The MacLean anchors team has been non-stop in 2016. Anchor team members have participated in trade shows, product testing and business development opportunities in several markets. Having travelled across the United States and South America, our team is excited about the opportunities 2016 bring with the uptake in construction projects.
In early January, three members of the MPS anchors team attended the MPS leadership conference and sales meeting in North Carolina. This was the first sales meeting and leadership conference these team members had attended together. It was nice placing faces with voices we all speak with on the phone on a regular basis.
Late January brought a South American flavor to our team’s usual business fare. Two anchors team members visited South America for customer meetings in several cities and a field test. With the MPS South American Anchors Application Engineer as a resident guide through the back country, the field tests were a success resulting in new opportunities.
Early February brought one of the largest shows for the civil products team, World of Concrete. MacLean has been an exhibitor for the last twenty years through the driven anchors and helical product lines. This year, we were joined by new faces from the pads and enclosures line. Duncan MacLean, president of MacLean-Fogg, attended the show which included a civil distributor’s meeting and dinner for those who attended the show. Duncan presented his vision for the civil business. Attendees were appreciative of the MacLean family commitment to maintain a dominate role in the civil construction helical products market.
In mid to late February, our team travelled to the southern and western parts of the United States. Product testing that was conducted in Central Florida was a great success, proving our new products are a viable option to auger cast piles. The following week, the product manager for MacLean Anchors, who is also the chair of the Deep Foundation Institute (DFI) Manufacturer, Supplier and Service Provider Committee, attended the DFI winter workshop. Several of the anchors team members attended the IECA 2016 show in San Antonio, Texas.
In March, our applications and engineering team attended Kaizen events at the Trenton, Tennessee plant to address inventory, packaging and shipping. Our team discussed current and future states of the anchor business. With the path laid out to improve lead times and manufacturing capacity, the outlook for the 2016 anchor business is very positive.
