of their wins, or identifying key brands in their customer portfolio is inappropriate bragging.
- Your team is complacent. You’ve been so good for so long that your team expects that it will always be business as usual. You’re not scanning the market, not tracking old and new competitors, not learning every day about what’s going on in the lives of your customers.
- You underestimate the buyers’ fears. You are totally focused on the great advantages that you provide with your products and services. You consistently make a rational case for the sale of your products, unaware that 99% of buying decisions are made on irrational, emotional bases, led primarily by fear of making a bad decision.
Triple Threat: The Precast Concrete Industry and its Three Critical Issues
The three-legged milking stool has always been a useful metaphor and it’s an appropriate way to look at a trio of critical issues facing precasters right now.
Like the stool’s three legs, we depend on three factors for stability in the precast concrete industry. Any time one of them weakens or fails, the whole industry feels the collateral damage. Unfortunately, the first two legs – our economy and leadership – have been mighty wobbly for years and for some companies that has meant reductions in locations, employees or even closing the doors for good.
I don’t need to tell you, or anyone, about how sluggish our economy continues to be. Nor do I need to drone on about our “leaders” – those gridlocked elected officials who seem more interested in reelection than in actually representing their districts. If I get going on either of those two topics, you might never see the end of this blog. Suffice to say we need a productive government that creates an environment conducive to thriving businesses and that passes legislation that puts money where it needs to go. That, and only that, will spur the kind of economic growth we so badly need, particularly in the construction industry.
We have the power to influence these legs, but you know as well as I do that neither are going 
to get suddenly better overnight. So let’s focus on the third leg – society. This leg of the stool is very much in your control right now. From my 20,000 foot perspective, it’s painfully obvious that some companies are clinging to a stubborn resistance to change – hunkered down with bunker mentalities. Others engage in desperate bidding practices that hurt not only them but the whole industry in the long run.
What we need to be thinking about is how to innovate, improve, expand and add value to product lines and how to better communicate with specifiers, contractors and employees to best advocate the benefits of precast concrete materials. This is going to take individuals that aren’t afraid of some calculated exposure to risk and that are willing to put in the hard work needed to achieve prosperity.
I know it’s hard to not let the way the country has languished at the bottom of the economic spectrum rub off – the same as it’s hard to not let your mood be affected by the weather – but we have to be willing to change and adapt. Playing defense is important, especially when faced with the worst economy any of us have ever seen, but it alone won’t win you the game. You need to play some offense to do that.
I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: The precast concrete industry that emerges from this depression will be leaner, meaner and stronger than ever before. If you adapt, you will be a part of an industry that is more focused, opportunistic, dynamic and tuned into customers than ever, and it’s going to be good for the long-term health of the industry.
But before you can do that you have to ask yourself, where do I want my company to be in three, four or five years and what do I need to do now to get there? Then, take some action.
Ty Gable
President, National Precast Concrete Association
NPCAEF Scholarship Program Open
College is expensive. Most families looking to send their kids to post-secondary education, even those who have saved well, have to face that fact head on when the time comes. In fact, the top reason for why students don’t go to college on the scholarship clearinghouse website www.scholarships.com is, “I can’t afford it.”
Students loans are always an option, but many students look to scholarships to help alleviate the burden. For students looking to major in a field related to the building and construction industry, the National Precast Concrete Association Educational Foundation (NPCAEF) has been awarding scholarships since 1989.
The NPCAEF’s philosophy is that the introduction of the features and benefits of precast concrete products is a major step leading to a more educated specifying community. To that end, it has helped more than 80 students through its undergraduate scholarships who have studied civil engineering and other construction-related curriculum. In recent years, the scholarships were increased to $2,200 and, starting in 2010, it began award the $2,500 Daneen Barbour Graduate Scholarship.
Applications for the program must be postmarked by Jan. 1, 2012, for consideration at the semi-annual board of directors meeting each February, and students must include a letter of sponsorship from an NPCA member in good standing. To find an NPCA member in your state or region, simply select your state or province and click search. No other information is required. Click the “search” button and a list of NPCA member companies will appear.
Eligible candidates for the undergraduate and Daneen Barbour Graduate Scholarship can apply online or download a PDF application on the NPCAEF website. Applicants will be notified in writing of the board’s decisions soon after the meeting.
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