Paint Problems

If I had a $1 for each discussion I have had on paint in my 35 plus years in the construction business, I think I would be writing this from a condo at St. Simons Island, Georgia rather than here at my desk.  After that length of time in the business, it would be reasonable to think that we have that element of the project “nailed down” and we could concentrate on new and dynamic elements of the construction business.

After all, Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), known by various brand names like Kynar 500®, has been acknowledged as the “gold standard” for exterior applications almost since its release in 1965.  However, just this week my time has been consumed by problems on paint.  In many ways, we received more consistent and better quality 20 years ago than what we are receiving now. 

Think of this analogy.  Imagine an iPhone in your hand.  It can do maybe a thousand things better than the 256 K IBM Personal Computer that you were using 20 years ago and it almost never fails.  (Note:  For the benefit of our younger readers, an IBM Personal Computer was one of the first widely used computers in small businesses). 

On the other hand, we are receiving paint that does not match in color and gloss and that has formability problems twenty years later.  I am running the numbers to be sure, but it appears we are having more problems now than we were 20 years ago.

Is it just me, or are many of you experiencing the same phenomenon?

Let’s get a reading on the “current state of the paint art” before we attempt to dig into the causality of the current situation.  We may find that we are just having a run of bad luck or we may not be using the best supplier.  Anyway, let’s take the temperature of the patient before we start any procedures.  So, please answer the poll.

The bottom line is this:  If you buy a new car, no matter what it costs from $10,000 to $100,000, you expect the front door to match the back door in color.  Now, if a building owner buys a $1,000,000 wall, he has every right to expect that all of the panels match in color.  If those of us in the metal walls industry cannot deliver on this expectation, we should be ready for the market share of the walls market that we are going to lose, no matter what other benefits we offer.

So, we need to be realistic about this problem and get on with solving it.

Tool of the Week – Check this out.   It is a review of the relative benefits of a variety of paint finishes offered for commercial exterior applications of paint on metal.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,

Ted S. Miller

A Blog a Week is a Challenge

I started this Blog on February 9, 2009 and we have had a Post every week since then.  It has been a joy to be able to discuss industry topics, personal issues for which I am passionate, and general topics with over 2,000 readers each week.  I can honestly tell you that I am very glad that my young associates have pushed me to produce this Blog. 

And I must also tell you that my admiration of columnists like George Will, Thomas Friedman, and others who do this not only every week, but sometimes several times a week, has grown with each Blog I write.  It is a real challenge to come up with an original idea each week that appeals to a wide audience of General Contractors, Consultants, Subcontractors, Manufacturers, and other business associates.

When I have an idea for which I am passionate, the Blog writes itself.  However, my passions are not necessarily the same as your passions and your passions deserve coverage just as much as mine.

So, I want to open the door wider to this Blog.  I not only want to give you an opportunity to submit Blog ideas, but also the opportunity to use this forum as a Guest Blogger.  I know that there are those of you who would like to have the opportunity to address “the world” on this Blog.  There are issues, products, services, techniques and other things for which you have a passion.  Some Blog readers are industry leaders and I urge you to use this Blog as a forum to distribute important information about issues within your specific portion of the business community through a Guest Blog.

Bottom line:  I want to keep the Blog fresh, informative, and lively and I feel that it is time to open the door wider and include the readers more.  So, let us all know about your passions through comments and a Guest Blog.

Tool of the Week – Check out www.wordpress.com.  A review of the host site for this Blog will help to reduce some of the mystery about writing a Blog.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,

Ted S. Miller

Save Money – Write the Spec Clearly and Completely

What if you ordered a car from your favorite dealer and you did not specify the color or type of engine?  Chances are you would be disappointed.  You might get the cheapest engine or the most expensive engine.  You could get a white car or a black car or something in between.

If all you wanted was basic transportation, these choices may not be important.  But we all know that when Metal Composite Material panels are selected, they are chosen for their spectacular aesthetics as well as their ability to solve difficult form and shape challenges.  So, why are so many project specifications inaccurate or incomplete?

One of the most challenging aspects of the industry for MCM fabricators is getting the right information with which to bid a project.  Many specifications feature inaccuracies, conflicts and unaddressed features.

Some of the most common of these are outlined below:

1.  The color is not chosen.
2. The number of coats of paint (2 or 3) is not chosen.
3. Metallic or Non-Metallic paint is not chosen.
4. The type of core (Standard PE or Fire Resistive FR) is not chosen.
5. 6mm thickness is chosen when standard 4 mm would be a more economical and better performing selection.
6. Many specification writers feel they have chosen the complete system when they specify the MCM Material Manufacturer (Reynobond®, Alpolic® or Alucobond®).  These manufacturers do not offer attachment systems.  It would be like saying you had chosen all of the features of a cabinet system because you had specified Georgia-Pacific® plywood.

Because of this frustration, Miller Clapperton has developed www.mcmspecwriter.com.  This is a specification generator for Metal Composite Material panel systems.

This online program forces decisions to be made about several of these considerations, some of which are mutually exclusive.  For other options, guidance on the relative value of the various choices is provided by way of “roll-over” notes on the selection page.  For example, in the “Attachment System” category, two types are featured (Exposed Wet Seal System and Back Ventilated Dry System) and a short description for each is provided.

From an owner/designer standpoint, they get a better deal if all choices are clearly made in the specification.  If the desired criteria of the project is not clearly outlined, the bidder is forced to make either make the conservative choice and the price will be higher, or will make the cheaper choice and the price will be lower.  Consequently, the owner will often be less likely to have the project built by the more experienced and conservative bidder. The owner will also have an argument and/or change order on the horizon if the desire was to have the higher cost criteria.

The bottom line is that open-ended specifications end up wasting time and effort that is better invested on making the project better.

So, spread the word that help is available to make our industry better with this Specification Generator.

Tool of the Week – You had to see this coming; the tool this week is certainly www.mcmspecwriter.com.  Use it and tell others about it.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,
Ted S. Miller

Thanksgiving – THE American Holiday

I love Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday.  It has all of the good elements of Christmas, without the hassles of Christmas.

On Thanksgiving you can be with your family, deliberately pause and give thanks to the Lord for your blessings, enjoy a “low pressure” meal (except for the cooks) with family and friends, and generally relax.

Christmas has all of the pressures of choosing the right gifts and the strain of attending many events throughout an almost three week period so that you are physically and emotionally drained.  Add onto this extensive travel for many and you reach the point of “too much”.  There is too much food, too much concentrated togetherness, too many material things; just too much!

Thanksgiving is different.  In many ways it is more about the concept of giving thanks and less about the things.  I love Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is also a very American holiday.  Other cultures have had harvest festivals, etc. but Thanksgiving is uniquely American.  Its traditional beginning goes back to 1621 when the Plymouth colonists celebrated with Native Americans the bountiful food blessings that had been granted to them as a direct result of the help that the Native Americans had given the colonists.  In fact, they had a three day feast.  Then Abraham Lincoln established a national Thanksgiving Day in 1863.

At the risk of being too personal, let me list some of the things for which I am most thankful. 

I am thankful for:

• Being able to practice my faith exuberantly without fear in the most wonderful country on earth.
• The love of my family.  The exquisite combination of support and confidence of my wife, the honor and respect of my sons and my daughters by marriage, the guidance of my parents and the joy of my grandchildren.
• The ability to prosper or fail in business, but most of all the freedom and opportunity to give it a try.
• The joy of great completed projects.
• Income to support my family.
• Great business partners on which I can depend.
• Dedicated employees that make my job exciting.
• Caring and skilled medical professionals that have enabled me to live with cancer since 2002.
• The way my dog, Duke, greets me as if I am the most important person on the planet.  He is very smart by the way.
• The color of a clear autumn morning, the bracing coolness of a winter morning, the sweet smell of a spring morning and the warm blanket of a summer morning in Georgia.  I love mornings.
• Baseball.  This game is amazing on so many levels.  You can never learn everything about the game and that fact adds an elusive brilliance to the game.
• A car that always starts.
• Friends.
• Exciting travel.
• The ability to communicate with so many valued associates through this Blog each week.

I wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving.  Take a few moments to think of the things for which you should be thankful.

Tool of the Week – http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-quickly-fix-a-phone-or-mp3-with-water-damage/ – Here is a tool that I hope you never need but if you do it can be very helpful.  It tells how you can fix a cell phone that has been damaged by water.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,

Ted S. Miller

Where is the Cheese?

Written by Scott Stafford, guest blogger

Recently I drove the length of Peachtree Street in Atlanta and for a man who makes a living in commercial construction, it was a discouraging sight.  Peachtree Street, for those unfamiliar with the area, is home to 50 percent of all jobs in the City of Atlanta, 36 percent of the city’s retail space, 24 percent of the office space, and more than $10 billion of appraised value for taxable properties (according to the Peachtree Corridor Task Force).  In other words, Peachtree is arguably the economic spine of Georgia.  In the pre-recession heyday of a few years ago, there were seemingly dozens of tower cranes to be seen along Peachtree Street, but today there are just six.   Five of those sit idle at the long dormant Streets of Buckhead development and one is scheduled to come down from one of our current projects (1075 Peachtree) very soon.

Atlanta, like many other cities in America, is currently overbuilt.  Recent reports indicate that the metro Atlanta office market has 24 million square feet of vacant office space, hotel occupancy is expected to average 54% this year, and there is currently a four year inventory of unsold condominiums in the in-town area.  It will surely take years to absorb all of the excess space here.  In the meantime, many men and women in Atlanta who earn a living in construction are hurting.  Some 28,000 Atlanta construction jobs have been lost since September 2008, according to The Associated General Contractors of America.

So where do we go from here as a subcontractor that has had a good measure of success chasing Atlanta’s office, hotel, and condo building boom?  Well, as one of my colleagues referenced the other day, “we have to find the cheese.”  His quote is from a best selling business book many of us have read by Spencer Johnson, M.D.  In Who Moved My Cheese?, Johnson tells the parable of four characters who live in a “Maze” and look for “Cheese” to make them happy.  The four characters, two “Littlepeople” and two mice, face unexpected change and deal with it in very different ways.  Ultimately, one of them deals with it successfully and shares his experience with the others. 

Cheese can be a metaphor for many things we seek in life and in this case it’s new construction projects.  Despite the seemingly endless economic doom and gloom that pervades our 24/7 news cycle, we have been blessed with a good backlog of work as we enter the home stretch of 2009 and are feeling cautiously optimistic.  Bidding has been more difficult than ever, but by expanding our product offering with items such as Trespa® wall panels, re-entering geographic markets we had previously abandoned, creating an online wall cladding products store with www.rapidmaterials.com, and pursuing educational and healthcare projects above all else, we are doing relatively well.  We have also used this opportunity to “career counsel” some folks who were not thriving in our company and seek recently available talent from elsewhere.  When the economy does eventually turn around, we want to be poised to pounce on opportunities with the strongest team we can assemble.

Our company certainly does not have all the answers and like everyone, we lose more projects than we win, but we have elected to do our best not to participate in the recession.  The future is potentially very frightening though.  Some forecasts show a projected 15% decline in commercial construction for 2010.  That’s a sobering figure, but there is cheese out there for those who look hard enough for it.  I hope that my hometown of Atlanta someday experiences another building boom and that some of the proposed developments eventually come to fruition, but for now, our cheese is elsewhere and we intend to find it.

10 Reasons American Businessmen Should Travel Internationally

As I write the Blog this week, I am located about a hundred miles off the coast of western Africa cruising towards Las Palmas, Canary Islands.  Jo and I are making a transatlantic cruise from Rome back to New York.  I have had (and made) the opportunity to travel a reasonable amount, traveling to all continents except Antarctica (yes, it is on my “bucket list”). 

I truly feel travel is an essential element of remaining relevant in the new world market. 

Outlined below are my 10 Reasons American Businessmen Should Travel Internationally:

10 – See How Much Work You Can Do in the Week Before You Leave.

Have you ever noticed that during the week that you are preparing to take an extended trip you are able to get an amazing amount of work completed?  The amount is impressive, but the hidden gem is not the amount, it is the what.  I submit to you that the type of work that you choose to do immediately before a big trip is “important” work.  We can all stay busy, but too much of our time is spent on busy work and not important work.  Use the unintentional qualifier of the “push to the finish” of preparing for your international trip to sort out what is busy and what is important.

9 – Take a Time Out.

Go away.  Take some time off from your routine.  Do something different.  The new surroundings will force you to do things differently.  Embrace the changes.  When we are at home doing a million things, both important and menial, seeing things can be like looking through a frosty windshield.  When you experience new surroundings it is like taking a scraper to the frost on a windshield.  You can see things more clearly.

8 – Experience New Approaches.

If E-Mail had been invented before the telephone, think about how extraordinary the telephone would be.  You not only can communicate ideas, but you can actually hear the other person’s voice and be able to detect nuances of joy, anger, irritation, and sarcasm as though you were right in front of them.  There are many different approaches for doing things around the world and some of them are better than the way you are currently doing them.  After an experience abroad, you may return home with a completely new paradigm that will allow you to implement something into your business you would not otherwise have uncovered.

For example, the cruise lines have created a virtual economy at sea by staffing with people from developing countries.  They receive wages that are far higher than they could receive in the home countries, but the wages are far less than those paid in developed countries.  This allows working people from America and from other developed countries to have luxurious vacations at affordable prices.  This is a true win/win; better wages for the staff than they could get at home and affordable vacations for working people.

Is there an alternate approach, similar to this, you can adapt for your business?

7 – Learn from History.

While in Rome, one of our excellent tour guides told us about what a Roman citizen’s day was like.  Their day was centered on leisure and gluttony of food, wine, and debauchery on many levels.  It reached a point where there were not many citizens who were “producers” and eventually the mighty Roman Empire fell into disarray and was overrun by what they had perceived to be an inferior and less sophisticated group of people. 

While we all were taught these facts about ancient Rome in high school and college, the weight of the decline and the potential parallels to our own society is much more dramatic while hearing the story in the Roman Coliseum.  Truly those that do not learn from history are condemned to repeat the same mistakes.

6 – Talk with New People.

Most of us have about three or four close friends, associates or acquaintances with which we discuss topics on a continuing basis.  Have you ever considered how insular this can become and how much this situation leads to “group think”? 

When you are traveling internationally you have the opportunity to talk with people who are very much outside your normal “group”.  This can help you to see things within your personal life, business and political view with a new and refreshed perspective. 

I continually promote to the managers in our company to get out of the office and visit with other people by reminding them that the odds of all new and great ideas coming from 7948 Second Flag Drive, Austell, GA is very low.  When you travel internationally, you increase your chances of a refreshing new perspective exponentially.

5 – Appreciate the Joy of Work.

It seems counterintuitive to expect to attain an increased appreciation of work while you are on vacation, but I have experienced this while traveling.  When you travel internationally you can see people who really seem to enjoy their work. 
It may be because they are immigrants making more money than they could ever dream of in their homeland doing domestic labor, or it may be because their trade has been passed down from generation to generation.  Watching people perform high level metalwork or masonry in the same manner their father and grandfather did is awe inspiring.  Whatever the reason for their enjoyment, it seems you have more time to observe people doing work when you are traveling.  The joy that some people bring to their jobs is invigorating and could lead to a way to help replenish this in your company.

4 – To Learn What is Old and Tired.

You will see approaches when traveling internationally that may be relatively new “at home”, but have been utilized for some time in the country that you are visiting.   However, they just do not seem to work well.  The newness of the approach at home “masks” the futility of the approach, while the “business as usual” of the approach highlights the futility in the foreign country.

3 – To Learn What is Up and Coming.

Conversely, you may be fortunate to see an approach at its infancy that is not only new to you, but is actually innovative and refreshing.  I have an associate in Mexico that has centered his business on the concept of finding new products and services at international trade shows before they are available in Mexico, and then being the first company to offer the item at home.  You may find the next “new thing” and find a way to exploit this for your company’s advantage.

2 – To Learn What is Timeless.

When you travel to cities that have been in existence for millenniums, you can experience things that work well.  These cities are timeless because they work.  For example, well designed, tree lined streets provide the backdrop for selling upscale fashions and other consumer products in urban environments because they produce a pleasant experience for a pedestrian.

Be on the lookout for similar “timeless” solutions that you can adapt for your business.

1 – To Appreciate What You Have.

As you can tell from the earlier potions of this Blog, I am a fan of visiting other parts of the world.  The experiences you gain from travel make you a better person and businessman.  But the number one benefit is that it will make you extremely grateful for winning the birthplace lottery of being born in America or your good fortune of becoming a naturalized American Citizen.  Our country certainly has its faults and challenges, but there are very few people in the world that would not like to have a chance at being an American businessman.

First of all, our rule of law and justice system is not available in many parts of the world.  Tyrants, both politically and otherwise, can operate with impunity in many parts of the world and no one’s assets are secure as a result.  Also, the American market is the most valuable in the world.  Every business person in the world would like to have a shot at the American marketplace.  The combined wealth of our prosperous middle class dwarfs every other marketplace in the world.

We are also free to voice our irritation at how any of our institutions are being operated.  That is not the case in many parts of the world.  Our creature comforts are superior to most parts of the world.  Most of the world can only dream about the relative ease with which an American pet lives daily.

We are a blessed people.  But remember the old saying; to those to which much is given, much is expected.

So that is it for this week.  Add to the discussion with your comments.

Tool of the week:  Please give me a pass on this for the week since I am traveling across the Atlantic.  I promise a good one for next week.

Thanks,
Ted S. Miller

The Suit Doesn’t Make the Man and the Machine Doesn’t Make the Company

Recently I was visiting with an associate who had bought MCM Panels from us in the past.  His company is a mid-size installing subcontractor that offers metal walls and roofs in a vibrant market.  We had done several projects together where Miller Clapperton designed and fabricated the panels and he sold the panels installed in a subcontract relationship with General Contractors.  The projects had been profitable for both of us and they progressed with few problems.

As the relationship developed, my friend, and he has become a friend as well as a customer, decided that he wanted to expand his involvement into the MCM panel market. He investigated and purchased a computer controlled, 3-axis, machining center for the fabrication of the MCM panels.

This practice has become commonplace because the purchase price of these machines has fallen dramatically over the last two decades.  To my knowledge, Miller Clapperton was the first company to use this type of manufacturing.  We adapted a very robust machine that had been developed for the wood working industry so that it could machine MCM panels.  At that time, the machine cost more than $250,000.  This was back in the early 1990’s.

Since that time, lighter duty machines have been developed for less than $100,000 that perform similar functions.  Due to this lower required investment, many companies have entered the field of MCM fabrication.  However, as my friend has learned, the machine is the easiest part of the total investment required to become a full service MCM fabricator.

Let us look at some of the other things required:

Estimating and Sales

Because of the relatively high cost of the raw MCM sheet, it is necessary to perform a quantity survey for every individual panel in order to accurately determine the cost of a MCM panel project.  Unlike metal siding and roofing where “close enough” is good enough, for MCM panel projects you really need to know how many panels you can obtain from a sheet of material because the cost of “drop” is an important factor in determining the cost of a project.  Therefore, a great deal more time and hence money is required to perform an accurate takeoff, estimate and proposal for MCM panel projects.

Design

MCM panels have become the “go to” product for challenging intersections of building materials on projects.  Therefore, the skill level required for producing approval drawings, part drawings, and the subsequent instructions for the machining center is much higher than for many other types of building materials.  MCM panels do not have “trim” to hide tough intersections…they are the trim and designers expect that these panels will be nearly perfect without exposed fasteners.  “Nearly perfect” requires much more care and more skilled people to accomplish this goal.

Fabrication Staff and Facility

What my friend discovered is that unless you sell a lot of projects, there will be many times when your building and staff are not profitably being utilized.  There are sometimes weeks at a time when the fabrication area of the building and the fabrication staff are not busy.  What you find out is that it takes a great deal of the management’s time and effort to make up “busy work” for these people, not to mention the cost of the people in wages and benefits.
Bottom line:

Unless you plan to do a whole lot of these types of panels, your investment will be underutilized and you may be better off just buying the panels from a “full time” MCM fabricator.  Remember, this idea did not come from me.  It came from someone who has done it both ways and to quote him directly, “I would not do it all over again.”  In fact, he is considering selling his machine to us. Enough said.

Tool of the Week – http://www.fontcapture.com/ -   Font Capture allows you to develop a computer font in your own hand writing.  This might add a “personal touch” to some of your communications.  Check it out.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,
Ted S. Miller

Finally – the Fog and Myst(ery) surrounding ‘Rainscreen’ has almost lifted…

… well, at least there are now valid and objective means to define the Rainscreen types and their respective performance levels.

Written by J. David Clapperton, Partner – Miller Clapperton

Most of the national and regional MCM fabricators and installers have been responding to the growing interest in the “Rainscreen” design concept. In fact, it should be termed and understood for what it is … The Rainscreen Principle. Knowing the proper classification and name of the principle does not however automatically bestow practical understanding. It is because of this ‘misunderstanding’ that the industry ‘fog’ has existed for some time now.

Although the ‘concept’ has been in use in one form or another in the building industry for centuries now (likely dating back to the 1600’s or earlier in Norway with the shingle-lap siding for housing and agricultural structures known as the ‘open-jointed barn technique’), its formalization and value-recognition took root initially in Europe in the early 1900’s, then expanded into Great Britain and Canada where pressure-equalization studies took on a new interest.

It seems, though, that a ‘fuzzy line’ still existed between what had evolved as two distinctly different performance criteria for rainscreen cladding systems – be they wood, metal or masonry. Despite the efforts of many highly recognized research authors and organizations such as Birkeland (Norway), G.K. Garden (Canada) and the NRC-CNRC Institute for Research in Construction (Canada), the principle distinctions within the ‘Rainscreen Principle’ cladding family remained misunderstood by the domestic design and building industry as a whole. To be specific, not many in the industry truly understood what differentiated a ‘Drained and Back-Ventilated (D/BV)’ rainscreen from a ‘Pressure Equalized (PERS)’ rainscreen and what performance differences should be expected. Finally, in 1988 J.M. Anderson and J.R. Gill, CIRCA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association), London, England published what has become the industry definitive treatise on rainscreen entitled Rainscreen Cladding a Guide to Design Principles and Practice.

This ‘fuzzy line’ misunderstanding has led to numerous specifications blending the two design principles and suppliers of systems either knowingly or unknowingly laying claim to performance levels of one type, when in fact their system was truly the other. All the while, the critical weather resistant surface of the building envelope received little attention in specification or detail … the air/water barrier (or weather resistant membrane or coating) seemed a secondary thought or concern. According to the abaa (Air Barrier Association of America … www.airbarrier.org) this critical weather-proofing element should receive as much attention as the aesthetic building envelope system, if not more!

In an attempt to try to clear up this lack of understanding before injury to the industry took hold, the Metal Construction Association (MCA), Chicago, IL appointed a Rainscreen Task Force in January 2005 as a research and educational group attached to its Wall Panel Council. The result of this effort to educate the industry culminated in February 2007 with this issue of the Task Force’s white paper entitled Understanding ‘The Rainscreen Principle’, dated December 14, 2006. This paper presents background, conventional wall design summaries, and fundamental performance criteria, but most importantly, delves into the fundamental differences between ‘Drained/Back-Ventilated (D/BV)’ and ‘Pressure-Equalized/Compartmented (PER)’ rainscreen systems. These two approaches to controlling weather penetration of the building envelope exist equally underneath The Rainscreen Principle banner; however they are distinct and different in their performance and design principles. Accordingly, they should not be blended, nor should they be confused as to their respective levels of expected performance. Just because a cladding system is a ‘Rainscreen’ does not automatically mean it is pressure-equalized! I would urge all readers of this blog to go to the Metal Construction Association’s website at www.metalconstruction.org and download this white paper. It should be the beginning of a clearer understanding and eradication of the ‘fuzzy line.’

In order to further publicize the rainscreen issues and concerns, MCA’s Rainscreen Task Force presented a seminar at the 2007 METALCON International (www.metalcon.com) show in Las Vegas on October 3rd entitled Effective Design & Installation of Rainscreen Cladding. This seminar presented the history of ‘The Rainscreen Principle’, differences between the ‘D/BV’ and ‘PERS’ rainscreen types, a review of general design types, technical design and performance elements which distinguish the two types, and finally the ongoing AAMA testing programs and protocols being developed for both types.

It was this last subject matter (the testing programs by AAMA) that truly held-out a glimmer of real hope for the industry. Up until this point in time, while numerous technical documents and papers had been issued describing scientific analysis and laboratory testing results supporting the theories for both ‘D/BV’ and “PERS’ (the latter receiving much more attention as the fine line of pressure equalization is not easily achieved), no industry-wide definitive test protocol had been developed or adopted by any recognized industry organization. Not until now anyway!

GOOD NEWS!!

The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) has stepped up to provide the sorely needed testing protocols that will, in large part, take the guesswork out of whether or not various systems truly perform under the banners of ‘Pressure Equalized’ or ‘Drained/Back-Ventilated’ rainscreens. AAMA has now concluded two separate Task Group Studies resulting in specific and distinctive testing and classification methods for both ‘Pressure Equalized’ and ‘Drained and Back-Ventilated’ rainscreen cladding systems.

Pressure Equalized Rainscreen (PERS) – After a little over two years of meetings and data collection as a result of various testing methods development, the AAMA Pressure Equalized Rainscreen Task Group submitted for and gained approval from AAMA’s Methods of Test Task Group in December 2005 AAMA 508-05 Voluntary Test Method and Specification for Pressure Equalized Rain Screen Wall Cladding Systems. Subsequently, this test procedure was updated, revised and re-issued as AAMA 508-07 Voluntary Test Method and Specification for Pressure Equalized Rain Screen Wall Cladding Systems in May 2007. This testing procedure and protocol is available for a nominal fee at AAMA’s website www.aamanet.org ; click on Publications Store.

Drained and Back-Ventilated Rainscreen (D/BV) – Beginning toward the end of 2007, the Drained and Back Ventilated Rain Screen Wall Cladding Systems Study Group (D&BV Study Group) began work under the auspices of AAMA and hosted by Architectural Testing, Inc., York, PA. On July 31, 2009 the Study Group concluded its testing and technical meetings by addressing all balloted comments and concerns. The final proposed draft of Voluntary Test and Classification Method for Drained and Back Ventilated Rain Screen Wall Cladding Systems was transmitted to the Chairman of the AAMA Methods of Test Task Group on August 17, 2009 for formal approval, processing and publication. The proposed testing and classification method of test was approved during the AAMA National Fall Conference in September 2009 and subsequently was assigned formal test method number AAMA 509-09, and released for publication in October 2009. This formal document is now available publically through AAMA’s website ‘Publications Store’.

Let’s all work to assure that these definitive testing methods become the standard for evaluating performance of proposed systems so that conjecture, supposition and subjective claims become a means of the past and our road to clearly understood and expected performance criteria creates a solid foundation for the entire industry.

Your comments are welcome!

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The Surprise Birthday Party

I did not want to write this Blog because it is very personal for me.  However, one of my younger associates, Scott Stafford, somewhat insisted that it could be helpful to many people and I am learning to listen to my younger associates more and more.  This is partly because I feel they are smart and more in tune with current communication trends and partly because they are making us money and that deserves respect.

So, here it is.

I turned 60 last week.  My dear wife, Jo, threw a very nice party for me and we had over a hundred friends and family members at the party.  Thanks, Jo.

Several of the invitees had asked Jo if it was a “surprise party” and Jo said, “yes, because we did not expect Ted to be here.”  You see, in 2002 I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer.  There is no Stage 5.  I guess you could say that Stage 5 is death.  In general, approximately 8-15% of people with Stage 4 Colon Cancer are still alive five years after their diagnosis.  So, you can see the reason for the “surprise”. 

I am certainly a blessed man, both in terms of my current longevity and because of the support of my family, friends and medical professionals over the last seven years.  Also, when you are confronted with the prospect of death, you will evaluate how you are spending your life. 

I did that seven years ago and what I found through my self analysis was that what I was doing then (at the time of the original diagnosis) for work, play and spiritually was exactly what I wanted to do if I only had a few months to go.  Therefore, I did not need to change any of my personal activities except for the time I invested in treatments.  That made me feel good about my life choices in spite of the situation that I was facing.

That is enough prologue.  Now we get to the part of the story that Scott insisted I share.  I could possibly have avoided most, if not all, of the ravages of seven years (and counting) of treatments for colon cancer if I had been smarter.  By smarter I mean this:  most health professionals suggest everyone get a colonoscopy at age 50, unless you have a family history of colorectal disease.  I had my first colonoscopy at 52 after some other symptoms of problems occurred.

If my first colonoscopy had been performed at age 50, probably the most I could have expected were some polyps that could have been removed during the procedure. 

DO NOT BE HARD HEADED, LAZY OR SQUEAMISH ABOUT A COLONOSCOPY.  GET IT DONE!  NO EXCUSES!

The same goes for prostate screening, breast cancer screening, etc.  There are many things that we cannot control about our health, but these are some things that we can.  Let us raise a toast (and an appointment card) for good health and good health practices.

So, I hope you do not think this Blog was too personal but I think Scott was correct.  Confession is good for the soul but possibly bad for the reputation.  I will take the chance on exposing my poor judgment if it will help others.

So, back to the “surprise party”…. SURPRISE!  I am still here and glad to be here.

Tool of the Week – http://www.cancer.gov/ – The National Cancer Institute has a very comprehensive website that can give you current information on cancer and screening recommendations.  Use it.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,
Ted S. Miller

Thirty Years Later and a New Day, Every Day

On October 15, 1979, Dave Clapperton and I stared at each other across my kitchen table and, if not audibly at least figuratively shrugged and said, “Okay, what do we do now?”  We had left employment for the wild world of being in business for ourselves. 

Thanks to two good wives who had steady employment and a small but immeasurably thoughtful loan from two friends we were able to start our business.  We were able to pay back the friends within a year or so, we will never be able to pay back our wives for their confidence in us and their support.

We began our business as a traditional manufacturer’s representative firm but over time we gravitated to projects that required design and project management skills.  We became the “go to guys” in Architectural Metalwork for metals like; stainless steel, brass, bronze and porcelain enamel in our market area.  Several years later, Doug Bruton, joined us to add design talent and added so much to the firm that he became a full Partner in time.

Later, we started to fabricate Metal Composite Material panels and have since become one of the leaders in this field.

This Thursday, October 15, we will celebrate with employees, family and friends our 30th Anniversary.  It is an appropriate time to contemplate the growth of Miller Clapperton and our industry.

Thirty years ago:

• We had a manual typewriter and used carbon copy sets for typing proposals
• U. S. Mail was the normal way to send correspondence and sending anything by Federal Express was a power statement
• To make a takeoff you would have to “wait your turn” at the Builders Exchange for the drawings
• And custom construction products took 16 to 18 Weeks for Delivery

Today:

• We have Computers, E-Mail, cell phones, internet, websites, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
• Drawings are instantly uploaded via FTP sites and printed out in your own office with large document printers
• And custom construction products take 16 to 18 Weeks for Delivery

So, many things have changed and many things have not in these thirty years.

Some of the things that have changed at Miller Clapperton are:

• The number of employees has grown from 2 to more than 60
• The volume has grown from $0 to more than $17 Million per Year
• We have produced thousands of Projects and Millions of Square Feet of Product
• We have advanced from selling other companies’ products to manufacturing our own products
• We have worked within a few miles from our facility to Beijing, China and many places in between
• Miller Clapperton has become an Employee Stock Ownership Program company

When I look back personally at the last thirty years what pleases me most is the opportunity that this company has provided to scores of employees to provide a good living for their families (including mine).  Also, as corny as it may sound I still get a great sense of satisfaction when I go visit a Project and see the part that our company had in the Project.  I like building things.

Also, our work matters.  Every day in the construction business is a challenge.  You are constantly balancing design considerations, scheduling demands, labor constraints, workmanship, training, financial planning, human resources and more things than I can recall. 

The central thing to remember is this; in Project Construction you are making something out of nothing that has never been done before and will never be done again. 

Think of it this way, what if Michelangelo had to create the statue of David on the basis of a 100 page subcontract with onerous contract terms, outside in inclement weather, under the pressure of an unrealistic schedule and it had to house thousands of people and meet access requirements for mobility challenged occupants? 

These are the challenges that face the construction industry every day.  There are no dull days in the construction industry and I find this level of challenge invigorating.  I have been invigorated every day at Miller Clapperton now for thirty years.

I hope that everyone has an opportunity to experience the joy of doing work that they enjoy like I have.  I hope that you get to do work that matters.

Now, as the Partners are nearer their final days than their first days at Miller Clapperton, I must admit that I am envious.  I am envious because I see so many opportunities in front of them and the rest of the construction industry that were merely dreams to us 30 years ago.

We now have an online offering in Rapid Materials (www.rapidmaterials.com).  This new building materials concept can finally provide a method to cut the time for custom construction products from 16 to 18 weeks to just 2 to 3 weeks and possibly even shorter.

The possibilities now presenting themselves with new technology are amazing.  Terrestrial Scanning can become the “silver bullet” for obtaining field dimensions, Building Information Management systems can help to coordinate dimensional information for all of the trades.  Social media and communication advances can “get the story out” to customers, vendors, owners, contractors and other interested parties. 

In total these advances and others can help us to overcome all of the challenges that Michelangelo did not have to face so that we can approach his level of artistry and genius demonstrated in his work.

So, thirty years later, every day is a new and exciting challenge every day.  I hope that you enjoy the ride as much as I have.

If you are a former employee, current or former customer, valued vendor or friend and are traveling through the Atlanta area next Thursday, October 15 around 5:00 PM give me a call (770-941-8050) and I will give you directions to our 30th Anniversary celebration and you can enjoy a Varsity hot dog and onion rings with us.

Tool of the Week – http://sketchup.google.com/.  You can use Google SketchUp to create, modify and share 3D models.  While this may not be as full service as some other CAD software, I would never bet against Google.  Check it out.

That is it for this week.  Post your comments on the Blog and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,

Ted S. Miller