Anne-Marie Vandergugten,
KCS Marketing Coordinator

March 22nd, 2004

With an international tradeshow as immense as World of Concrete, there is little surprise that attendees are as diverse in shape and size as the cementitious particles curing inside your concrete. However, when it comes to producers who request follow-up information on CRS, we found only general statistical commonality from our onsite data collection. Rather than a clearly defined type recognizable by obvious external criteria, we found a new producer emerging, one who is defined more abstractly by a philosophical perspective and one who, inevitably, will participate in forging a new frontier in waste-free ready mix production.

In gleaning information from visitors to the booth we were looking for strong common denominators. For instance, it would make sense for producers from states and municipalities with stricter environmental regulations to be first in line for this new solution. After all, they are the ones most vulnerable, the ones driven to find some way to become a zero discharge operation by threats, in some cases as serious as jail time. "Compliance pressure equals a good match for CRS"…this, we figured, was a given.

In addition to geographical and compliance issues, we anticipated producers from the larger companies to come calling. This was predicated on the fact that the visibility of larger companies brings with it an increased vulnerability, which draws unwanted scrutiny and penalty from enforcement agencies. Again, this seemed a reasonable conclusion.

As it turns out, our predictions, although generally accurate, were incomplete. 45% of the producers fit as neatly into the above categories as fresh concrete in a form, but we were still left with a large number of producers who simply did not align with our preconceptions.

What about the other 55%?
35% of visiting producers reported no regulatory pressure at present, and 20% indicated only a gradual increase in restrictions and requirements. This means 55% of our site visitors were investigating the CRS zero discharge solution on their own volition. Nothing was forcing them to come; they were acting on a keen understanding that in five or even ten years, they would be taking their turns in the compliance hot seat and they might as well start preparing today.

Furthermore, representatives of larger, vertically integrated companies visited our booth for protracted periods of time, but so did the independents. The Mom & Pop (and uncle, son and first cousin!) production facilities took as great an interest in the continuous process approach, as did the so-called big guys. Their vulnerability was considerably less than their corporate competitors, however, and we were left scratching our heads as we tried to draw educated conclusions about our producer demographic. What exactly defines a CRS producer?

Imposition versus Improvement
From our World of Concrete experience emerged a new kind of producer, one we call the continuous process producer. This producer can be publicly or privately owned, can have anywhere from 5 to 500 or more trucks, and he can be in the strictest area in urban California or tucked in the scenic wilds of Wyoming. The common thread is this: the continuous process producer is defined by values and insights that transcend the restrictions, pressures or even the present state of ease that may currently surround his business. He cares deeply about his business and his customers. He is invested not only in the equipment and the technology, but also in the method and the practice employed in and around the technology.

Our new producer invests in the knowledge and buys into the philosophy of continuous process. He evaluates and implements the right strategies, employs and focuses the right people, and makes continuous process a company-wide method of operation to the benefit of his customers, suppliers and his community at large.

Operating from a strong belief in win-win, the new producer knows that in the quest to achieve compliance lies the opportunity to benefit from the recovery of every last drop and particle of previously discarded material. It is the passion for this and other improvements that drives him forward and keeps him seeking, learning and evolving.

Watch them go
This is the group of producers to watch; these hard-working men and women who make it their business to know their operation and their industry inside and out, while staying ever watchful for what lies ahead. They are the ones who collectively will take the ready mix industry to a whole new level of best management practices and sustainable operation.

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