by Diana Barnum, Correspondent
Suppliers and contractors used to be
two different groups of people. But lately with regards to making
concrete, they are one and the same as contractors are becoming
producers.
“We can do the job from start to finish,” said Rob Coleman,
plant manager of XPress Materials, LLC in Wildwood, Florida. “Complete
turnkey operations.” XPress Materials, LLC is a division of Graham Family
of Companies of Dublin, Georgia. Set up quickly in three months, the
company was established on a 119-acre site two years ago to serve The
Villages, a rapidly developing community between Gainesville and Tampa.
The Villages is expanding at the rate of over 4,000 homes per year and is
currently home to over 50,000 residents enjoying an active retirement
lifestyle.
Challenges
From the beginning, the challenge for XPress
Materials was to have a ready mix plant up and running quickly that had
the capacity to service the four major concrete contractors for the
developing area. The goal was to get the mix out.
With one main
production mix already standardized, using a horizontal roll mixer,
Coleman focused on capacity operations and supplementing with transit mix
operations. Then he focused on dispatch operations and how to keep in
close touch with his clients for quality service.
His site incorporates
a centralized Systech Systems communications setup that features an
integrated dispatching and accounting system. This system interacts with
their vehicles’ Trimble GPS tracking systems and with two 42-inch plasma
screens on computers with Trimview software, part of the Trimble GPS
system. XPress Materials functions with help from an IT department at
their headquarters in Dublin, GA and locally in Wildwood, FL.
“Some
said it couldn’t be fully intergrated, but we did it,” said
Coleman.
Coleman sends his staff to continuing education classes. He
started with 55 workers; staff, drivers, managers, etc., and now has 105.
The best way for seeking new employees has been word-of-mouth and their
good reputation with state of the art technology.
Other Equipment &
Fleet Operations
Xpress Materials is setup for contactor convenience.
There is a continuous flow of traffic throughout the site with no
three-point turns for truck drivers. Benefits include increased safety,
quality service for contractors, and efficiency of operations and
dispatching.
They maintain a fleet of 87 trucks. There are 40 mixer
trucks; 20 Peterbilt and rear discharges plus 20 Oshkosh Front Discharge
Mixers. All vehicles feature autolube and GPS systems. And they have 47
dump trucks; all are new standard Kenworth T-800 models with Ox Bodies,
autolube systems and Trimble GPS tracking.
Concrete operations take
place on approximately 22 acres of the site. Besides the parking lot area
there is a maintenance shop with overhead cranes and pulleys in the works
(due to open in about six months).
A Reclaimer from Stephens
Manufacturing separates sand and stone hauled in from other sources,
including Brooksville Quarry in Florida. And dry and wet batch plants,
also from Stephens Manufacturing who installed all the equipment, are tied
to a central feed hopper system that runs off Stephens’ radial stackers
and conveyors, carrying material in overhead bins with scales that weight
mixes for the concrete trucks. A Cat 980 and a Cat 966 both feed the
hopper.
“We can do 500 yards per hour,” explained Coleman. “And we
average about 445,000 cubic yards of concrete a year.”
A 12- to
13-hour day, 6- to 7-days a week based upon need, means both concrete
plants and the Reclaimer are running nearly all the time. Two people run
each plant, one manages / operates the automated Reclaimer. XPress
Materials performs all maintenance in-house.
For speed, crews use the
wet batch plant with an Inventure series mixer. It only takes one minute
and 10 seconds and is used for morning jobs; driveway slabs sidewalks –
quick flat work. The dry batch plant is used in the afternoon and takes
two minutes and 20 seconds for jobs like block-fill and curb
work.
Marketing Tips
Xpress Materials shared some of their marketing
tips for such large concrete operations. They mail professionally crafted,
full-color company “Thank You” cards with personal letters monthly to
buyers, regular customers, job quotes, etc. At events and via the mail,
they distribute DVDs enclosed in full-color company branded tri-folds in
envelopes. And they conduct site tours for potential and future clients
like their homebuilders.
“What clients say…”
“We buy about 95
percent of our concrete from XPress,” said Pattie Caughey, office manager
at LPI (Lenard Powell, Inc., Panasoffkee, FL) Curb Service. “ We run a
pre-caste operation here.” Caughey said their service is a definite
improvement over their previous provider; XPress is reliable, always on
time, has better pricing and tries to squeeze in their tight jobs when
they pop up.
Another contractor shared comments about XPress. “They’re
a good bunch of people,” said Cristina Weiss, administrative assistant at
C.W. Roberts Contracting Inc. (Wildwood, FL).
“They’re always willing
to get out that day, even if we’re in a pinch. They’re always on time,
always helpful with any invoicing issues and fast with concrete. We do a
lot of road work; they help us with concrete driveways and curb
work.”
Community Outreach
XPress Materials is active in the
community. Some of their activities include participation in LifeNet,
providing air transport for injured patients. They earned an award for
helping to raise donations for a new helicopter pad and building it. Other
neighborhood participation includes the sponsoring of Kiwanis, softball
teams, beauty pageants, Special Needs collections and Relay for Life, a
walk for cancer survivors. The future is still growing for XPress
Materials. As their region populates, they are considering expansion with
other facilities.
For more information, contact Xpress Materials, LLC,
C/O Graham Family of Companies, 1103 Highway 29 South, P.O. Drawer 3099,
Dublin, GA 30127; 478-272-7591; or fax inquiries to 478-275-5289; go
online at www.grahamcompanies.us
To learn more about Stephens
Manufacturing, call 877-626-0200; or fax inquiries to 270-487-8368; go
online at www.stephensmfg.comxpress
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