Sharpening Your Sourcing Pencil

As the economy improves and business picks up, will your company be able to source raw materials in a timely, affordable manner?

By Bridget McCrea

As the U.S economy continues its pokey recovery, and as businesses start to think about rebuilding, manufacturers will be forced to sharpen their sourcing pencils and be more attentive to price, delivery times and availability. That means recovery could be a double-edged sword for precasters who have grown accustomed to a stagnant business environment. Economic activity in the manufacturing sector is expanding month by month, according to the Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM) Report on Business, which highlighted these trends:

• Prices are rising. The ISM Prices Index registered 85% in March, 3 percentage points higher than the 82% reported in February and the highest reading since July 2008 when the index registered 88.5%. This is the 20th consecutive month the Prices Index has registered above 50 percent. While 72% of respondents reported paying higher prices and 2 percent reported paying lower prices, 26 percent of supply executives reported paying the same prices as in February. The ISM reports that commodity price increases are of particular concern right now. Read More »

ACI: Strength through Consensus

By Sue McCraven

Editor’s Note: Work in the precast industry inevitably involves a requirement or specification established by one of many associations with acronyms such as ASTM, ACI and CSA.  This series introduces you to these associations and their histories and a perspective on why they matter to precasters. This article takes a close look at the American Concrete Institute.

For the past 70 years, before the development of precast or prestressed concrete, the vast majority of structures made with cement, stone and water were cast-in-place concrete. Concrete was poured on site into wooden forms to build bridges and other structures. America’s first concrete roadways were tamped (pounded) laboriously by hand. Masons troweled mortar, made with cement, to erect brick and concrete blocks into homes and buildings. With a lot of manual labor and sweat, reinforced concrete played a major role in building our infrastructure. It was understandable, therefore, that the prevailing building codes were written only for cast-in-place construction.

When the Walnut Lane Memorial Bridge (the first major precast/prestressed concrete bridge made in the United States) was built in Philadelphia in the 1950s, there were no applicable U.S. codes for precast concrete. The design, technology and specifications for this bridge were imported from Europe. The successful completion of the Walnut Lane Bridge was the inspiration for more than 200 precast concrete plants being established in North America during the ’50s and ’60s. Read More »

The Future of the Economy and What Precasters Should be Planning

Has the economic recovery groundhog seen its shadow and retreated back into its burrow?

By William Atkinson

In September 2010, the National Bureau of Economic Research, a committee of Boston-based academic economists, said the recession that began in December 2007 actually ended in June 2009. This marks the longest and deepest recession since the 1930s. The 18-month recession was longer than the two 16-month (and more shallow) recessions that occurred in 1973-1975 and 1981-1982.

Despite the recession being “officially” over, the committee:

• Expressed concern over how slowly the economy was recovering;
• Left the door open for a “double-dip” recession (which last occurred in 1981-1982); and
• Noted that housing and commercial real estate continued to remain mired in the recession.

In January, the New York Times noted that even though the recession is officially over, unemployment remains high, home values continue to remain depressed, and state budgets are in deep trouble. This could lead to more layoffs, service cuts and tax increases, the Times added. Read More »

A Concrete Education

The CIM Program is shaping tomorrow’s concrete industry leaders

By Kirk Stelsel

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”
– Coach Vince Lombardi

Coach Lombardi’s famous words apply as much to the business world as they do to the football field. There are no shortcuts to becoming a respected business leader. It takes hard work and dedication, the exact qualities a group of individuals from the concrete industry were looking to instill in young men and women when they developed the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program in 1995.

The founders recognized a growing demand for young professionals with enhanced technical, communication and management skills specifically suited for the concrete industry. Together with Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), they put together a four-year degree program that launched in 1996 with two enrollees. “MTSU has been a tremendous partner for the industry and for the CIM program as a whole and is our flagship program,” said Brian Gallagher, chairman of the CIM Marketing Committee. “They are really visionaries in terms of embracing the program.” Read More »

Green Piece — Recycled Concrete Aggregates: Sustainability Pays Off for Precasters

By Kyle Kerstiens, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP

The NPCA Sustainability Committee and NPCA staff are committed to helping members navigate the sea of “green” terminology that has kept some from embracing these new practices. As such, we will be including a sustainability page in each issue of Precast Inc. Since aggregates account for about 70 to 80% of concrete’s mass, substituting only 5% of a concrete mix with recycled aggregates can translate into positive environmental stewardship. Recycling reduces materials destined for landfills and saves energy required to remove raw materials from the earth. While recycling requires some modification to mix design, environmentally conscious producers are realizing the benefits of implementing this strategy.

Wausau Tile recycles glass
Wausau Tile, Wausau, Wis., understands the added value of using sustainable products. Terrazzo tile, the company’s most striking glass concrete product, features glass chips ranging in size from 1/16 in. to 3/8 in. (1.6 mm to 9.5 mm). These richly hued tiles have been used in schools, libraries and even art museums, because the recycled glass produces more vibrant color ranges well beyond that of traditional concrete. “Blues, reds, yellows, greens – vibrant colors that Mother Nature doesn’t make,” says Rodney Dombrowski, Wausau’s Terra Paving Division Manager. Read More »

Tradition Meets Technology

This year MBK Maschinenbau GmbH, based in Kisslegg, Germany, celebrates its 50th anniversary.

In 1961 Georg Pfender started a little machine shop in which, a few years later, he designed and built his first cage machine for a local concrete pipe producer. From there, MBK’s success story took off and the original design for straight cages was quickly updated to bell cages.

For the second generation, Albert Pfender, a mechanical engineer, succeeded his father in 1985 and invested his time and energy in consistent growth of the company. He continuously updated the machines to available technology and optimized the service quality. Meanwhile, more than 800 MBK cage machines had been installed worldwide, and an international service team with 15 technicians had been established. In Kisslegg, 80 employees and about 40 representative offices worldwide handle customer inquiries and interests.

In early 2009, MBK founded a daughter company in the United States, where three service technicians, a parts manager and an administrator handle the North American market. Networking and partnerships put MBK Sales & Service Inc. in a strong position to face the challenges of the reviving U.S. and Canadian markets. Read More »

Former Scholarship Winner Now Sits on Foundation Board

Aaron Ausen’s profile as a third-generation precaster who is fully committed to his family’s business makes him an ideal member of the NPCA Educational Foundation Board of Directors. But what makes Ausen unique is his status as the first NPCAEF scholarship recipient to sit on the board since it was formed in 1989.

Ausen graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2006 with a civil engineering degree, aided in part by three years of scholarships from the Foundation and three other scholarships. “There’s really no way I could have gone to school without them,” he said.

After graduation, he immediately returned to Dalmaray Concrete Products in Janesville, Wis., to join the company full-time. He had been working at the plant Saturdays and summers since he was about 12, but armed with his civil engineering degree, he brought additional knowledge back to the plant.

“Getting the degree has brought a little different aspect to the company,” Ausen said. “You get a greater respect for the calculations and the codes behind the concrete work that you do. Taking the knowledge from school and applying it here in being able to calculate capacities of beams and pads and things like that really helps out.”

One of the major changes Ausen helped to institute was in the reinforcing of Dalmaray’s products, particularly septic tanks. “We have completely changed our way of reinforcing all our products,” he said. “The first day I got out of college I came back here and threw everything away, started over and recalculated everything.” The result was an immediate improvement in quality and higher customer satisfaction. Read More »

Waiting for the Dough

Estragon, sitting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting. He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again.

Estragon: Nothing to be done.
Vladimir: I’m beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life I’ve tried to put it from me, saying, ‘Vladimir, be reasonable, you haven’t yet tried everything.’ And I resumed the struggle. (He broods, musing the struggle. Turning to Estragon.) So there you are again.

These are the opening lines of the play “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett. The entire play consists of Estragon and Vladimir waiting for a character named Godot, who inevitably never shows. Throughout the play they talk about all the things they should do or might do, but they never take action. They simply sit and wait, resigned to the idea that “nothing” is all they can do.

If you’re trying to run a precast concrete business, you might be feeling a lot like Estragon and Vladimir right now. You’ve worked hard to fight through this recession, you’ve stayed positive, but despite your best efforts, you can’t help wonder when the economy is going to make its big recovery. Read More »

Precast Magic: Creating Acreage Out of Thin Air

Illustrations courtesy of Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation; photos courtesy of Archer Western Contractors

By Sue McCraven

Precast concrete beams that are forming the foundation for a Dallas park in the air space above a busy downtown freeway may be structural “magic” but there’s nothing “presto” about the precision engineering involved in this $110 million undertaking. “This is a very meticulous project,” said Duane Milligan, TxDOT construction engineer. “It’s not easy to create ground, especially over a freeway.” Read More »

The Next Linn Cove

Like the Linn Cove Viaduct in North Carolina, on which it is partially modeled, the Foothills Parkway Bridge No. 2 in eastern Tennessee is being designed and built to protect the landscape it crosses.

By Deborah R. Huso

Work is continuing on the oldest uncompleted highway project in Tennessee this spring with the ongoing construction of the Foothills Parkway, a scenic, high-elevation drive near the northwest boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park above Chilhowee Lake. Currently, just over 22 miles (35 km) of the Parkway are complete and open for travel. The byway provides breathtaking vistas both eastward into the Smokies and westward into the Tennessee foothills. Read More »