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CDI

Commercial Dry wall, Inc.

Craftsman

Vol. 4 No. 3

January 1983

A glimpse of 1983

M®ec3 for ©©mmitmeinrfi, dtedfeaffoim, foamw®rk CDI previewed 1983 for its top office and field personnel January 13 at the monthly supervisors’ breakfast. The meeting, conducted for some 70 superintendents, supervisor's and foremen, presented a glimpse of the company’s present sales backlog, plus outlined CDI’s goals for 1983. According to general manager Alan Jezek, CDI’s backlog remains strong through the first half of this year. “We presently have core work going on several major projects. Unfortunately many of these are expected to wind up sometime in the third quarter without new core jobs to replace them. I “What we will be seeing is the effects of the current recession. Projects which would normally be starting later this year have never really gotten off the drawing boards because of the economy,” contends Alan. While major core work will be down, tenant work is slated to be strong late in 1983. “The tenant backlog looks very encouraging, but we really don’t know how much we can depend on it coming through," says Alan. “With the economy the way it is there’s simply no guarantee that tenant space will be built out as it is projected.” Following the sales forecast, Director of Construction Hoagy Cannon presented CDI’s production goals for 1983. “These goals,” said Hoagy, “are the results of a concentrated effort by management and top supervisory personnel to focus on the key issues facing the production department. These key ^rassues include workers’ compensation (^fccosts, training, job costs, and ^bonuses and incentives.” According to Hoagy, the production department will strive to reduce the costs of workers’

Mike Holland (left) and Alan Jezek show CDI supervisors and foremen the company's current backlog of work as part of the "state of the company" message presented at the January supervisors' breakfast.

compensation through the effective administration of Project S.A.F.E. “We have an excellent on-going safety program, but we need to continue to maintain safety awareness,” he said. “We will do this through evaluations of our incentive program, inprovement in safety meetings and implementation of a safety council. The second goal, said Hoagy, is to broaden the scope of our training to include both supervisory and nonsupervisory personnel. "The more informed our craftsmen are, the better able they will be to perform their jobs.” On improving job costs, the production department will concentrate on this on a job by job basis. This will include the use of craftsman surveys, foreman delay surveys, strict enforcement of starting and stopping times, emphasis on pre-job planning and utilization of a project management system. In regard to bonuses and

incentives, Hoagy stressed the need for closer ties between job performance and rewards. "Our present bonus system will be examined as well as all non monetary rewards. We want to insure that rewards are based on job performance rather than subjective criteria," said Hoagy. In wrapping up the program, Executive Vice President Bruce Marek stressed the need for commitment, dedication and teamwork." We have been challenged by 1983. This new year will demand more from all of us, said Bruce. “The economy is down. We are taking work at lower costs because there are fewer projects and more competition. CDI is commited to getting the jobs, to keep you working, but we need your commitment to do it as efficiently as you know how.”

From the top XDI Mdssdoo” = ©otr maim goad r>

By Sian Marek 1983 is here. The business scene has been undergoing tremendous changes. Everyone of us is in a race today to catch up with or stay ahead of developments that threaten to displace or alter established policies within our industry. The year 1990 will be as different from 1980 as 1980 was from 1950. We are crowding into one decade the changes that once took 30 years to consummate. We, as a progressive company, must plan far into the future. When we sell a large job today, we can be talking about a 1985 drywall start. We are a large company and we have to think and act the part. I have mentioned several times the management training seminar several of us attended last year. One thing I have waited until now, the new year, to share with you, is the formulation of our company mission. Let’s call it our main goal. I quote ‘‘CDI Mission: CDI is committed to a level of success and profitability in the interior contracting fields that will enable it to return profits, grow and adapt competitively in the marketplace and contribute to the prosperity and well-being of its

employees. The company intends to do this by providing high quality products and craftsmanship to its customers.” That is a brief synopsis of what its all about. In addition, each department — sales, production, accounting, have developed similar statements supporting the main mission. We developed these missions to keep us focused on our goals as a company. Too often, companies get caught up in the hectic pace of doing business, losing sight of what they're all about. So, we are going into 1983 well prepared. Probably more so than we’ve ever been. We’ve seen a lot of change and we will see a lot more. Change is a recurring and necessary part of growth and we have always met it head on. I would like to present our five point plan for 1983. With the depression zeroing in on the commerical sector of the Houston market, we're facing a decreased market with the same number of contractors. We must increase our market share to survive and grow. The plan is as follows: 1. We will diversify into new

markets, such as acoustical ceilings, fireproofing, computer floors and anything else we feel we can be competitive at. 2. We will obtain more sales from the paint division, millwork, Vaughan and Texas Frame. 3. We expect increased sales and profitability from Austin and San Antonio. Hopefully, the Dallas market will continue to be strong and we will enjoy another fine year in that city. 4. With the additon of an IBM System 38 computer system, we will monitor our costs better than we ever have. 5. Individually, we will be more productive in our jobs, take more pride in our work, give feedback, both positive and negative, to those we work with. We will manage our time better to get the most out of every day. The market in Houston will come back. Perhaps not at the same rate as we experienced in the '70's, but to some extent, and we at CDI will be there. A little leaner and a little meaner. More efficient and better than ever. My sincerest wishes for a great 1983. I look forward to working with each of you.

Congratulations . . . Mr. and Mrs. Robert Orman are the proud new parents of a baby boy born December 18, 1982. Christopher Robert, who weighed in at 7 lbs. 71/2 oz., joins two sisters, Melissa, 6, and Michelle, 4.

CDI

Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams Asst. Editor: Maureen MacAuley

10 years service Garry Farmer (left) and James Williams, Sr. were recently honored with personal engraved dress watches tor 10 years service with Commercial Drywall. Garry is a finisher currently working at the Allied Bank building while James is a laborer at Parklane. Congratulations to you both!

The CDI Craftsman is published monthly by Commercial Drywall, Inc. for its employees and their families. Employees should send their news contributions to Larry Williams, Commercial Drywall, Inc., P.O. Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.

Mike, Frank share contract sales Recent promotions in CDI’s : contract sales department have f Frank Sciullo and Mike Holland sharing the responsibility of managing the department. ^native of Pittsburg, Frank moved to the Houston area about five years ago. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from Ohio Northern University. Frank came to GDI in January 1982 bringing with him some 12 years experience in the drywall business. This position will provide greater challenge for me,” says Frank about the promotion. “I look forward to starting into new things such as computer floors and acoustical ceilings." Co-managing the department, he feels will allow both he and Mike to work more closely on jobs already underway and on bidding new projects and will provide for more of a team approach within the estimating group. Frank and his wife, Mary Ann, are the parents of two sons, Sammy, 4, and Chip, 2. They make their home in Kingwood. Mike, a native Houstonian, has worked his way through the ranks of CDI from pumping gasoline after school to contract sales estimator, a position he undertook in March 1978. Now as co-manager of the 1982 CDI ACCIDENT CHART

Frank Sciullo (left) and Mike Holland have recently taken over new duties within the contract sales department. As co-managers, they will work closely with the estimating staff.

contract sales department, he feels his job will be as more of a coordinator than estimator, assisting and working with others in the department. I am looking forward to the challenge of my new position,” says Mike. "I prefer the competitive market we are in now as it is an uphill battle and you feel a great deal of satisfaction when you do succeed.” Both Mike and Frank feel that communication is the key to the ■safety program in effect

A special thanks . . . 16

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smooth operation of any project and work closely with the general contractor on any jobs CDI is involved in. The main role of the estimator is to firstly, represent the company and secondly, to set the tone of the project and to oversee its smooth running. Mike attended the University of Houston where he studied architecture for two years. He is an avid sportsman enjoying football, basketball and fishing.

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We wish to extend a special thank you to our friends at CDI for their prayers, flowers and concern during the last few weeks of 1982. Times like this make us realize how very fortunate we are to have good health. We are now the proud parents of a healthy son, Aaron, born a little prematurely on December 18, 1982. Aaron weighed in at just four pounds and is doing fine. Michael and Kathy O’Brien A true friend will go right on liking you no matter how successful either of you become.

JULY JAN

FEB

rate was '— n for the quarter was 7.9.

AUG

SEPT

OCT

NOV

DEC

When a man says he has a clear conscience, it often means he has a bad memory.

I I

Barney Oden, Jr.

(I to r) Wayne Booth, Charlie Wakefield, Ronald Gordon

CDI's 1982 field Christmas party was enjoyed by all. The party, held on December 23 at the SPJST Lodge, was attended by over 500 employees. Everyone was treated to a barbeque lunch and plenty of beer and entertainment included a slide presentation entitiled “Nobody Does It Better”. Annual employee awards were presented at the party for the categories of supervisor of the year, apprentice of the year and journeyman of the year in each craft, painting, finishing and carpenter. The nominations for each award were made by workers at the various jobsites and the final decision was made by the superintendents. The journeyman carpenter of the year was Carl Carson. Carl joined CDI in 1979. His son-in-law Dewayne Keeney and grandson Orphus Keeney also are CDI employees. He has been working at Westlake III. Other nominations for this award were Joe Havard, Casper Maile, Tom Sams and Dave Harris. Richard Lopez was named journeyman finisher for 1982. He has been with CDI for five and one-half years and is a native Houstonian. Richard and his wife Cindy have a two year old son, Kyle. He is currently working at the Allied Bank Building. Robert Snider was also nominated for this award. In the category of journeyman painter, Barney Oden, Jr. received

the honors. Also nominated were Gary Wilson, Tim Cruse, Charles Burgess and John McLain. Barney has been with CDI for two and onehalf years. He and his wife Connie have two daughters, Annette, 18, and Donna, 16. The Marshall Fields project has been keeping him busy most recently. Yard laborer, Albert Satcherwhite, earned the laborer of the year award for 1982. He has been employed by CDI for nine and one-half years most of which has been spent working in the yard. Brenda, his wife, and Albert have three daughters, Veronica, 15, Felicia, 12, and Kisha, 7 and they make their home in north Houston. Greg St. Cyr and Raymond Pickney were also nominated for this award. Charlie Wakefield was chosen as the carpenter apprentice for the year. The two year employee of CDI is a native Houstonian and graduated from Waltrip High School. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing and hunting. Also nominated were Ramon Recio, Orphus Keeney, Stuart Crowley and James Smith. The finishing apprentice award went to (Timothy) Wayne Booth with Rodney Orman also being nominated. A native of Memphis Tennessee, Wayne started at CDI about a year ago. He and his wife Linda are expecting their first child late this spring. Ronald Gordon was voted painter apprentice for the year. He has been with the company about two years 4

after moving here from Georgia. Ronald is currently working at the Marshall Fields project. Supervisor of the year, Jay Richards, received a weekend in Las Vegas as his award. The company awarded the journeymen of the year with a weekend at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston while the apprentices of . the year received a $50 gift | certificate from Oshman’s. Congratulations to all the winners for 1982.

Experience says that your car will seem to run much better if you ask about the price of a new one.

A little trivia . . . Have you ever wondered what the significance was of putting a cut evergreen tree on top of a building once the last piece of steel is erected? Or, where the ceremony began? When our ancestors built the first barn in Plymouth, a small tree was lashed to the peak as part of the completion ceremony and a prayer of thanksgiving was said. It is said that the tree is used for no other reason than for “the luck of the house”. / Builders today still put the symbolic tree on the top of a new building no matter how high it rises. For good luck, I suppose.

Richard Lopez

Albert Satcherwhite

Jay Richards

Outstanding supervisor for month, year

Ja]f Richards earns GDI recognition December’s supervisor of the month ended 1982 on a high note — he was chosen supervisor for the month and CDI’s supervisor of the year. “It’s really a great honor," said ^AJay Richards when chosen for the " awards. Jay has been heading the Transco II project for CDI since its start supervising up to some 160 craftsmen with the help of his key foremen. Dennis Warman and Terry Day are the core foremen, Wendell Ward and Mike Longtain are the tenant foremen, Alan Field is handling base and tenant work for the fifth floor down and Mike Hannah is the finishing foreman. Labor foreman, Horace Kelly, is “doing an excellent job.” “Jay’s personality and leadership abilities are a definite asset to CDI,” says superintendent Ted Hajdik. “He knows how and when to be stern to get a job done and is always on top of his work.” In addition, Ted feels that Jay always looks out for CDI’s interests and works very well with the general contractors, understanding their needs and letting them know what the company will need to get the job done. “He is always fair and honest,” Ted adds. wF Joining the company in April 1972, v Jay has used the same strategy on each job — he plans the job prior to start up, anticipating problems before

they occur. He worked at Greenway for seven and one-half years, four and one-half of those as supervisor. Also, he supervised the 75-story Texas Commerce Tower which peaked at 256 men. “Communication is the key to the smooth running of a job,” comments Jay. “By working closely with the men, I keep on top of things. I also get a lot of cooperation from Teresa Meshay, Chris Howard and John Klovenski in the office helping catch potential problems." Clarence Rife and Scott Lower handle a great deal of paperwork as the jobsite administrators at Transco II. “Jay’s reputation in the industry is excellent - with owners, builders, architects. Any of them who have worked with him knows he maintains

quality on schedule at reduced cost,” says director of construction Hoagy Cannon. “In the field, he builds commitment from his men. Jay possesses a leadership quality they can follow and maintains high morale on the job. I rely heavily on him for his good judgment in the field.” This issue’s top supervisor was also honored as the supervisor of the month in the first issue of the Craftsman published in November 1979. Jay enjoys bowling and bird hunting in his spare time. He, his wife, June, and children Erin, 5, and Jamie, eight months, live in Spring. Jay and his wife were awarded a weekend in Las Vegas as a gift from the company for being named supervisor of the year for 1982. Congratulations Jay!

Words of wisdom . . . Advertising He who has a thing to sell and goes and whispers in a well, is not so apt to get the dollars as he who climbs a tree and hollers. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. 5

Success If you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded. Faith in the future is taking out a four year loan on a car that is guaranteed for only one.

Project of the month

Th® Park in Houston Center os highlighted Teamwork and good people are two of the ingredients needed in the smooth running of any project. The Park in Houston Center has run very smoothly for supervisor John Thacker for those two reasons. “I’ve had good people to work with and we all work very well together. We have not had any real problems on the project," comments John. CDI began work at The Park in February 1982 with the scope of the job being the interior core, exterior structural studs, sheathing, drywall ceilings, mall signbends and planters. The company is also doing the lease work in the building. Assisting John on the project are George Dreves as general foreman, finishing foreman Billy Wright, labor foremen William Marshall and Robert Hargrove and foreman Doug Hopson. Steve Patterson is in charge of doors while Pete Cerda assists George. “Rick Penick is a real asset to the job as jobsite administrator,” says John. The Park is downtown Houston’s first retail shopping development in 25 years and is a project of Texas Eastern and Cadillac Fairview Urban Development, Inc. The architects are RTKL Associates of Dallas and Morris Aubry Architects of Houston. Currently there are about 80 men on the job for CDI. This project has an excellent safety record. “They have had no accidents in the last two quarters of 1982,” says safety manager Ron McKinley. “The project

The Park in Houston Center is highlighted this month, (I to r) Rick Penick, George Dreves and supervisor, John Thacker review blueprints at The Park.

has won the safety award for Division I (crew of 31 men or more) two times in a row.” CDI crews have been faced with a number of challenges at The Park. On the fourth floor, there were 20 weeks of welding work on the planters and there is a great deal of glass. “CDI supplied the fiberglass for the planters which we had not done before, there were many furrdowns and angles," adds Frank Sciullo, who is acting as project manager, “and there is a nine-story high

skylight to work around. Frank estimates CDI has about two or three months left in core work and then the tenant work will pick up. Another reason this project has run so smoothly for CDI is John’s excellent relationship with the general contractor, H. C. Beck and their superintendents are “the best." The Craftsman is pleased to highlight this project and acknowledge the fine work of every man on the job. Their work is certainly appreciated.

A new superintendent. . .

Mike O’Brien started the new year by moving inside to assume the position of a finishing superintendent. He has been with CDI since 1978 beginning as an apprentice on a tool crew then working his way to field supervisor. Mike, in his new position, will assume more responsibility. He will be in charge of more men and more jobs. “I’m really excited about my promotion. It’s the biggest challenge I've had since coming to CDI,” says Mike. 6

He will be spending a great deal of time in the field and plans to work closely with the foremen and men on the jobs. “Everyone, from the apprentice to the foreman, is equally important in running a successful job," adds Mike. “Communication with finishers and working closely with the carpenter foreman aids in my running of a project.” In his spare time, Mike enjoys water skiing and parasailing, Mike and his wife, Kathy, have a new baby boy named Aaron.

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The job site administrator

Plays a vital role ©m CD1 projects The function of the jobsite administrator is often overlooked but it is nonetheless a very important one in the smooth running of a project. Their duties differ from project to project depending on the number of men on the job and the difficulty of the project. They are responsible for taking care of the payroll records for everyone on the jobsite and handling the weekly percentage basis for the budget. They take care of the mail and work closely with the estimators on budget and print changes. They

handle the injury reports, daily absentee and termination records and organize the stocking schedule. And their day is usually not yet finished. "Keeping time is a minor portion of the job. You can do as much as you want to get involved in the project,” says Rick Penick, jobsite administrator at The Park in Houston Center. “We are on the project to keep accurate records. The accuracy of these records can be used to bid later jobs.” “Our function is to free the

The CDI jobsite administrators play an important role in the running of a project. Seen here are (I to r) Marty Campbell. Scott Lower. Clarence Rife, Charlie Boyd. Gary Stine and Rick Penick.

CDI Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3539 Oak Forest Drive RO. Box 10686 Ftouston, Texas 77018

supervisor so he can be with the % crews,” comments Bobby Eudy from the Parklane condominium project. "The jobsite administrator plays a big part in managing the project.” “We are relied on to do the things the supervisor and foremen would have to do normally. We handle all the paperwork - work orders, time sheets, budget reports,” adds Marty Campbell who is currently at Three Houston Center. They deal with day-to-day problems and the better they understand the workings of the project, the better they will be able to handle the problems. It is necessary for the jobsite administrator to have a good rapport with everyone on the jobsite and they deal to a large extent with the general contractor. The jobsite administrators who help make the jobs run more efficiently are Rick Penick at The Park, Bobby Eudy at Parklane, Marty Campbell at Three Houston Center, Charlie Boyd at Greenway Plaza and Transco I, Lee Jones and Ray Johnson at Four Leaf, Four Oaks, and Marathon Oil Tower, Ron McRobbie at First International, Texas Commerce Tower and Allen Center, Gary Stine at Allied Bank and Clarence Rife and Scott Lower at Transco II. One of life’s little ironies is the fact that when you finally master a tough job you make it look easy.

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