Like his predecessor, incoming National Precast Concrete Association Chairman Bruce Glaser plans to keep education and training of precast plant managers, workers and specifiers front and center during his tenure. In doing so, Glaser reinforces the training stratagem promoted by outgoing 2002 chairman John Lendrum, Norwalk Concrete Industries (see “Education Emphasis,” Concrete Products, January 2002, pages 29-30).

“My most important goal will be education,” says Glaser, president of APS Concrete Products, Lannon, Wis. “Education of people in management, production, administration and sales is the key to the future of our industry. We want to continue our educational efforts, improve and expand them.” Glaser also will emphasize product quality and marketing during his term.

Education encompasses a variety of areas, he explains. Foremost among them is leadership training. “We're going to conduct leadership training for our board members and committee and subcommittee chairs, and continue our industry leaders conference for member companies.”

But worker training will not be overlooked. “We're going to offer a variety of industry training, beginning with the MCPX show in February,” Glaser tells Concrete Products. “This will include advanced production topics, management training, quality control, safety and technology. It will start with entry level people and go all the way up to top management.”

Such an agenda allows NPCA to offer a service not available anywhere else, he notes. “By using NPCA as a primary education and networking tool,” Glaser says, “member firms get an opportunity for formal education in technical topics as well as a networking opportunity.” That these networking opportunities are valued is borne out by member surveys, he adds.

CERTIFICATION BOOSTS MARKETING

Certification is a concept that impacts all three of Glaser's chief priorities. “Certification embraces quality, but also education and marketing,” he observes. “We have a Plant Certification Program, which over 20 percent of our members have entered, and that number is growing rapidly.” NPCA's Plant Certification Program is conducted under the auspices of concrete consultants Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., Northbrook, Ill.

Emphasizing that certification enhances marketing efforts, Glaser explains, “It's a competitive market out there. As specifiers increasingly demand quality product, certified plants supplying quality concrete products in order to compete make precast the way to go.”

This marketing dynamic certainly applies at the state department of transportation level, Glaser affirms. “State agencies are very much concerned with quality assurance,” he emphasizes. “By going to plant certification, we can give them a comfort level in the quality of precast concrete.

“Not all precast is equal,” Glaser says. “There is tremendous variation in quality in the marketplace. Low quality producers are out there, and as a result, agency specifiers have all seen substandard product. We're working with specifiers to make sure they can rely on a higher standard of quality. When they require plant certification, specifiers are assured that procedures and practices are in place that result in quality products.”

Besides, the record-keeping and testing required by plant certification enhances day-to-day operations, Glaser adds. “There can be problems during production,” he observes. “You think you're doing the same thing every day. One day, for example, we were supposed to have received a load of cement, which turned out to be another product mixed with cement. Through record-keeping and QC procedures we were able to catch it before our product was shipped.”

NEW MARKETING MODULES

NPCA also increased the number of marketing training modules from one to two in 2002 and will add a third in 2003. “The Marketing Committee has been very active in the last few years and has determined that educating the specifier is of utmost importance to the marketing effort,” Glaser tells Concrete Products.

“There's nothing new about that,” he adds, “but what is new is the dual approach to marketing we now are taking: we started Precast Solutions magazine targeted to the specifier and engineer.”

For Precast Solutions, NPCA compiled a comprehensive mailing list of specifiers and users of precast products. “The list is growing and now tops 11,000,” he says. It accompanies the association's existing magazine covering manufactured concrete, MC Magazine. Articles from every issue of both journals may be downloaded from NPCA's web site.

PARTNERING AT CRITICAL MASS

Partnering with allied industry associations is a given in the construction industry establishment. But NPCA has taken partnering to a new level with this year's Manufactured Concrete Products Expo (a merger of the former MCX and Masonry EXPO trade shows) in Salt Lake City, Feb. 21-23. MCPX combines the efforts of NPCA with input from the National Concrete Masonry Association, the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Association and the American Concrete Pipe Association. The four groups will also hold convention and education programs in conjunction with the trade show.

This year's MCPX attendance should eclipse last year's MCX, which drew over 3,400 precast producers, contractors and specifiers to visit exhibitors and participate in a record 65 hours of education and training. As NPCA's most successful event in history, MCX boasted a best-ever 62,000 net square feet of trade show space among 227 exhibitors — including 63 first-time displayers — in addition to record-setting attendance. This year, in Salt Lake City, more than 100,000 net square feet of exhibitor space and more than 100 hours of education and training will be offered.

“Our partnering efforts have been most rewarding,” Glaser affirms. “I've been on the Joint Officers' Committee [combined officers of NPCA and NCMA], which meets to review and modify what's being done, and a great relationship has evolved.”

The Salt Lake City event that begins Glaser's term as NPCA chairman of the board should solidify those industry partnerships and promote NPCA's educational effort. “Education is the key to expanding the use of precast products,” Glaser says. “When we set high standards for quality and production and train to those standards, we ensure a bright future for our industry.”

NATIONAL PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION

AT-A-GLANCE

NPCA represents makers of plant-produced concrete products and the suppliers to the industry. Founded in 1965 with 75 members, today NPCA speaks for nearly 1,000 companies worldwide.

NPCA dedicates itself to expanding the use of quality precast concrete through technical services to members, representation on standards committees, a plant certification program, industry-specific training programs, and a variety of publications. Accordingly, the association develops educational seminars, sponsors an annual industry trade show, and publishes industry newsletters and technical/marketing literature as well as two magazines targeted to manufactured concrete products producers and specifiers as it operates a technical services “hotline” for members.

The National Precast Concrete Association provides technical and production information through five product line sections:

• Building, Housing, Landscape and Specialty Products;
• Sanitary and Stormwater Products;
• Transportation Products;
• Utility, Industrial and Communications Products; and,
• Water and Wastewater Products

Ty Gable is NPCA staff president. The association can be reached at its headquarters at 10333 N. Meridian St., Suite 272, Indianapolis, IN46290; 317/571-9500 or 800/366-7731; fax: 317/571-0041; e-mail: npca@precast.org; web site: www.precast.org.

CHAIRMEN

2003

BRUCE GLASER
President
APS Concrete Products
Lannon, Wisconsin

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN (2002)

JOHN LENDRUM
President
Norwalk Concrete Industries, Inc.
Norwalk, Ohio

CHAIRMAN-ELECT (2004)

VERNON WEHRUNG
President
Modern Precast Concrete
Ottsville, Pennsylvania

APS CONCRETE PRODUCTS

AT-A-GLANCE

Based just west of the Milwaukee metro area, APS Concrete Products, Inc. provides products and services from a newly consolidated location in Lannon, Wis.

New 2003 National Precast Concrete Association Chairman Bruce Glaser is a second-generation precast producer. “My father, Jack Glaser, was an early member of NPCA,” he notes. “In 1967, he founded Advance Pipe & Supply Co., Inc., which now is APS Concrete Products.”

APS Concrete Products manufactures and distributes precast concrete products such as the Hy-Span Instant Bridge, Easi-Set and Easi-Span transportable buildings, sanitary and storm sewer products, utility vaults, underground tanks, environmental products and custom structures. The company's management team includes professionals with degrees in civil engineering, accounting, law, and business management. Its managers hold leadership positions in state and national trade associations like NPCA, Wisconsin Concrete Pipe Association, and Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin.

APS is located at W193 N7700 Becker Drive, Lannon, WI53046; 262/251-1444; fax: 262/251-5552; web site: www.apsconcrete.com.

WHAT'S HOT IN PRECAST

The National Precast Concrete Association is following a number of trends in the industry:

• Self-Consolidating Concrete

  SCC, which has the ability to cut production times in the plant, is being studied intently by NPCA. “It's a way of improving the appearance of concrete while reducing total costs and dealing with the shortage of qualified labor throughout the country,” says 2003 NPCA Chairman Bruce Glaser. “We think it's of benefit to our producer members, although each must make his or her own decision. We have had multiple presentations on the topic, have begun multi-plant teleconferencing, and have published technical articles in our magazines.”

• Tailored Homeland Security Products

  Precasters are benefiting from new or modified uses of their products for homeland security, Glaser notes. “Right after September 11, there was a surge in demand for precast products for security,” he reports. “Government agencies wanted just about anything that was heavy, it seemed. Since then, they not only want these products to be functional, but to be aesthetically pleasing as well. So there are new opportunities for the precast industry.”

• Promoting Technology in the Plant

  NPCA is hosting educational panels and forums for leadership personnel to study the application of automation and computers to plant operations. It's also providing education and training programs for workers. “Our associate members are among the real leaders in developing and promoting new technology, and are a great resource for our members,” Glaser says.

• Collaborative MCPX

  NPCA is partnering with three other industry associations in producing the Manufactured Concrete Products Expo, or MCPX 2003, in Salt Lake City, Feb. 21-23. MCPX will be the largest exposition of its kind, bringing together equipment, materials and services for the manufactured concrete industry under one roof. Joining NPCA are the National Concrete Masonry Association, the American Concrete Pipe Association and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute.

• Outreach to Specifiers

  Reaching 11,000 readers, NPCA launched a new quarterly magazine in 2002 entitled Precast Solutions, targeting specifiers, architects, engineers, and state DOTs. “Precast Solutions has a case studies format, which highlights projects and shows how specifiers, engineers and precasters work together to bring them to successful completion,” says NPCA Director of Marketing and Quality Assurance Alan Siebenthaler.