Masonry Magazine January 2009 Page. 48
Industry News
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) met in November to discuss AWP operator training. Although not sponsored by the IPAF, IPAF convened the meeting and acted as secretary for the group. The meeting was prompted by a keynote address that Skyjack group president Ken McDougall delivered at the APEX Conference held in September in Maastricht, Netherlands. During his speech, McDougall discussed the need for some form of standardized training for AWP operators and called for action by manufacturers to promote standardized training as the surest way of minimizing the risk of accidents. The purpose of the November meeting was to discuss how operator-training standards can be raised and to investigate whether it is possible to agree on minimum standards of operator training.
The meeting allowed participants to review current national and international regulations and standards, hear how other industries address training, and discuss the many various aspects of training. During discussions, the group uncovered multiple issues that need to be analyzed and researched before any recommendations can be made. Included among those issues was a review of the activities of other trade associations, governmental bodies, unions and others involved in AWP operator training and benchmarking best practices.
IPAF agreed to facilitate future meetings and, along with volunteers from the.
Masonry Scores at Yankee Stadium
Members of the construction team building the new Yankee Stadium - HOK Sport, Turner Construction, and Tishman Speyer - recently had the chance to see how good BAC members are at their jobs, and how International Masonry Institute (IMI) education and training helps everyone. In November, the IMI worked with Del Savio Masonry and Port Morris Tile and Marble to deliver a custom "Yankee Stadium Masonry Day" to the construction site, educating project officials on topics like construction detailing, and letting them try laying brick walls and spreading terrazzo.
How to Respond During Good and Bad Times
MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
For years, I had fun in the masonry business. It seemed so simple: The economy was so good that customers would actually call and offer us extra money to do their work instead of hiring someone else. Essentially, they were pricing work higher for us. Lately, it hasn't been so fun. We are bidding projects for the same prices we charged 10 years ago, while our cost of labor has increased tremendously. In fact, we just bid the OSU Student Union and came in seventh out of eight bidders. My chief estimator worked on this project for six weeks and felt we really had a good number to land it, and we still got beat by 20 percent. The market is tight.
Many contractors tell me that when things are tight, they just keep their people working, paying them until things get better so they don't lose any employees. I can agree with this theory, only if there is plenty of work on the horizon. If your company doesn't have a backlog where these employees can soon be put to work, remember this contractor tip - it could save your company: "When things are good, hire and expand. When things are bad, make cuts as soon as possible, before the ship goes down."
Many contractors are very uncertain of what they should do when things get tough. So, when work does slow down, they just keep their people on payroll, requiring them to do very little to nothing while they wait for things to improve. This is a terrible mistake that has left many businesses bankrupt. When you keep people on payroll who are not productive, you are spending money that you will never see again. Think about this: Every dollar you are spending (throwing away), you have to later get back in the form of future net income. How often does that happen?
You'll never get all that extra money you are spending on non-productivity back. Every extra dollar you spend is leaving your financials at 100 pennies. When you go to get it back later, you will replenish your funds via net profit at 2 to 10 pennies per dollar (2 percent to 10 percent net profit). In other words, it takes between 10 and 50 times the volume to regain those lost dollars. Think about that when leaving unproductive staff on payroll, and you may decide not to be so emotional about laying them off.
When a ship at sea is taking on water and begins to sink, it is the captain's responsibility to throw overboard everything that isn't absolutely necessary to the mission. As the leader of your company, you must do the same when things get tough and the company is taking on losses (water). Start throwing the dead weight out first, and keep pitching until your ship arrives safely at its port.
So what do you do in business to assure you survive? When you have plenty of work, gear up, hire people and go for it. When things are bad and there is no work, make cuts as quickly as possible. You can always gear up again when things get better, all the while having clear sailing to your destination.
Damian Lang is a mason contractor in southeast Ohio who has four companies that do combined sales of $20 milion. He is also the author of the book "Rewarding and Challenging Employees for Profits in Masonry." To order a copy of his book or attend one of his seminars held specifically for mason contractors, call Linda Hart at Lang Masonry, 800-417-9272.