Alucobond Archives | The Miller Clapperton Partnership BlogThe Miller Clapperton Partnership Blog

This Blog gets personal. I am writing about a friend.

Sid Peterson will be retiring from the construction products industry after more than 40 years at the end of this month. He served in Vietnam for the United States Air Force and began his career in 1968 for Phelps Dodge Aluminum. The aluminum portion of that business evolved into Consolidated Aluminum and then Sid was the first person hired to sell Metal Composite Material in theUnited Statesback in 1977 to introduce Alucobond®.

Shortly after Reynolds Metals Company introduced Reynobond®, they hired Sid in 1990. Alcoa acquired Reynolds in 2000 and in 2003 Sid was named Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Alcoa Architectural Products.

Sid has served on the Board of the Metal Construction Association (MCA) since 2005 and this year was the recipient of the Larry Swaney Award which honors those who have given great service to the metal construction industry. It is similar to a life time achievement award.

Carole, his lovely wife, and Sid live in “Chicagoland” and have two sons and four grandchildren.

That information gives you all of the pertinent biographical information and his accomplishments are abundant and well deserved. Now I get a chance to editorialize about the man.

Sid has a favorite saying that I have heard him voice in corporate and board meetings that goes something like this, “doing things right is not as important as doing the right things.” I have witnessed Sid living this philosophy.

First, I have seen Sid work hard to help build an industry by promoting the benefits of the industry, not just his specific product. When Sid began his career in the Metal Composite Material (MCM) business back in 1977, the sales were zero. Through his efforts and others, MCM is now one of the “go to” products in the highly engineered walls industry.

His efforts on sales calls to architects, general contractors and building owners have helped to establish the product category as a valued solution for highly engineered walls. This has been accomplished by honestly presenting the benefits of the product category.

His efforts with the MCA have paralleled this same approach. By doing things that help the industry, he has benefited his own company and given greater stature to the product category.

Second, I have seen Sid do the right things on a personal basis. We have been customers of Sid for many years. A customer gets to view a supplying partner and its representatives in a very bright light. If there are flaws in their personal approaches to business, they are very apparent. Many times it may seem much more convenient to shade the truth or tell a little white lie.

To my knowledge and experience, Sid has always told me the facts. Sometimes I did not like the answer, but that is acceptable. If you are given the facts you can make informed decisions. Without the facts, or even worse, with false or misleading information, informed decisions cannot be made. Telling a customer the facts rather than what they want to hear is doing the right thing.

Sid, you have done “the right things.” We wish you and Carole a very pleasant retirement. Your accomplishments both personally and professionally are worthy of honor and praise.

I happen to know that they are kicking off retirement with a wonderful cruise fromVancouvertoAlaska. Bon voyage!

Tool of the Week, Day, etc. – Check out Alaskan Cruises at: www.princess.com. Post your comments and let us stimulate the discussion.

Thanks,

Ted S. Miller

This is not a story that I wanted to write. In fact, I had intended to write about “Drawdown Lines in Custom Color Matched Samples”. That subject will be addressed in an upcoming installment, so get ready to discuss it.

What I am writing about is the Changing Market. It is not news that there will be more challenges for anyone in the Construction Market going forward. Many in our industry have adequate backlog for 2009. The wildcard is what we are bidding now that will either make or break us for 2010. None of us expect to be able to book business at the same volume and margin levels that we were able to book in the recent past. That would be an unreasonable expectation.

In other words, I expect to lose some work to valid competitors at reduced margins because the market is smaller. That is classic economics and I am willing to compete on a level playing field.

However, the playing field is becoming less level. I will give you an example. We recently lost a medium size Project (Approximately, 5,500 SF) to a company that we are certain has no tested systems. They will not be fulfilling the requirements of the specification, in all likelihood, and no one seems to care. The GC is looking at price (the lower the better); the Architect probably does not fully understand the Specification that has been published because he probably subbed this out to an outside Spec Writer. The Architect probably had his fee reduced to get the Project in the fist place and has little money left in his budget for doing Contract Administration, so the likelihood that there is no tested system being provided will probably never be challenged.

Meanwhile none of the “full service” MCM Fabricators, that have made this product such a success, will get this Project. Why?

One of the reasons is that the knowledge base of the design community is very low on our Product. Many designers still specify; Alucobond®, Reynobond®, or Alpolic® and feel they have provided an adequate Specification. That type of Specification is for sheets of MCM Material.

For example: If the Specification calls for Reynobond®, this is the extent of the Specification. That type of Specification calls for a flat sheet of material.That is analogous to specifying Georgia Pacific Plywood and expecting to get a great set of cabinets.MCM Sheets are formed by MCM Fabricators into an endless variety of shapes, with tested attachment systems as shown in these photos. Laboratory Testing by MCM Fabricators verifies that Systems meet the required performance requirements.

Transforming the MCM Sheets into high quality MCM Panels that can actually be used on a building is the expertise of MCM Fabricators. They are the ones who cut the panels to size, rout the panels along their folding flanges, design and provide tested attachment systems, then assemble the panels and install them on buildings. A specification that only calls for the name of the MCM Sheet Manufacturer addresses none of the following: Attachment System, Experience, Services Offered (Fabrication, Engineering, Installation), or Financial Strength.

As I outlined in my first Blog, the Metal Construction Association has developed a Certification Program for Premium Certified MCM Fabricators that does address these requirements.

See the attached link: HERE

As an industry we must get the word out that specifying a Manufacturer of MCM Sheet is not adequate.

Another thing is also happening. With the shrinking of the Construction Market, suppliers and subcontractors, who are not MCM Fabricators of any type, are entering our Market and bidding against MCM Fabricators. Roofers are “throwing in” the panels in order to get the Roof. They have no experience in fabricating panels, no tested systems, and no expertise in installing the panels. They have one thing, and one thing only to offer, a low and uninformed price.

These problems will never be completely solved but it is important that we point them out and make an attempt to better inform Architects and Owners about our industry. There is no “free lunch”. A low price from an incompetent bidder hurts not only the Owner but our industry as well.

Let us all covenant together to take every opportunity to “tell the story” of how great MCM Projects are built. Use the tools we have; the Premium MCM Fabricators Requirements, “face to face” visits with Architects and Owners, Association Meetings, etc., whatever works. The bottom line is we have a great story to tell but it does no good if we do not tell it.

So, to paraphrase the Chicago mantra on elections, “vote early and often”. Let us tell “the story of quality” early and often.

If you have ideas to add, please post them to the Blog.

Thanks,

Ted S. Miller