< Previous10WRITTEN BY AOIFE CHANEY W hen precast concrete first gathered significant momentum in the 1950s there were few companies that could see it for the leading building material it would later become. One company that was quick off the mark was Central Precast Inc, a concrete manufacturing com- pany that remains at the forefront of Canada’s precast industry today. Central Precast Inc was established in 1956 as a manufacturer of precast concrete products for the general construction industry. The company’s product line and manufacturing quickly grew to include landscape utility products, man- holes, concrete poles, steps, barriers, and architectural panels. “Anything to do with concrete was made under that one roof,” says current Vice-President, Claudio Mion. “With an excess of over one hundred product lines, focus on customer service was beginning to lack.” To address this, and in recognition of the potential of precast concrete and the many different market segments it could serve, new industry-specific companies were formed under the umbrella of The Precast Group. First to join Central Precast Inc was M CON Products, a one-stop-shop for sewer infrastructure needs. “M CON was formed to focus on the sewer and water main industry,” says Claudio. “Concrete pipe, manholes, anything that was underground to do with water.” Next to form was Utility Structures who offer specialized precast concrete services to the electrical industry. “When my uncle and former President Luigi Mion saw the immediate success of M CON he started the company’s series of expansion and growth. Utility Structures was formed to focus on the electrical market including electrical manholes, hydro manholes, transformer bases, utility poles. Anything to do with concrete poles for street lighting, sports lighting, hydro-distribution, was going to be made at Utility Structures, and that’s when I came into the picture.” 11As nephew of Luigi Mion and cousin of John, Claudio is part of The Precast Groups second-generation. He began his career working counter sales at Central Precast until 1991 when he became head of Utility Structures, where he bounced between dispatching, sales, purchasing, and whatever else the company demanded at the time. “It was only a two-man opera- tion in office and nine in plant,” Claudio says. “We started in the midst of the recession but while we were slow at the beginning we soon grew exponentially.” With M CON and Utility Structures in the picture, original company Central Precast continued to house the groups head office and accounting department while also specializ- ing in architectural panels and interlocking stone. The three companies make up The Precast Group, which stands today as the leading manufacturer of precast concrete products in Eastern Ontario. “In the same way that M CON grew exponentially,” says Claudio, “so did Utility Structures and so did Central Precast. Each had their own market segment, their own focus, and their own customer base. After a few years, instead of taking from the profits each company reinvested into growth and expansion, hence here we are sixty-five years later. We’re based in Ottawa with control over the Eastern Ontario market. We ship products to Toronto on a daily basis, and some that are quite unique and specialized go across the border and down South to Florida.” Claudio describes how each of the companies were working independently for some time until they realized the synergies between them, for example when it comes to buying power. While they were strong as independent entities, they could be a powerhouse in unison. “We had a company reorganization in 2018 and by 2020 my role became about bringing the three companies together. I deal on a bigger scale when it comes to buying cement and aggregates, some of our key compo- nents, as opposed to everybody working independently. We’re also reorganizing our accounting department and bringing in an ERP system to make things a lot more efficient and better from an inventory control point of view. We’re in the midst of this transition and it’s going really well.” From the early 1990s economic slump to the more recent worldwide pandemic, The Precast Group has navigated sev- eral industry ups and downs. As such, many of the projects “The three companies make up The Precast Group, which stands today as the leading manufacturer of precast concrete products in Eastern Ontario.” 12CANADA/USA TOLL FREE: 1-888-STEPCON (738-7266) F: (905)897-6001 T: (905)897-6000 E: sales@stepcon.com 2364 Haines Rd., Unit 20-21, Mississauga, ON Canada L4Y 1Y6 Manhole Steps Safety Grates Service & Pumping Station Platforms Reticuline H-20 Ditch Inlet Grating Railings Sub-drain Couplers Headwall Gratings Aluminum Access Doors Bolt-on Ladders Orifice Plates Plastic Rebar Spacers Frost Straps FRP Ladders & Platforms WE SPECIALIZE IN: from their sixty-five-year portfolio capture a significant moment in time and tell a unique story about the ever-chang- ing construction industry. After the 9/11 attacks, for example, Utility Structures provided both the US Embassy and British High Commission buildings with special custom design secu- rity barriers. “Not only were the barriers extremely large,” says Claudio, “but given the circumstances we also had to work to very tight timelines.” Further back, in 1999 and 2000, there was a big boom on fiber optics and two large companies came to Canada to put a route across the nation. “Central Precast and Utility Structures reaped the benefit of that boom,” says Claudio. “That goes down as one of our biggest jobs of all time. One of the companies represented multimedia and they were buying manholes from us to run their fiber optics. At the same time Central Precast was providing them with concrete storage buildings, because at every certain distance they had to have a distribution or a booster station. The reason they liked our buildings was because they were vandal-proof, fire- proof, and maintenance free. They were complete concrete enclosed structures with concrete walls, floors, and roofs. We must have sold about five hundred of those sheds, and as far as manholes go, we must have sold about three thousand across the two- year project.” Utility Structures - US Embassy Ottawa, ON Photo by Couvrette Ottawa 13In the mid to late nineties, when Toronto was going through a period of unprecedented growth, they were building a small subdivision in Brampton called Springdale which they planned to develop into 100,000 homes with 500,000 occu- pants in ten to fifteen years. “They approached us to make them concrete street lighting poles” says Claudio of the project. “At first it was five-hundred poles, then another five hundred, then every year after that another five hundred. It was hard to keep up at first, we were smaller then and didn’t have the infrastructure or the people. I said to my uncle Luigi at the time, how are we going to do this? and he said, don’t worry about it, just get the job and we will figure it out. That was one of his mottos – never dwell on how you’re going to pull this off, he always said we’ll figure this out. And we did.” Luigi Mion’s motto has stood the test of time and is one that can be applied to many of the issues by which the construc- tion industry is faced today. The labor shortage, for example, is causing a huge strain on the industry, however it remains an overwhelming positive that the work is as abundant as it is. Everything else can be figured out along the way. Along with the ongoing labor shortage the construction indus- try is also up against high interest rates and inflation, but while a lot of employers are all doom and gloom Claudio remains optimistic. “We’re bullish in our industry and our market seg- ment,” says Claudio. “The housing market is very strong in Ottawa, and we’re closely related to that. M CON provide the pipes and manholes, Utility Structures provide the transformer bases and utility poles, and Central Precast provide the inter- locking stone. Also, our government tends to put money into infrastructure to keep the economy moving and a good portion of our products go towards the infrastructure we build. So, I would say the future is bright for The Precast Group.” Claudio wraps things up with a nod to the driving force behind the company, and that is its people. “I like what I see,” says Claudio. “The third generation are young and ambitious and have a different mindset to my uncle and dad. We love their energy, and we love their ideas. They shed new light on things and when you blend that with us the result is quite optimistic.” The Precast Group have experienced sixty-five years of success and longevity and this, Claudio says, has a great deal to do with the dedicated employees they have. “We recently celebrated a fifty-year anniversary for an employee, and he’s still working. We also have many who have been with us for thirty, thirty-five, and forty years. When employees spend their entire career at The Precast Group it gives myself and John (President) a lot of pride.” Between the longstanding employees who have been with the company for up to fifty years, and the third generation of fresh new minds coming up the ranks, The Precast Group is in good hands. Utility Structures - US Embassy Ottawa, ON 14Utility Structures - Batch Tower Photo by Carlo L Mion 15WRITTEN BY ERIC O’CALLAGHAN G rowth can be often confused with success, but how does becoming larger prove you are becoming more successful? Well, the truth is, it doesn’t. Becoming successful does not require a company to become bigger. The old phrase “quality over quantity” is a perfect example of this concept and it’s also the way of life for the people at Twin Valley Precast. Because at this company it’s not about growing bigger, it’s all about growing better. 16Twin Valley Precast is a leading manufacturer of precast products based in Wainright, Alberta. The company has under- taken numerous successful projects and offers a range of products and services which showcase the versatility of precast concrete. Twin Valley Precast’s range of products include beams, columns, solid slabs, architectural precast concrete, jersey barriers and much more. The company and its workers showcase the technical brilliance of precast concrete by highlighting the functionality of a multipurpose material. The results of the company’s projects speak for themselves through the skill of their work, and it is clear to see that the people at Twin Valley Precast have mastered the product on which the business was found. 17Manager at Twin Valley Precast, Joe Tschetter, stated that quality takes precedence at Twin Valley Precast. Tschetter focuses a lot of attention on meeting — if not exceeding — client expectations and continuously receives great feedback from clients which he appreciates. In fact, while speaking with Tschetter, he came across an email from a contractor in which they referred to a Twin Valley Precast site in Lloydmin- ster, Alberta, Canada. It read: “I was over at the site on Sat- urday, and this is the cleanest and most accurate concrete building I have seen in 25 years. I am used to dimensions having plus and minus two inches when compared to the drawings. This structure is within millimeters. This will be a real showpiece when it is completed.” Tschetter’s approach to growing better rather than growing bigger has led to great success for Twin Valley Precast. The company currently have enough work assigned to take them through into March 2023, with other jobs also continuously being added. The reasoning behind their ‘growing better’ phi- losophy can be attributed to a number of different factors, but overall, it was due to workforce development issues. Wainright, Alberta — the location of Twin Valley Precast’s company — is currently facing extreme labor shortages. With this in mind, the people at Twin Valley Precast held a meeting to discuss how to tackle this issue. The company decided that going forward it wanted to design its buildings in a way that reduced labor, while not sacrificing any of the quality it has become known for, which led the company to a number of different options. Twin Valley Precast introduced a gantry system to carry out the finishing section of its projects. The system is an auto- mated finishing machine, designed to level screed, place embeds in the fresh concrete, finish the surface by power trowel and finally spray on a curing compound that massively reduces manual labor. A person has to be present, but they can either sit on the machine and have a bird’s eye view from the top down, or they can stand beside the gantry and walk. They can also step up onto the gantry with a remote that controls the whole system, minimizing manual labor and increasing productivity. The company work a variety of different jobs that can require a lot of labor. Therefore, it is best to pick what jobs it takes wisely. The jobs vary along with the services required, which could include 3D view architecture and engineered structural drawings, project management or a complete building package. “There’s a couple of projects that are 37 feet high and 600 feet long. These are the projects that we’re most interested in because it takes a long time to recover on the bigger proj- ects. We still do smaller jobs, but we tend to squeeze them in between bigger jobs. Gantry system 18A giant milestone for Twin Valley Precast was when the com- pany became certified. Canada’s two largest precast concrete associations, CPCI and Canadian Concrete Pipe and Precast Association (CCPPA), decided to establish a separate third- party body with strict standards, to certify prestressed and non-prestressed precast concrete manufacturing facilities across Canada. Canadian Precast Concrete Quality Assurance (CPCQA) is the only program in North America that precast manufactur- ers must meet requirements of CSA A23.4, including Appen- dices A and B, together with United States PCI MNL-116, 117 and CPCQA certification requirements. In 2018, Twin Valley Precast received their certificate and it changed the company going forward. “It made us more profitable in a way that we can win now. We didn’t even foresee that this is how it was going to be, and the reasoning is, we now have more confi- dence in what we’re doing. This is where CPCQA came in. As of now, we’ve come to establish a marking point of 83.5 and this was remarkable to me because it takes a team effort to do this. For example, 85% would be your maximum that they would rate you and an 83.5 is very close. So, this has been a big accomplishment for us.” Outside of meeting regulatory requirements and trying to maintain a high standard of work, Twin Valley Precast are also becoming more involved in sustainable building proj- ects. The company built a website with CPCI members that is currently filled with resources relating to energy efficiency. Lafarge is Canada’s largest provider of sustainable construc- tion materials and are on a mission to provide construction solutions that build better cities and communities. Lafarge creates custom cement products for suppliers and Twin Val- ley Precast decided to get involved in the hopes of becoming more sustainable. Lafarge has created a custom green prod- uct for Twin Valley Precast called PLC (Portland Limestone Cement). What makes it sustainable and environment friendly is the machine that is used to grind the concrete down to fine powder uses a much lower temperature, thus making a more efficient product with less fuel to recover from. Another great sustainable product that Twin Valley Precast is slowly introducing is Glass Fiber Reinforced Rebar (GFRP). GFRP can replace steel rebars in concrete structures. The use can be temporary – or permanent where there is a require- ment for high strength, risk of corrosion or to avoid induction of currents from electromagnetic fields. The product offers environment friendly solutions and also provides significant reduction of repair and maintenance cost. All of the clever decisions made by Twin Valley Precast — along with its forward and creative thinking ability — has allowed the company the freedom to make decisions on its own accord. However, if Twin Valley Precast continue at the pace it is currently at, it will certainly be hard to imagine the company not growing better. In the end, Tschetter says, “We rely on God for guidance, and through His grace, we have been blessed with a team that is committed, hardworking and dedicated for the ultimate success of Twin Valley Precast.” “Tschetter’s approach to growing better rather than growing bigger has led to great success for Twin Valley Precast.” 19Next >