Precast Inc. - September/October 2008 - (Page 36) 10,000-square-foot building using precast wall panels,” says Houk. “We designed and built our own building using our own employees.” The second expansion resulted in improved efficiencies and reduced costs. This took place in Spokane in 2000. “We sold our land and buildings downtown, because it was getting congested,” says Houk. “We had been in the facility over 50 years, where we had added on, ‘hodge-podged’ things together, torn down A COMPLETED WILBERT PRECAST PLANT IN YAKIMA, WASH., WAS UP AND RUNNING one building, added another and so on.” There DESPITE A TIGHT CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE – A PROBLEM SOLVED DUE TO PROPER was still not enough room to expand. Around PLANNING. that time, the Spokane County road engineers the batch plant itself.” The facility gained NPCA certification in wanted to buy the land for their maintenance shop and to 2002. consolidate their operations. “This gave us the opportunity to Another key to success is that, before they designed their move to a piece of property farther out of town where we Spokane facility, Houk and Darrin Cary, chief of operations, took would have more room,” he says. a trip to Ohio, because there is such a large concentration of Houk built a 27,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on the NPCA plants there. “By being involved with NPCA for so many newly acquired land. It already had a 6,000-square-foot office years, we knew a lot of these people structure on the site, along with two personally, and we were able to tour 13 maintenance buildings. “It was nice to plants in five days,” says Houk. Besides be able to take a blank sheet of paper looking at their plants, Houk and Cary and draw up plans for a dream precast also laid out the plans that they had for facility, with all of the efficiencies and their plant and asked their hosts if they productivity in mind,” he recalls. For would do anything differently. They got example, they installed larger crane some good ideas. ways, including two 15-ton crane ways The third expansion project gave and two 5-ton crane ways. “We have Wilbert the opportunity to begin bidding since added a third 5-ton crane way,” he on larger projects. This one took place in says. Yakima, Wash., where the company had The company also included a modern, already had a presence for about 25 high-tech, computerized batch plant as years, operating in leased facilities. In part of the project. It is very accurate, mid-2006, it bought out a competitor, within 1 percent for all of the – DAN HOUK, WILBERT PRECAST Yakima Precast, which had a reputation ingredients. for working on highly technical, complex As a result of the project, Wilbert is jobs. Within two years, though, Houk had to buy land, design a able to pour out 100-plus yards a day of SCC (self-consolidating building and move, because Yakima Precast had been leasing its concrete). “It has improved efficiencies tremendously, including property, too. saving us about six employees,” says Houk. “This has helped to “We built a new 20,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, and pay for the cost of the SCC ingredients as well as the cost of “It was nice to be able to take a blank sheet of paper and draw up plans for a dream precast facility, with all of the efficiencies and productivity in mind.” Photo courtesy Wilbert Precast Inc. Overhead Cranes, Monorails & Hoists BOOTH 1002 THE PRECAST SHOW • Custom-built box girder cranes • Serving all New England • Modernizations • Retro-fits • Upgrades • Fix/install radio controls • Specialists in variable frequency drive controllers (Factory Trained Reps) • Sales • Installation • Service & repair • Inspections • Evaluation & consultation • Engineering service • Yearly maintenance contract • OSHA compliance inspections • Special trolley hoists for concrete applications Distributing most major brands including: • • • • • • • • • • Cranemart Company CM Shaw Box (units & parts) Yale (units & parts) Budgit Electro-motive Telemotive Duct-o-wire Spanco Ace Trolley Hoists Featuring 24-Hour Emergency Service CAPCO CRANE & HOIST INC. 58 Forest Ridge Drive • Rowley, MA 01969 • www.capcocrane.com 800-422-7261 • 978-948-2998 • 978-948-2294 Fax 36 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 | PRECAST INC. http://www.datacollections.com http://www.capcocrane.com http://www.capcocrane.com http://www.datacollections.com
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