Commercial Drywall, !nc.
Commercial Craftsman
Volume I, No. 3
January 1980
Positive productivity the answer
3P t® pr@wD(dl@ wMb range ©f employee bemefots
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This year Commercial Drywall has any other company as the best. And, enjoy the benefits in the plan. begun a project known as Operation more importantly it can provide us During the last three months of 3P—a Positive Productivity Program. with several important items—job 1979, CDI personnel attended Some parts of the program have several seminars, conducted in-depth security in times of slow downs as already gone into effect, but the well in peak times, opportunity to research, even enlisted the aid of biggest part remains ahead. Many of experts in the field of productivity. reach our own personal potential, us know little or nothing about what We found that we can indeed lower advancement, and benefits that pay Operation 3P entails. Because it our labor costs by 10 percent without off in a number of ways—lunches, does affect all of us, this article will working any harder. It's called a bonuses, awards, and more. try to explain Operation 3P—why we To accomplish these goals, CDI 'Work smarter" attitude. need it and what it will do. "Work smarter" is the theme of wants us to increase our productivity Operation 3P is based on a simple by 10 percent. Another way of Operation 3P. Through better com fact. Statistics show that the average putting it is to reduce our labor costs munications, education, and motiva worker in construction today is not tion anyone can find ways to become by that amount. If we succeed, CDI producing to his or her potential. This will continue to compete in a market more productive by working a little is partially the fault of the worker, but that grows tighter each day because smarter. And this means all of us—from management to field we can maintain a competitive sell more, it is the result of a number of ing price, sell more work, and remain people. factors including social trends which In short, Operation 3P is a way ahead of our competitors. emphasize leisure time over work. program to lower our labor cost The catch to all of this is that we And it involves heavily, problems through higher productivity for do not necessarily have to work any within management of all companies everyone's benefit. harder to cut our labor costs and to understand and cope with non productive conditions. Commercial Drywall does not want to be grouped with these companies who experience and accept non productivity. Because these same companies provide little job security when the going gets rough, and are the ones who get what they can out of their workers and offer nothing in return. Rather, we want to be the kind of company who stands behind its employees and one that its employees stand behind. We feel 3P is the answer. Operation 3P actually started last July with the first budget beater lunch. We beat budgets, then were rewarded with a barbeque lunch. Since last July we have received nearly 30 free lunches. But,this is only the beginning. Thus we have the basis for Opera tion 3P. It is an attempt to increase The graph above reflects the decline in productivity in the construction industry in recent years. our productivity (which lowers labor Such non-productivity affects a company's ability to provide job security in tight market costs) so that the company can do conditions. two things—it can stand out from
Letters to Larry Dear Larry, I hope you receive this letter because I want you to know how surprised and happy I was to get your newspaper in the mail last month. I think it is the best thing you could have done for the men and their families. Other wives probably feel the same way because it does mean a lot to know something about our husbands’ jobs, and the company they work for. Also, I want to say that some of the things like the barbeque lunches and the awards which Commercial Drywall gives to its employees sound great. I know my husband says some nice things about what the company is doing for its workers. Before I close, I have a sug gestion. I would like to see you involve the wives in some of the activities like the lunches. I think it would be good for the men’s morale. Thanks for listening and keep up the good work. Sincerely A Commercial Wife The Craftsman appreciates your kind words for our newsletter and some of our activities for the employees. And we are delighted to learn that the Craftsman is working, because it is intended for the families as well as the employees. And, to our surprise, your letter is very timely because this month CDI has revised the format of the budget beater lunches to involve the spouses and dates with an evening banquet when a job wins four times. Editor’s note: We received this note recently and thought enough of it to include it in this issue. In addition, we have decided to begin a Letters to Larry section when we have enough responses. We invite your questions, comments, and suggestions. —Larry Williams, Editor.
From the top
A brief Stole aft 1S80 By Dick Phillips Before you can determine where you are going, you must know where you are and where you ve been, bo, let us look at these areas before we look at what lies ahead in 1980. THE PAST Apparently we were in the right place at the right time, at least in getting business. 1979 was another record year for our sales/estimating group. The jump in sales volume is extremely impressive even after accounting for the effects of infla tion. This small group of CDI people really did its job. The production team had an outstanding year as well. Whether we are talking about Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, we set company records for putting work in place. The administrative group had without a doubt its best year ever. Their job, to keep the rest of us on our toes was a highly demanding and successful effort, even at our rate of growth.
iudgeli Beaters see four-Sim® winners The weekly budget beater contest has seen some interesting developments in the last five weeks. Three Allen Center got back into the winner’s circle when it took the contest for a fourth time to become only the second job to win that many times since the contest began in July. However, the last four weeks have been a one-horse race with the Heights House winning four consecutive weeks, a feat never accomplished before. Heights House, led by supervisor Nick Nunez, is a 10-story housing project for the elderly under general contractor Harvey Construction. The crew picked up early momentum after tasting their first “free” lunch and since has been unstoppable. Three Allen Center, under the supervision of Daryl Hammons, clinched its fourth win in late November.
THE PRESENT Thanks to the great team effort of our combined talents, we start 1980 with the biggest backlog of business that our company has ever had. All of it is important work, and much of it will be very difficult. THE FUTURE In the area of sales, we feel that the economic recession that our country is in right now will cause problems for some of our customers who build small office buildings and warehouse complexes. However, we have so many large jobs in store (10 major ones to start this year) that we should be in excellent shape overall. For our production team, this will be the most challenging year ever. We should realize improvement in all aspects, from delivery and warehouse operations to execution on the job due to our new positive approach to job performance and cost control. From this group comes Operation 3P, our exciting Positive Productivity A Program. This bold effort will reduce^ our production costs keeping us competitive, and providing everyone a more secure future. The administrative group will emphasize tighter controls in all areas which will yield more accurate job information. This should enable everyone to better plot progress and set goals. In summary, CDI historically has been a company that sets and breaks records in all areas.—1980 will be no exception.
C@tnnunra©[r€D@3l Craftsman Editor: Larry Williams The Commercial Craftsman is published monthly by Commer cial Drywall, Inc. for its employees and their families. Employees should send their contributions to Larry Williams, ^ Commercial Drywall, Inc., P.O. w Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.
Jim Plumlee
Key person walks s®f%9 carries a bag l@ad If you've ever wondered how jobs get charged for the materials they use on the project, the answer is "very quietly." Because the individual responsible for this task is the example of a guy who "quietly goes about doing his job." The person being referred to is Commercial’s Jim Plumlee, material pricing administrator. In his office, tucked away at the top of the stairs in the warehouse, Jim quietly does his job. And since he does it so well he has been named this month’s "key person."
Jim has been performing this func tion since joining CDI two years ago. His responsibilities involve receiving shipment reports from Dennis Yanowski, determining the unit cost for the materials, and coming up with total price. This is then forwarded to accounting so that they can be entered for each job on the computer records. In this way, material costs for virtually any job can be determined quickly and accurately. According to Jim, two of the biggest items which come across his
desk in delivery reports are gypsum board and metal studs. An average day might see 100,000 square feet of gypsum go out to the jobs, while busier days might involve 300,000 or more square feet. Jim says he likes working with the books as he does, and the big numbers don’t seem to bother him. But he does have to keep on his toes especially when items that have been in stock for a long period of time go out on delivery. When this happens, he has to track down the accurate price, which may have gone through several price changes while in the warehouse. Jim works under Barry Barnard, CDI Controller, who has a lot of praise for Jim's performance. "Jim is the kind of person you can really depend on. I don't think he has missed a day’s work since coming to Commercial two years ago. And he’s well organized and efficient,” says Barry.
Much of Jim's day is spent behind an adding machine where he totals material shipments to the fobs. As material pricing administrator, he ensures that the right costs are attributed to the right jobs.
Commercial Drywall in Austin spent a busy Christmas season both on and off the job. In addition to their regular work activities, CDI and its employees took some time to help other, less fortunate Austin residents enjoy Christmas. According to vice president and general manager Larry Hanvey, CDI joined in support of the Blue Santa effort, a local campaign to collect toys for needy children. In another community-minded effort, several CDI employees aided the Edna Glandey adoption auxiliary by ^^furnishing Santas to help raise ^Pnoney to support the home. h Also along the Christmas theme, the Austin office celebrated its Christmas party on December 9.
In the way of work, Larry reported that the IBM project is going strong, and has doubled the number of employees working there under foreman Johnny Kovar. Also off to a good start, is the 10-story E.O. Thompson building in downtown Austin. And remodeling in the 21-story American Bank Tower has been substantially completed with a fine effort put forth by its crew and foreman, Jerry Wilhelm. CDI-Austin has recognized its labor foreman, Fred Parker for his outstanding performance over the last several years. Fred, who heads up the labor work for all of the projects there has been with the company since it first began opera tion four years ago. 3
A recent project of Jim’s was to organize and update Commercial’s record storage room which is located next to his office. To do this he donated part of his office so the record room could be expanded for better organization.
Fred Parker, labor foreman for all of Austin has been spotlighted for his outstanding work since joining Commercial approximately four years ago.
employee
NEWS
Supervisor of ifa® month
Experience pays off for Fred Lay Commercial Drywall has -honored a long-time employee with December’s supervisor of the month award. Fred Lay, project manager of First International Plaza, received the award at the supervisors' breakfast held in December. Fred has been with Commercial for nearly 10 years and has spent the past 12 months at First International Plaza running one of CDI’s largest projects, and currently the tallest building in the Plouston skyline. Fred’s selection for the honor was based on a number of attributes which has made him one of the company’s top men in the field. During his career with CDI, he has headed up such projects as the Texaco Building, Transco lease work, Plouston Center One and Two, as well as numerous others. His experience at running large jobs is paying off tremendously with the magnitude of the work being conducted at FIB Plaza. At the project are approximately 85 men and women including laborers, carpenters, and finishers. With such a work force, Fred has had to rely on his foreman to keep the work flowing at a steady pace. Floagy Cannon, CDI director of personnel and project manager over our downtown activity has worked closely with Fred over the past year. According to Floagy, Fred uses his foreman effectively so that there is always adequate supervision of the work. “In terms of overall job knowledge, Fred ranks extremely high,” says Floagy. Fie knows what needs to be done on the job and he knows how to do it. His in-depth experience at running such a large project pays off everyday,” says Floagy.
Fred’s supervisory talents include his experience in running large iobs. And in doing so, communications among all levels of personnel is important.
Profile
WSttfl irole performed estima When a major high-rise goes up, the magnitude of the work involved is usually apparent. But, in many cases, the up-front work that entails countless hours of estimating, bidding, and negotiating is often overlooked or disregarded because much of it is done “behind the scenes.” A close look at this part of Commercial operations, however, reveals the many responsibilities that exist and must be handled to get a job to a point that actual construction can begin. One of CDI’s men involved in this portion of the operation is Alan Jezek. As contract sales manager, Alan is responsible for securing future jobs. Fie does this by taking blueprints of potential CDI projects, pulling together the information essential to a bid, negotiating with the owner or general contractor through several phases of changes, and seeking a contract for the work. Alan says that he spends most of his time going over blueprints and one-line drawings to price out materials and labor costs for biddina purposes. y ,, Oniye a bid has been accepted though, Alan remains in contact through all facets of the project During the construction phase it is 4
not unusual for him to receive a dozen calls a day from superintendents and supervisors needing clarification of specific questions concerning CDI job responsibilities. Alan terms this concept of carry ing a project through to its completion his project management philosophy. As Alan says, “Construc tion is a business of problems. If I stay familiar with every step of the project then I can better answer questions and solve problems when they come up.”
Alan spends as much as 90 percent of his time going over drawings and blueprints.
Party t0m@ The CDI Christmas party held at the SPJST Lodge December 21 turned out to be a smashing success thanks to a surprise visit from Santa (CDI's Andrew Ratcliff), his helpers (three Der rick Dolls), and some fine fiddlin' from Pappy Self These photos depict some of the afternoon delight as Santa rode in on his sleigh and joined the “Dolls” in the Oiler fight song. Later, Oiler cheerleaders kept busy signing autographs and posing for photos while Pappy Self kept the fiddle strings smokin
1 Q
COMPANY NEWS
Luis stands next to his new metal stud wall panel which he devised for CDI. The panel is 29 pounds lighter than the one it replaces meaning a lighter load and savings to CDI and Century Development.
Soliz id®a sparks mw wall panel Luis Soliz may have reinvented part of the wheel for Commercial Drywall. The Greenway remodeling supervisor recently devised a new design and method of construction for our "Century” panels, the on-sitebuilt movable panels used in Century Development work at Greenway Plaza. Luis first hit upon the idea about six months ago after giving much thought to alternatives to working with the Century panels which often prove to be heavy and hard to handle. Because of their weight, all but the biggest and strongest workers had to struggle with the panels. And, Luis was one who had to struggle. So, he decided that despite the fact that these panels had been in use for nearly 10 years, perhaps there were some modifications that could be made to improve their handling ease. After pondering the
Budget Beaftsr ©©Guests revised Beginning this month to kick-off Operation 3P, Commercial Drywall has revised the budget beater lunch contests. Under the new system, there are basically three changes. First, all budgeted jobs have been divided into two groups—One and Two. This grouping is based on the overall size of the job and its average number of employees. The second change bases the contest on a two-week period rather than the previous weekly contests. The winner will be determined by averaging the rank in which each job finished during each of the two weeks of the contest. For instance, if a job finished in first place one week and third place the second week, it would finish with an average score of two. (1 +3 = 4-^2 = 2). Since winning would encompass a two-week period, each job would be competing for a lunch held every other week. Group One jobs will first compete for the January 16 lunch, while Group Two jobs will begin com petition for the January 23 lunch. Thereafter, each group will alternate weekly for the lunch.
The final change in the contest establishes a set of four awards for winning the contest. Each award up through the fourth one has a higher value. When a job wins the contest for the fourth time and receives the grand award, it starts over again for the first award. The contest will be based on the following four awards: 0 First Win ... Lunch 0 Second Win .. . Lunch and a cake with caps or T-shirts. 0 Third Win . . . Lunch and two movie theater tickets per craftsman ° Fourth Win . .. Evening banquet at a local restaurant for employees and their spouse or date. To even the competition among jobs, the following grouping will be observed for contest purposes: Group One—Northwind Plaza, Cor porate Plaza, Heights House, North west Atrium II, AMF Tuboscope, Houstonian Bldg. D, Intercontinental Airport, Rosewood Professional Bldg Hines, Vanco, Inequities, Russo bud-' geted leases. Group Two—First International Plaza, Condominium I, Three Allen Center, Hotel Meridien, Yorktown Center, Natural Gas Pipeline, First City. 6
situation for several days, he came up with the solution—replace the center which was made of one-inch core and gypsum board with lightweight metal studs. If this were possible, the weight of each panel would be reduced from 108 pounds to 79 pounds, a difference of 29 pounds. Luis followed up his idea with drawings which he presented to several CDI people, and subse quently, to Century Development representatives. Within a few weeks the newly designed panel was taking shape. A mock-up was built at Greenway and sound tests were conducted. With minor modifications to the original stud design, Luis's concept proved to be a definite success. Because of the new panel's lighter weight, CDI should realize savings in labor costs. And since fewer materials are required for the construction of the panels, stocking and material costs should also be reduced. These savings allow CDI to ^ produce the panels at a lower total ■ price while providing Century Development Corporation with a better quality, faster-to-install product. An added bonus was discovered during the sound tests which showed the new panels to be superior in sound control without the use of insulation, which the old panels required. Already, plans for utilization of the metal stud panels have been made for Three Allen Center, the 50-story Century development in downtown Houston. A mock-up has been constructed at the site, and construc tion should begin very soon. The Craftsman believes that Luis deserves a great deal of recognition for this contribution. Not only is it a good idea, but it proves that even though a system works well, it lends itself to improvement as time goes on. We urge everyone to be aware of ^ new and better ways to do a job. CDI “ encourages such creative thinking and is always interested in your suggestions.
Project of the month
1st International complex Job At the present, the tallest building in Houston is the First International Bank Plaza in the downtown area. It is also a project of Commercial Drywall. And in recognition of the complexity and scope of the work involved, it has been named as December’s project of the month.
With such complex operations going on at FIB Plaza, CDI people, as well as the general contractor, never stray too far from a set of blueprints Shown above are (I to r) Jesse Langley, Jerry Lee, Jim Childs, all with general contractor W.S. Bellows Also pictured are CD Is Jerry Snider Mickey Hyatt Fred Lay, and Hoagy Cannon.
Greenway crew honored
A Remodeling is a facet of mDommercial Drywall activity which requires a variety of skills from the men and women who perform the work. Like all CDI employees, they are skilled workers striving to per form a quality job. But, in addition, comes a special demand for them to act in a “public relations’’ role, as well, because they are often in close contact with the owner of the building and the tenant occupying the office. Luis Soliz, supervisor over CDI’s Greenway remodeling crew, realizes the importance of dealing with both owners and tenants on a daily basis. His crew of approximately 35 carpenters, finishers and laborers was honored in December as the remodeling crew of the month. Greenway is one of four largescale remodeling projects for CDI. The others include Houston Center under Cliff Welsh, Transco Tower under Richard Perales and Allen Center under Buddy Mayo, the latter ^two of which have one previous ^remodeling awards. In discussing the responsibilities of the remodeler, Luis noted that his men often work in office situations
where the tenant already has occupancy. This requires that they take special care in moving furniture, covering desks and file cabinets, and carefully cleaning the work area upon completion. Luis looks at his role as an exten sion of the sales department of CDI. “When we go into an occupied remodeling situation, we are representing Commercial Drywall before our direct customer, the owner, and also the tenant as well. It is our responsibility to satisfy both parties. If we don’t, we haven’t done all of our job,” says Luis. Greenway is a sustaining effort which involves work in 11 different buildings within the complex, including the Conoco Tower, Kellogg Building, Union Carbide, The Summit, the Stouffer’s Hotel and others. To add to the complexity, remodeling can vary from doing one wall to on entire floor. And as the location and amount Of work vary, so do the skills each worker must possess. '‘Every man here is expected to have the ability to ao into an area and complete whatever is necessary short of hang ing the door,” says Luis. 7
December marked one year of CDI involvement in the 55-story structure which is now approximately 65 percent complete, including both core and tenant work. First Interna tional Bank Plaza is a project of Gerald Hines Interests and Pic Reality with general contracting by W.S. Bellows Construction. Under the supervision of December’s supervisor of the month, Fred Lay, FIB Plaza has won two budget beater contests and has established a good safety record over the past year. Assisting Fred in the supervision of work are carpenter’s foremen Jerry Snider, Mickey Hyatt, and George Speaker. Also keeping things on an even keel are labor foreman John Ester, finishing foreman, Mike Hannah, and timekeeper, DeWitt Churchwell. FIB Plaza has been a massive undertaking for Commercial because of several intricacies within the structure. According to Fred Lay, the core work in the structure is one of the most complex CDI has taken on because of its sawtooth construction. Other complexities center around the bank lobby which has one of the most intricate drywall ceiling and scaffolding systems experienced by CDI. The scaffolding consists of 1200 six-foot frames with nearly 400 sheets of plywood supported by 600 2" by 12" planks. In all, the scaffolding has more than 12,500 square feet of decking. Also a first for CDI at FIB Plaza is that all of the top track and door frames being used are products of CDI, manufactured by Commercial Interior Systems, a division of Commercial Drywall.
January birthdays Create an interior space
too static
separate it to make a "C
more agressivc
and D shape
add customer to action
Birth of a tog© Commercial Drywall's logo was developed six years ago by a design artist working in conjuction with company president, Dick Phillips. When the work began the primary objective was to develop an illustration that would symbolize Commercial Drywall and the nature of our business. The series of illustrations above depict the steps taken in the process that took a single shape and evolved it into a symbol denoting who we are and what we do.
BA. tooMirag forward to 9§© If forecasts hold true, 1980 should be quite a year for San Antonio and Commercial Drywall, reports Jerry Bonds, manager of operations there. Jerry says that indications call for 1980 to be one of San Antonio's best years in terms of economic growth and construction activity. Should this optimistic outlook become reality, no doubt CDI-San Antonio will get its share of the action. Already, the San Antonio office is awaiting start-up of the Holiday InnNorth which should begin construc tion in February, a month later than previously expected. In addition, the San Antonio Savings Association
Commercial Craftsman Commercial Drywall, Inc. 3705 Piney Woods P.O. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
building, with which we have a letter of intent lies ahead. However, lease work for one of San Antonio’s major developers, Quincy Lee, is not waiting around. Underway is work in warehouse and office space for a variety of tenants including an Albertson food chain distribution center, Data Point offices, A Miller Brewing distribution plant, and the executive offices of Quincy Lee. The Craftsman joins Jerry in extending thanks for a job well done to Jerry Newberry and Tony Bauman and the entire Marriott Hotel crew on the work completed in December.
Paul Barron . . . Bobby G. Burgess ... Alphonse Bush ... Joseph Campise . . . Ronald Chambers .. . Edward Contreras ... David Desalvo . . . Walt Evans . . . Ruben Freeman ... Clifton Frost. . . Felix Galvan Jr. . . . Charles Groux . .. Lamar Haas .. . Ernest Herrera .. . Curtis Isles . .. Curtis Izard .. . Charles Kennedy ... Ivory Kemp ... Hilton Krenek . . . Kenneth Kyle . . . Brendon Lobb . . . Frank Martin ... Jose Martinez . . . William J. Miller. .. Felix Montgomery Jr. . . . Violet Morgan .. . Antonio Murillo ... Lawrence McClain . . . D.K. McDonald . . . Edward McDonald . . . Robert Overton . . . Tommy Owens . . . Victor Pena . . . Mikael Price . . . Tom Pruett. . . Pedro Ramos . . . Randall Robinson .. . Fred Schirmer... Robert Schu . .. Charles Slayton . . . George Speaker . . . Chriss Sylvester. . . Frank P. Valdez . . . Marion P. Vernon . . . Richard Warmack . . . Lamar Wood # . .. Cheryl Wolfe . . . Lincoln Mitchell ... Stephen Shockley ... Patsy Whitehead . . . Barry Nieman . . . Donna Barker
Goals—I find the great thing in this world is, not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.—Goethe
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