Commercial Drywall, Inc.
Commercial Craftsman
Volume I, No. 10
August 1980
Emphasis on goals, problems, communications
CPS supervisors ©@mpD@te training program Twenty-five CDI supervisory personnel completed the Management Development Program conducted at the University of Houston. The program, which was designed specifically for them, consisted of four three-hour sessions which met once each week in a learning and training environment. The course, an outgrowth of Operation 3P, was designed to improve supervisory skills in the areas of interpersonal relations. According to CDI director of construction, Hoagy Cannon, “The most critical challenge we face today is the better management of our individual jobs. It is not enough to be technically strong in our work, we must also be able to communicate more effectively with the people with whom we work,” says Hoagy. Because of this need for better communications, the training program was established around four main subjects—1) goal setting, 2) communication 3) problem solving, and 4) coaching. In dealing with each of these topics, emphasis was placed on determining what actions were necessary and then effectively communicating them. These major areas were chosen for several reasons, some of which came from the 3P survey which was conducted last spring. In addition, CDI management feels the strong need for more and better trained job supervisors to handle the ever increasing number of jobs currently underway and in the future. The individual sessions which made up the program were held, in part, as general classes with the entire group discussing communication’s problems relating to the supervisors' job. Then during
each session, individual groups were formed to actively work on specific areas of concern faced on the jobs. With the conclusion of this initial training program, it is hoped that those who attended will put some of the ideas presented from the sessions into use on their jobs. If this succeeds, employees should note
(Above) Dr. R.J. Bullock addresses CDI's supervisory group during their training program at the University of Houston. Areas such as goal setting, communications, problem solving, and coaching were discussed in general, then followed by smaller group meetings, (right), to work out specific solutions.
new ways being used in establishing regular goals on the job, and also an increase in both criticism and praise from the supervisor to the worker. In addition, the CDI supervisors should be better equipped to handle problem situations of a non-technical nature, and conduct more imformative job meetings.
From the top
RSewitew/prewoew
St ail l®@ks g@®d
by Dick Phillips Back in January of this year, I attempted to give a brief critique of 1979 and a hopeful forecast of 1980. It seems appropriate now to pause and see how we have done so far, and what might happen during the balance of the year. The January forecast was optimistic indicating that we had secured contracts on a number of major projects and that our backlog of business seemed good. Well, through the first half of the year we have achieved some very noteable pluses in the area of sales, production, and administration. Let’s first look at the jobs started so far in 1980. Due to space limitations we will only deal with a few, like: ° Texas Commerce Plaza 75-stories 8 First City National Bank Tower 49-stories ° Greenway Condo II — the twin 30-story of Condo I ° Oxford Condos 20-stories ° Shell Woodcreek — a sprawling 7 building complex west of the city. And before the year is over we will have our hands full manning and managing the twin 40-story Four Leaf Towers and the beautiful Four
Seasons Hotel downtown. Looking on down the list of accomplishments, I can point to the fact that Barry Barnard and his committee, after an exhaustive study and search, selected a hardware and software firm to furnish us our very own computer. This should be on board and operative by year end—a major step for our accounting and administrative staff. Major advancements have been made in our on-going 3P program. During the first six months of ’80 we completed an extremely successful employee survey wherein we obtained a real insight into the wants, needs and desires of our employees. We have just completed the pilot program for supervisory training that was done in conjunction with the University of Houston. And the measurements committee is working diligently to come up with a fair and meaningful way to measure our productivity company wide. A significant milestone was crossed when we opened our Dallas office in June. Mike Grogan and his group are doing a tremendous job in getting us involved in that market. Larry Hanvey and his group in our western division consisting of Austin and San Antonio have set personal and corporate records for sales and production.
Our paint group has achieved phenomenal success in the sales area with a half dozen major painting and wallcovering projects to be started before this year is over. Not the least of these would be the Four Leaf Towers, the Oxford Condo, the Shell Woodcreek Project, Post Oak Central, and the San Jacinto Mall. Our interior systems people headed up by Carlos Ramsey are now ready for a major move ahead on the solicitation of some real exciting remodel projects here in town, as well as the development of several major movable wall clients. Carlos and his group are responsible for the development of our CDI aluminum framing system which has already been used in the 55-story, First International Plaza and will be used in the 49-story, First City Tower. This door frame and top track assembly has been successfully de bugged and is now ready for full marketing exposure. A very important fact, that I am proud of is that we are employing approximately the same number of CDI people now that we employed during January of this year. Constant full employment speaks well of the entire CDI team. All in all, the first half of '80 has been a bell ringer for Commercial. The second half looks just as good. It depends a lot upon economic factors that we have no control over, but from where I set right now, if we can keep the pressure on our competition by finding new and better ways of doing our respective jobs, we all will do just fine.
Commercial Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams
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Members of the Texas Commerce Tower crew enjoy the evening at the Texas Tumbleweed where they were treated to a steak dinner for winning their fourth budget beaters contest. 2
The Commercial 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.
CD I-Austin
IBM,
©irner work keeping field busy
j CDI-Austin work is moving right ■along with IBM activity remaining strong on two projects while other major jobs include the Brackenridge Hospital and the First Federal Savings Building in downtown Austin IBM Building 045, which has been' under construction for more than a year, is nearing its September completion date, and stands at about 95 percent finished. Although only three-stories high, its half million square feet of space, is evidence that the project has definitely been a major undertaking. Johnny Kovar is heading up the work there with help from foremen Gene Doughtery and Jerry Wilhelm. Another IBM job is currently in progress only several hundred yards from Building 045. This facility, also a three-story project, includes drywall partitions and lay-in acoustical ceilings. Under the supervision of foreman Bob Fritz, current work there involves the core and high walls. The Brackenridge Hospital is yet another project where work is underway. Two floors - 8 and 9, both of which have remained vacant since the building was constructed about five years ago, are being built. Each floor includes approximately 15,000 square feet requiring CDI to split the work between two crews in order to beat the early fall deadline. Heading up work on the eighth floor is Roy Schafer, while David Kovar is running the ninth floor operations.
The IBM Building 045 back in its early days shows the extensive exterior metal framing required The half-million square foot project is now nearing completion
Austin/San Antonio picnic enjoyable The Austin/San Antonio field and office picnic was held July 19 at Rio Vista Park in San Marcos and proved to be a highly enjoyable afternoon, despite the hot temperatures. More than 100 CDI employees, their spouses and children attended the affair which was held on the banks of the San Marcos River. A delicious barbeque buffet was served along with plenty of cold keg beer that was kept flowing to cope with
the hot sunny day. Activities for those who attended included swimming, canoeing and tubing in the icy waters of the springfed San Marcos waters. In addition, a challenge softball game pitting the two CDI offices against each other was held with the Austin group edging the San Antonio team. The game (and the players) lasted only about five innings,
Meanwhile, Chris Sylvester continues to lead the way on the First Federal Savings job, a remodeling project in the six-story downtown office building. One job which has been completed is the E. °-Thompson building where Henry Colter has finished up the remodeling work there. Austin Vice-President and General Manager, Larry Hanvey, says tha ^ they have received the contract on • the Montgomery Wards store in Barton Creek Shopping Cen • According to Larry, CDI wNIbeg n work there sometime in October.
Kathy Doughtery, (left), greets two canoeists. CDI’s Pete Volkert and his wife Dianne Kathy is the wife of CDI foreman Gene Doughtery of Austin. All were enjoying the sunny afternoon and cool waters at the office/field picnic in San Marcos.
3
EMPLOYEE NEWS
Why we med the 3P program
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By Ted Hajdik CDI Field Superintendent
As part of the management team at CDI, I view the 3P program as one of the most important, if not the most important, endeavor that we have decided to take on in a long time. By just taking a good look at the three P’s, we find our answers to many questions we may have in our own minds as employees of CDI concerning this program. First, we as individuals must be positive in our thinking and actions in our daily duties whether we work with our minds or use our physical abilities. Before the other two P’s can come into action, we must have a positive mental attitude toward our jobs. Without this type of attitude, we not only hurt our employer, but also ourselves. Second, our productivity must be that which reflects that positive attitude. As we look at productivity, we find it is comparable to ability. As many statistics show, the acquired ability for hard work is being lost as time goes on. Just as free enterprise is being stripped away each day by our government from the private sector, so is the ability to produce by those who think profit is a dirty word. We must, as employees of CDI, remember that profit shows the ability to organize and produce through our free enterprise system. Third, we must continue to have a program as the 3P program to unite each of us to do one thing well and do a good job of it—that is, to make a profit for those who we work for so that our future with CDI may be bright for many more years to come. I believe that everyone knows that the business environment is getting tougher and tougher each day. We should continually strive to work to our full ability every day so we can continue to be part of a great organization such as CDI.
Cost control admlnstrator Teresa Meshay handles the job set up on several of CPI's major projects.
Teres® Meshay
Key peirseoi toddles bBg budgets CDI’s key person honor this month has gone to Teresa Meshay, cost control administrator in our budgeting department. Teresa, who has been with the company one and a half years, plays a very vital role on some of our largest projects. Some of these buildings include the Three Allen Center, Greenway Condominium II, Shell Woodcreek, and the First City Tower. And, presently she is doing the set-up on the twin 40-story Four Leaf Towers. Her responsibility with each of these projects covers a variety of duties including determining the raw labor costs, the amount of materials needed, the ordering of materials, and the handling of all changes that take place during construction. All of these functions are part of the job set-up, and require her to be in contact with the job from the prints to the completion. The material take-off portion of the job set-up determines the amount of material a job will require. In a building the size of the 50-story Three Allen, this can be quite a chore. Calculating the number of man hours necessary to complete a job is extremely critical because it is from these figures that the budget for the job is determined. The budget is then entered into the computer and tracked on a weekly basis, while the 4
number of man-hours are sent to the job supervisors so they can keep abreast of their status in relation to the amount of time budgeted to each phase of the job. According to Teresa, the total A up of a job may take anywhere frwfi a couple of weeks to a month, depending on the size of the project. However, the design changes that occur during construction keep her in constant contact with the job, its general contractor, and the CDI supervisor there. Changes may range from a minor wall alteration to adding a four-story atrium to the building, which was the case on Three Allen. In fact, Three Allen has undergone 23 changes to date, while Shell Woodcreek an extremely new project, has already amassed 32 changes of varying degrees. Teresa is a December 1978 graduate of the University of Houston where she earned an architectural degree in Environmental Design. Teresa has a variety of interests which keeps her busy when away from her work. These interests include caliography or hand lettering in which she specializes in Old ^ English and has taught classes in subject. Additionally, she enjoys playing racquetball when she can find the time.
Holiday Inn
CDI-San Antons® project nears completSoEni /The 11-story Holiday Inn project in San Antonio is nearing its early September completion date, and appears to be a tremendous success for CDI. Headed up by foremen Paul Buck and Wayne Schultze, the project began late last February and has kept CDI busy over the last six months. The Holiday Inn, the second major hotel project for CDI-San Antonio (the first was the Riverwalk Marriott), is being done for general contractor Jordan & Nobels, a company which has been extremely cooperative in the construction efforts there. Several CDI personnel have spent at least a portion of the past several months on the project in various duties that range from layout, framing and hanging to spray insulation and acoustical tile ceilings. Doing the layout on the project were Grady Atnip, who is now CDI's field superintendent in San Antonio, and Wayne Schultze. Leading the framing were such craftsmen as ^loger Schaefer, Gary Schultze, ^led Ridgeway, and Sam Sotello. Handling the spray insulation operation among others were Tony Denbeigh and Roger Rust, while the hanging chores fell to Homero Figero, Geraldo Galindo, Fred Keimsteadt, Vincinte Ochoa, Israel Ochoa, Emilio Postel, Robert Winder, and Jose Arrendondo. At its peak, the Holiday Inn employed approximately two dozen CDI craftsmen, but currently has about 12 men wrapping up work on the first floor and the lobby area with its drywall and acoustical ceilings, and partitions. Most of the rest of the crew are now over at the SASA building whic is well underway and quite active. At SASA, approximately 22 crew members are busy with core work and tenant stocking under foreman Delton SturgisA . Other job activity in San Antonio right now includes a Joseph s Men s store, a new lease in the McCreless ^Mall which includes drywall ceilings ^and partitions. And, the Craftsman and all CDISan Antonio employees hope Richard Lopez, who heads up
warehouse operations, is 100 percent again following a recent leq injury which required a brief hospital stay for him.
Geraldo Galindo hangs rock at the Holiday Inn project which is now nearing completion.
Paul Buck, (left), and Wayne Schultze. foremen on the Holiday Inn keeping track of progress on the eleven-story project
Budget beaters
Texas Commerce wins stealk dimer Recent budget beater contests have seen Texas Commerce Tower win for the fourth consecutive time, while Group I contests were split between the Voss Ten project under James Foley and IBS lease work led by Randy Robinson.
Meanwhile, the other Group I job involved an IBS lease for Hines Industrial—Acoustical Building Supply. Randy and his partner, apprentice Casey Huff, were treated to a barbeque lunch at Luther’s for their fine efforts.
The Texas Commerce crew, led by Jay Richards, won the only Group II contest for the period. And because it was win number four, it earned the crew an evening steak dinner at the Texas Tumbleweed for themselves and their spouses or dates. The 12 couples who attended enjoyed an evening of delicious steak with all the trimmings, plus plenty of music and dancing.
A lesson to he learned
The Voss Ten project under the supervision of James Foley won for the first time. James and his partner, James Anderson, a seventh period apprentice, were the only CDI employees on the job at the time of the win which came two months after the project had begun. The project is a job for general contractor Manhattan Construction, and is a 10-story office building at Voss and San Felipe. 5
During a hike in the woods a troop of boy scouts came across an abandoned section of railroad track. Each, in turn, tried walking the rails but eventually lost his balance and tumbled off. Suddenly, two of the boys after considerable whispering, offered to bet that they could both walk the entire length of the track without falling off. Challenged to make good their boast, the two boys jumped up on opposite rails, extended a hand to balance each other, and walked the entire section of track with no difficulty whatever. There, in a nutshell, is the principle of modern business and community living. We do things better, we produce more, and we live better by helping each other.
Project of the month COMPANY NEWS
Daryl Hammons has enjoyed tremendous success as supervisor of the Three Allen Center project.
Greenspoint atrium running smooth
This month the Craftsman recognizes the Greenspoint Office Park, a three-story atrium project near Intercontinental Airport, as its project of the month. Under the supervision of lommy Williamson, the Greenspoint building is in its fifth month, with the core work virtually complete and lease activity well underway. A project for Harvey Construction, the job includes a high atrium with skylights in its lobby area, while heavy gauge metal was required on the exterior framing of the building. CDI involvement on the project includes walls and ceilings plus doors and door frames, as well as the finishing. The job has averaged approximately 6 to 10 men during most of its activity, but recently has slowed to just Tommy and his apprentice nephew, Edward Williamson. Things are expected to pick back up as more lease space is
Second tame around
Daryl [Hamoronis GDI's top supervisor “Keep on keeping on." That's the way CDI supervisor Daryl Hammons describes his situation at Three Allen Center, a 50-story project which he has engineered since it began more than a year ago. This ability to “keep on” is one of the reasons Daryl is a top CDI supervisor, and a good bet why for the second time in three months, he has been named the company’s outstanding monthly supervisor. In addition to this distinguished honor, he was also presented a CDI belt buckle to further extend the company’s gratitude for the excellent job he is doing at Three Allen. Among his strong supervisory talents has been his ability to pull together the Three Allen Center crew into a dedicated team of craftsmen. The crew, now numbering approximately 100, has won nine budget beater contests during its span—more than any other single job. And this crew dedication is evidenced in its participation in such CDI activities as our bass
tournament and softball teams, both of which were actively supported by Three Allen crew members. This type of company involvement and interest certainly reflects a team spirit, of which Daryl has played an important role in developing. Not only does Daryl share this strong relationship with his crew, but also with general contractor, MinerTurner, and its project superintendent Lynn Stoever. Such a relationship helps to keep the job running smoothly and solve many problems encountered on the job. According to Daryl, he feels that though he has had tremendous success on his job, he learns something new everyday. And, as he says, “Winning a few things doesn’t mean the job is over with.” The Craftsman extends its congratulations to Daryl for his latest honors, and feels strongly that with such a positive attitude, he will certainly enjoy success on his next undertaking for CDI—the twin 40-story Four Leaf Towers, a job which he will begin in just a few weeks. 6
released for construction in the very ^ near future. The Greenspoint Office Park, like so many recent CDI projects, has run extremely smooth throughout its span. Always ranking very near the top in beating its budget in Group I jobs, it won one budget beaters contest during the early core work. Among the CDI personnel participating on the project were Chuck Pate, who did the exterior framing, plus Willard Abbott, Mike Menslage, and Joe Havard. Serving as project superintendent for general contractor Harvey Construction is James Mills, who according to Tommy, has been especially helpful in lining out the trades and offering assistance when questions arise. The Greenspoint Office Park is representative of a number of CDI projects that start and finish with few problems and, consequently, receive little attention. But, these jobs, regardless of their size, play an important role in the company’s overall success. In addition, the men who run and work on these projects often do not receive proper recognition, being overshadowed by our larger, more prestigious projects. The Craftsman is pleased to recognize the efforts of Tommy on the Greenspoint Office Park and everyone else associated with the project.
Tommy Williamson hides his nephew, Edward, as they screw off sheetrock around door openings on the Greenspoint Office Park project.
Yard laborers vita! to CD1 projects A group of personnel that has received little recognition in the past, but who deserve a great deal are the CDI yard laborers. Under the supervision of labor superintendent, Dennis Yanowski, this hard working crew includes Albert Satcherwhite, Frank Satcherwhite, Curtis lies, Stephenson Moore, Willie White, Robert White, Fred Howard, Mike Jones, Wesley Forward, Lionel St Cyr, Andrew Ratliff, and Andress Morin, Jr.—all of whom are perhaps some of CDI’s most versatile workers. Their job of getting materials to the jobs and stocked requires them to possess an in-depth knowledge of all of our materials so that the right items get to the projects. And, they must know the city and the different jobs because they are involved in virtually every CDI project underway. Dennis believes that flexibility in their time is another big demand placed on his men. “They must be ady to work over at any time cause materials must be on the Job and ready to use before the work can be done. “And, their work week almost always includes Saturdays because we do a lot of weekend stocking on the big jobs," Dennis points out. Despite these many demands, CDI’s yard laborers boast an
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Yard laborer Frank Satcherwhite. (left), and a carpenter from the Greenway Condominium job stock metal using a fork and the project's overhead crane.
extremely good attendance and safety record. Although they log many miles contending with Houston traffic and transport an enormous amount of material, they rank as one of the company’s safest work groups, and have not had a lost-time accident in over a year. After lining out most of the deliveries for the day, Dennis goes into the field where he heads up all of CDI’s labor operations. During the day, Mike Perry helps the labor operations by monitoring CDI’s constantly changing material demands and coordinating deliveries.
June Attendance RANKING
PROJECT NAME
%
Shell Woodcreek Yard Laborers Transco Bobby's Finishers on Small Jobs I and N Allen Center III Allen Centei Houston Center Greenway 1st International Plaza 1st City Tower Jesse's Group Ted’s Group Jim's Group Texas Commerce Plaza Jerry's Painters Condo I and II
SUPERVISOR OR FOREMAN Roger Warman Dennis Yanowski Richard Perales Bobby Smith Buddy Mayo Daryl Hammons, Buster Baimbridge Cliff Welsh Luis Soliz Fred Lay, Mike Hannah Dudley Chisholm Jesse Hajdik Ted Hajdik Jim LaCaze jay Richards Jerry Featherston Glen Brabham, Ken O'Brien Nick Nunez
CDI-Systems, Inc., Commercial's Dallas office, reports that they have obtained the contract for the tenant work on the 15-story Lincoln Centre Bank building. The project, being done for Lincoln Properties, includes the interior partitions for the 15 floors to start in early September with stocking already begun. The Lincoln Centre project is the first for the new Dallas office, and was the first job bid by that office. In addition, Mike Grogan, CDI Systems vice president and general manager, says that other bids have gone out on various projects and several look promising at this stage. Besides the commencement of field activity, Mike also reports that the office has a new employee, Donna Deavers, who is heading up the clerical and accounting functions for the office. In addition, Alan Smith, a former CDI employee in Houston who headed up our budget department before leaving just over a year ago, is rejoining the company in the Dallas office. There, he will serve in the estimating and budgeting department, and will begin employment the first part of September. Congratulations to the Dallas office on their first project and their new staff!
Carry lots of experience
Senior ©raftsmen vital CDD assets (Editor's Note: Last month the Craftsman began a two-part series paying tribute to our "elder statesmen"—those employees 60 years of age and older. Four of the seven who fit this category have been featured. Below, the Craftsman concludes this series with a look at the remaining three.) You have to get up awful early to beat Tommy Maddox to the job. Tommy, who soon turns 60, is generally one of the first around—no great achievement unless you’ve driven 100 miles to get there, like Tommy does. Tommy lives in Oakhurst, a small town near Huntsville. And each morning about 3 a.m. he rises to make the 100 mile trip to the job. He could sleep in a little later, but then he'd get caught in traffic. So he prefers to leave a little earlier, and take a brief snooze in his car at the jobsite, before going to work. Tommy has been with CDI over eight years now, but he has been working in drywall all of his life. He first joined CDI on the Houston Two project, and currently is working with Bruce McKinley on the layout of the Four Leaf Towers. Another CDI craftsman who commutes a long way to work is Andrew Johnson who lives in Galveston. Andrew recently turned
Commercial Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3705 Piney Woods P.O. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
60, although he says his birth certificate claims he’s 61. Andrew is a native of Louisiana, though he moved to Galveston when he was only six months old. Fie began with CDI in 1976 as the labor foreman on the John Sealy Hospital there. He now works on the Greenway condominiums as a laborer. He has been at the Greenway Plaza complex for two years now, but prior to that ran the labor operations at the Baybrook Mall. There, he made a significant contribution which saved the company approximately $5000. Andrew found sites near the mall that were looking for fill material. So instead of paying $40 to dump material wastes at a dumping site, he hauled them free to much closer fill sites.
Bill Sayton, who will soon turn 65 is yet another of CDI’s senior Craftsmen. Bill has headed up Greenway's cabinet shop for the past three years. For CDI, Bill has done cabinet work exclusively during his eight years with the company. Prior to CDI, Bill owned a home building company in Nebraska. Fie says he left there to come to Flouston because he “got tired of the cold.” Bill served in the Navy during World War II on a destroyer in the Atlantic. Flis ship served as an escort vessel for other ships cruising to the European front.
priiMEa Bj! tommy Maddox, (left), and Andrew Johnson, (above), are two of CDI s senior craftsmen Not shown is Bill Slayton who was on vacation and not available for photo.
BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE
PAID HOUSTON, TEXAS PERMIT NO. 2840