Con-Tech Manufacturing is set to close out 2014 with a 65,000 sq. ft. addition to its plant, housing new central parts department, paint lines, drum-mounting stations, shipping & receiving department, and offices. The construction will bring the total to 200,000 sq. ft. that the mixer truck manufacturer has under roof at its Dodge Center, Minn., headquarters.
The company continues to refine manufacturing processes that add significantly to product quality and efficiency, officials note, citing especially new automated fiber laser cutting equipment, robotic welding cells, shot blast and paint processes. This year’s capital investment has the potential to yield efficiency gains more than two-fold.
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Con-Tech was founded in 2006, doubling in size each year since on the strength of equipment quality and innovations. Underscoring market acceptance is the brand’s geographic reach: Ready mixed producers in 48 states are running Con-Tech mixers. Among the latest improvements to standard and BridgeKing models is the High Performance Drum, equipped with self-cleaning fins and paddles that eliminate cement balling. The series was expanded earlier this year, as Con-Tech unveiled High Performance Pedestal, Roller, Ladder and Chute designs at ConExpo-Con/Agg.
“We take in to account every idea and suggestion from the great people of the ready mixed concrete industry and incorporate them into our product, striving to build the highest quality, best-performing mixer with lowest cost of operation available,” says Con-Tech co-founder and Vice President Grant McNeilus, who represents the third generation of his family’s involvement in concrete delivery and plant equipment.
His father Brandon McNeilus and grandfather Garwin McNeilus assist in Con-Tech’s design and manufacturing processes, drawing on solid track records in concrete equipment and ready mixed production. Company co-founder and President Dan Welsh brings nearly 35 years in refurbishing and building mixer trucks. Combined, Con-Tech principals and backers have more than 130 years of direct, active experience in both ready mixed delivery and plant equipment manufacturing.
Downstream of steel bending and welding, Brandon McNeilus has maintained Rochester Ready Mix, serving southeast Minnesota markets. The company has delivered material for all slab and cast-in-place concrete structures in the original Con-Tech plant and expansion. The existing facility and portions of the plant expansion are enclosed in precast wall panels from Wells Concrete Products, which has a massive architectural and structural operation north of the Twin Cities in Albany, Minn. A Wells Concrete sister operation, providing ready mixed in central-southwest Minnesota markets, runs a fleet with Con-Tech mixers.
Con-Tech stocks Peterbilt, Kenworth, Mack, Freightliner and Western Star trucks. Buyers can customize their orders by selecting units ranging from ready-to-load mixers to bare, un-mounted chassis. The company’s manufacturing and assembly approach, coupled with chassis selection, affords ready mixed producers many options to best fit their timelines and specific truck requirements. Con-Tech has also set up a trade-in service that carries tax benefits.