The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute conducted its 15th Productivity Tour and Workshop this fall, teaming with host, Mid-Atlantic Precast Association, to visit member operations in Pennsylvania and Virginia. “The tour has great value to production personnel,” says PCI Productivity Committee Chairman Dennis Fink (Northeast Prestressed Products)’ Dennis Fink. With a record 175 attendees, he adds, “This year’s tour showcased some quality producers and gave the group an opportunity to see a variety of products and production techniques that they can incorporate into their own businesses.”
In addition to Northeast Prestressed, the tour saw stops at three other Pennsylvania producers, High Concrete Group, Nitterhouse Concrete Products and Universal Concrete Products, plus Virginia’s Shockey Precast Group. Suppliers Architectural Polymers Inc. and Insteel Wire Products also hosted stops.
Customary among tour highlights was the Ideas That Pay Off contest, where attendees share their best productivity improvement tips and vote on the best ideas. Mark Adams of Tindall Corp. took the contest by introducing the group to an ergonomically friendly way to move a double tee header. Second place went to John Koustsounces from Dutchland, Inc. for a time-saving process to protect steel tables during storage.