MarketScale Manufacturing

Aaron Beiler created Equipter when he realized that roofing contractors had an issue.

"After roofing for about 15 years, I was like, 'There's got to be an easier way to do this debris management on residential roofing,'" said Beiler at the 2020 edition of the International Roofing Expo in Dallas, TX.

He described The Equipter as a "self-propelled dumpster" that can also be raised up to dump into larger containers. It can be pulled behind a truck like a normal trailer, but it also possesses a gas engine that allows it to move around a property for easy debris removal.

Roofing contractors aren't the only people who are fans of the product. Homeowners also appreciate the benefits the Equipter provides.

"Homeowners love contractors that use (Equipters), because it protects their flowers and shrubbery," he said. "Usually, that's the No. 1 concern for homeowners when they're hiring a roofing contractor - how are you going to protect my tulips?"

When President of L.L. Geans Construction Rocky Geans attended World of Concrete decades ago, he didn’t expect his entire understanding of concrete to be challenged. But that's what happened.

Rocky joined the Marketscale Engineering and Construction podcast to discuss new (and storied) innovations in the concrete industry, how they are affecting business, and how he goes about implementing new ideas and practices within a team of employees.

In order to make concrete, you need one key ingredient: water. Though this property makes concrete workable, add too much of it, and concrete becomes brittle. That’s why Water Reducer is such an exciting innovation for concrete pourers. This admixture makes concrete more workable, no matter the weather conditions, without sacrificing concrete stability. Water Reducer allows for a speedier pour, easier placement and a better viscosity of workable poured concrete.

With continued growth awareness for this methodology in the world of concrete, Geans says educating employees on new practices relies solely on the business owner. Take time to ensure everyone understands each part of all new practices.

When investing in innovation within a company, consider putting together an Research & Development team, Geans advised, and make it a diverse mix of employees that work across all aspects of a project.

Most importantly, take care of your people, Geans emphasized. Demonstrate “I need you,” and mean it. When workers feel valued, understood and heard, employees often come up with incredible ideas, Geans said.

Flintco is looking to fill a superintendent Role in their Memphis, TN office.
Superintendents function as Project Managers on industry-leading construction projects from Flintco. The position will involve overseeing day-to-day operations, manage sub-contractors, and communicating with clients. Superintendents play a key role when it comes to job site safety practices and are in charge of monitoring quality and efficacy while also looking for ways to improve processes.

In this episode of MarketScale's Architecture & Design Podcast, Jim Smith, director of Invisiwall Engineered Glass Systems, a Consolidated Glass Holdings company, joined host James Kent to discuss the ways buildings utilize today’s innovations in engineered glass.

Smith gave a brief overview of the advancements in engineered glass technology, which includes stronger, and longer sheets of glass. Smith said, as clients seek buildings with a grander use of glass, Smith’s company’s job is to overcome any limitations to bring those visions to life.

Some of the challenges that come into play with these types of projects are performance parameters, long lead times, technical support, and aesthetic goals.

“In terms of lead times,” Smith said, “the developments in the engineered glass process, have improved so greatly, lead times are matching many of the curtain-wall style products.”

And to address the other challenges, CGH’s team of in-house designers and engineers work with clients throughout the process to see projects through to successful completion.

Several examples of recent projects Smith worked on in downtown Philadelphia illustrate some of the cool uses of engineered glass systems in today’s building projects. The Comcast buildings, in Philadelphia, PA, feature oversized doors in the podium section that required special engineering consideration. In the Philadelphia International Airport, Consolidated Glass Holdings helped design and create a 90-yard long, wall of glass.

What type of solution is next for engineered glass? Smith mentioned a product almost fully developed, which incorporates a pattern only birds can see and helps prevent them from flying into the glass.

On this episode of the MarketScale Engineering & Construction Podcast, Alan Nudi, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ergo Robotic Solutions joined host James Kent for a discussion on Ergo's machines, and how they’re not just for lifting large sheets of glass. These machines can be a builder’s best friend for a lot of different types of materials.

Nudi began the episode with a brief overview of his company, Ergo Robotic Solutions, and what these machines are typically used for, and the types of glass materials they lift. But quickly the conversation shifted to the many other types of materials these customizable machines can lift. From large pieces of curved glass, textured glass, sheet metal, concrete walls, plywood, and sheet rock. Nudi described the various uses for the company's machinery, and how they tackle lifting these materials.

Throughout the discussion, Nudi provided examples of building situations where these machines can make the impossible possible and save time which lowers constructions costs. One item people may be surprised to learn these machines can lift, are large pieces of rigid construction foam. This material can be cumbersome to lift, yet Ergo's machines make it easy. One person can operate the machine and lift huge piles of foam, instead of several people manually doing it.

While the majority of these lifting scenarios involve the suction aspects of ergo robotic machines, Nudi explained that the customizable nature of the machines have allowed builders to use them for lifting projects that required different ways of handling the material. An example Nudi mentioned was a project in California that required the lifting of a 3,000 lb piece of curved glass that was 27ft wide. Special brackets were installed on the machine to help lift it.

Due to the customizable nature of these machines, Nudi said many machines are built to order, to handle the specific building needs and challenges of the client.

“Every job has something unique to it,” said Nudi.

With these Ergo Robotic Solutions available to do things that were cumbersome, expensive, or impossible to do in the past, architects have more freedom to make their artistic visions come true.

The fear for many when it comes to robots and automation is losing the human touch and expertise that comes with years of experience. One company has managed to take the expertise of human hands and seamlessly transfer that to robotics.

LestaUSA's new Finishing Robots are programmed using the movements and actions of leading human painters and finishers. It then takes those programmed actions and perfectly repeats them time after time, allowing businesses to scale their operations without losing the effectiveness of an expert painter.

"This allows manufacturers to keep the talent they have," said LestaUSA President Derek Degeest. He also explained that this helps extend the careers of many painters because it reduces the wear and tear that the job can have on the body.

It takes multiple companies to make robot automation come to life in metal forming, fabricating, welding or finishing. At Fabtech 2019, Dan Allford  of Arc Specialties provided a picture of why collaboration and cooperation between companies in different segments of the industry is so important.

"People that come to this show typically come with a problem to solve," Allford said. He went on to explain the role of a robot integrator in the process of creating a robot for a specific purpose.

"A robot integrator takes that robot arm and then adds the tooling, adds the software, and also adds the tooling to hold the part," he said. "As you can see on this Fanuc robot, Fanuc built the robot, we added the seventh axis, we wrote the software. So we work very closely with our partners."

Shows like Fabtech allow companies to stay up to date with what their partners have developed and find new ways to collaborate on putting these creations into practice.

Matt Gresens, Sr. District Manager at FANUC America Corporation, joined MarketScale at Fabtech 2019 to talk about why the show is valuable for robotic integrators.

"We're always making sure we have the best robots out there in the world that have the best options available to make a project successful," Gressens said.

He explained how shows like Fabtech help companies connect and solve problems together, building symbiotic business relationships that move the industry forward.

The distance between perception and reality is farther apart than you think. That's especially true when it comes to management's perception of how employees feel. An anecdotal smile on the way out the door, hearing laughter among your crew... those don't dig into how your employees' job satisfaction, burnout level, or propensity to walk out on the job.

Today on the MarketScale Engineering & Construction Podcast, host Shelby Skrhak sat down with Joe Freud, retired operations manager at Marvin Windows and Doors, and Marco Juarez, a workplace safety and culture expert for Coleman Consulting Group to discuss how shift schedule changes and active listening helped improve productivity and employee satisfaction at Marvin.

When Juarez met Freud, Marvin was running the plant with two weeks on day shift and two weeks on night shift, working six days a week with no predictable time off for vacation. The company was losing employees to burnout and better hours at other companies, and for those who stayed, employees had significant hardship with the demanding schedule.

When Marvin signed on with Coleman Consulting Group to help make things more efficient, Freud saw the impact immediately.

"Throughout your lifetime, you have an opportunity to add value to businesses, but nothing like this had ever crossed my path. To make this much change in an organization and make this much change in the lifestyles of people that work there was incredible," he said.

Construct AEC Education and Expo recently concluded its 2019 event in National Harbor, Maryland after four days of learning and networking. Architects, designers, and construction professionals all had the opportunity to discuss the latest trends in their specific sectors, and the concerns they have as well.

Specifications have always been something architects have had to wrestle with and stay on top of for each individual project. Specs are different from state to state and due to their detail and scope they can be difficult to digest even for experienced professionals.

Paul Doherty, CEO of the Digit Group, and Mark Dorsey, CEO of Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), both work with AEC professionals to help assist with best practices and educate them on the latest technology driving the industry forward.
“That’s really what we’re here for, is for the betterment of the industry, helping people perform at a higher level and enabling them to bring their projects in on time, on budget and successfully for the benefit of society and their ownership,” Dorsey said.

Dorsey addressed CSI members in the organization’s Annual Business Meeting and General Session.
Doherty also led an educational session at the event titled Five Disruptive Technologies that will Change Specifications Forever.

The two sat down at Construct AEC Education and Expo to discuss the changing specification landscape and how professionals in the field can better position themselves for success with specifications.