Praying for the pour

We've all heard the expression "praying for the poor", but recently "praying for the pour" was created when representatives from Florida Hospital, a Seventh Day Adventist-owned healthcare system, did just this.

Overlooking the jobsite from the roof of a parking garage, a team from the hospital gathered to pray for the largest continuous mat pour recorded in Central Florida.

Ominous rain clouds threatened during the day but not a single drop fell on the highly orchestrated production that evening. The massive pour took nine hours, more than 500 Rinker Materials personnel, 220 concrete trucks, nine plants and 11,650 cubic yards [8,908 cubic metres] of concrete. It continued non-stop through the night and was completed approximately five hours ahead of schedule. Contractor Brasfield & Gorrie requested delivery to average 1,000 yards per hour, and Rinker Materials exceeded expectations with 1,300 yards per hour. Behind the scenes - and no less impressive - the pour took 2,200 tons of cement, 1,450 tons of fly ash, 8,350 tons of sand, 11,300 tons of rock and 900 cement tankers and aggregate trucks.

Thanks to an enormous amount of preparation work and logistical planning months in advance, Florida Materials' Central Florida region proved once again that Rinker Materials is the operational leader in the industry. In what can be seen as part of the answer to prayer, the job was completed without a single injury or accident.

New OIP for Nevada

There is a saying: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This is the usual attitude we adopt when everything is going well. After all, why change when it's good?

Over the past few years, our Nevada region has been a leader in the Operational Improvement Process (OIP). So why would we change it?

Firstly, there is always a way of creating something better. This time the change in Nevada will start with our people. All 700 plus Rinker Materials people in Nevada will be involved in OIP. It won't matter at what end of the organizational chart — those best placed to determine cost, savings and best practices are the people who put the effort into making Rinker Materials what it is today.

Secondly, the structure for YEM 07 is changing. Our teams once known as Purchasing, Transportation, Sales and Marketing will transfer into more specific groups like Employee Health, Safety, Employee Retention, Recycled and Waste Products, Energy Star and teams for each specific plant.

"The idea is to push the improvement process as far down as we can and get total involvement," says Bob Albano, vice president Nevada region. "This way we will be better placed to review even the smallest opportunities for improved operations."