Falcon Structures CEO Stephen Shang has been working very closely with VIBCO's president Karl Wadensten to launch Falcon Structures' Lean transformation.

Today is the day the initiative goes live - and Karl got a special mention in the company's official unveiling.

All of us at VIBCO Vibrators are thankful for the opportunity to help and wish Falcon Structures the best of luck on their Lean journey!

Imagine.

You only have a little bit of time and a little bit of money to make sure your concrete pour happens and happens correctly. Resources are valuable and finite and you're under a lot of pressure to make sure that this jobs gets done and gets done right.

Should you worry about consolidating your concrete? Should you worry about buying a vibrator? After all, that's money that needs to be spent and time that needs to be invested choosing the right vibrator, learning how to mount the vibrator and then actually running it and running it properly.

Why bother, right?

Well,  here are 5 reasons why you should make the investment in an industrial concrete vibrator for your job - even if you're working quick and working on a budget.

3 Reasons to Invest in a Concrete Vibrator For Your Next Job

1.Your Final Product Will Last Longer Than Without Vibration

When concrete is poured, that concrete mixture can have between 5 and 25 percent air worked into the material. If that concrete were laid down as is, the concrete will set riddled with air pockets and places for water and vegetation to seep in and ruin the final product.

Vibration, whether external or internal, will prevent against:

• Excessive entrapped air
• Sand streaking
• Cold joints
• Subsidence cracking and more

All this is to ensure the client is satisfied not just for the short term but for many years down the road.

2. You Get Consistent Results Time After Time

Working with concrete is not a small affair. There are many organizations that need to be coordinated, people that need to be contacted and schedules that need to match to a tee.

Moreover, the fact that concrete is being used means that the job is going to be a permanent one, or at least one that the end result is meant to be used extensively or expected to be visible to the public for years to come.

Nothing can turn a job sour faster than having pillars, structures, molding or sidewalk pieces that come out uneven or non-uniform.

With vibration, there is less human error in making the first piece look the same as the second, third, fourth and so on piece produced. Traits including appearance, strength and consistency are all uniform from product to product.

3. The Learning Curve is Not as Extensive as You Might Think

Unlike Europe where vibratory equipment operators must go through a certification process and months and months of guided training, the United States doesn't offer much in the way of guided training for workers. As a result, it's no small wonder why vibrators used on job sites are misused, under used or flat out used incorrectly causing a group of workers to wonder why they felt they should have bought this thing in the first place.

With that reality, there are many resources to turn to to familiarize yourself with the basics of applying vibration properly. You, your team and your customer will surely notice how simple these best practices are to learn and apply quickly on the job site.

Becoming familiar with vibratory technology and the best practices for using it are far from out of reach. Here are some resources from us as well as from around the Internet to help familiarize your team and yourself with industrial vibration and what vibration can do:

• Proper Use of Vibrators (Neuwald)
• The How and Why of Consolidating Concrete (Suprnant)
• Internal of External Vibration (Ford)
• Internal Vibrators (Worthington)
• Vibrating Vertically Cast Precast Concrete Products (Ford)
• Top 5 Things to Know About External Vibration

Concrete: the rock solid material that makes up our bridges, buildings, sidewalks, streets and more. This remarkable building material has become a construction staple for it’s low cost to put together and ability to mold into just about any shape.

That is until the last 15 years or so. As science and technology move faster and faster and steady innovation and iteration become the norm, concrete is another innovation due for a modernization.

Here are 3 emerging trends on the way for concrete and concrete technology.

1. Self-Repairing Concrete

Structures made from concrete. is subject to the elements. Wind, rain, freeze-thaw cycles all play a role in affecting the lifespan of concrete. Cracks and chipping are going to occur and when that happens, towns and cities tend to set aside funds to rebuild or repair their crumbling infrastructure or engage in a whole new public works project.

Cracking concrete isn't a new issue, but it's one that has continued to jeopardize concrete's longevity. Cracks lead to water seepage and the leaking water can wear away concrete. Additionally, if concrete is reinforced with rebar the rebar can corrode away and the concrete structure's integrity can fall apart.

In the face of this reality, the question must be asked: is a future around the corner where buildings will be able to repair themselves? It would certainly look like that.

Bioconcrete is among the latest developments for concrete. Bioconcrete is concrete made with a special bacteria called Bacillus genus and bacteria-supportive nutrients and supplements.

One CNN profile piece explains how bacteria is used to heal concrete:

"The bacteria then germinate, multiply and feed on the lactate, and in doing so they combine the calcium with carbonate ions to form calcite, or limestone, which closes up the cracks."

According to Henk Jonkers and Eric Schlangen of the Delft Technical University in the Netherlands, "[bioconcrete has] been able to heal cracks up with a width of .5mm." The concept of self-healing concrete and bacteria-infused building material is relatively new, but Jonkers and Schlangen are beginning to take their experiment out fo the lab. 

The two are experimenting with how the concrete survives for prolonged periods of time outdoors, how the concrete works with larger projects like sidewalks and buildings and if costs can be reduced to produce it en masse.

2. Smog Eating Concrete

Roads are not going away and cars are certainly becoming cleaner and more environmentally conscious, but there is still a ways to go when it comes to totally environmentally sound travel and transit. Imagine for a minute if the roads themselves could soak up carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses emitted by cars, trucks and busses passing over the miles of interstate that connect the United States. Smog eating concrete is the unofficial name of a special kind of concrete called photocatalytic concrete.

Photocatalytic concrete contains special nano particles of titanium dioxide that 'eat' smog by removing the nitrogen oxide gasses from the surrounding air and expelling hydrogen dioxide in its place. This kind of concrete was first implemented across Chicago's 2-mile long Cermak Road and Blue Island Avenue in the town's Pilsen neighborhood and accompanying sidewalks and later in Houston, Texas.

The places paved with the photocatalytic concrete found a 19 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide air pollution over the average day along the road. Ideally, reduction could reach 45 percent, according to one Chron piece.

While self-healing and bendable concrete seem to have been receiving abundant funding for further research over the years, smog eating concrete hasn't as one Motherboard article points out.

From the article:

"'I’ve been working on it for 20 years,” said Italian chemist Luigi Cassar, the inventor of smog-eating concrete. “Not everyone will invest in the research.'

While with the Italcementi Group, Cassar first invented smog-eating concrete back in the 1990s. The first building was completed in 2000 by architect Richard Meier, while the smog-eating product hit the market in 2006 as TxActive. Today, anywhere between 20 and 50 buildings have been built with smog-eating concrete."

3. Bendable Concrete

Imagine a block of concrete.

Now imagine some of its qualities. Heavy, grey, tough might be some of the words that come to mind when you think of a concrete block. But probably not bendable.

As it turns out, one team of researchers is out to make concrete less of a rigid building material and more of an uncharacteristically flexible one.

Researcher Victor Li of the University of Michigan has been the forerunner in uncovering the possibilities of a bendable, flexible concrete. Li's research lead him to a concrete he has called Engineered Cementitious Concrete or ECC for short.

Unlike regular concrete which turns brittle when hardened and is vulnerable to cracking and breaking, ECC provides give when a load is imparted onto it adding almost "300 times the bendability" of regular concrete. "The concrete behaves plastically - gives and flexes and holds a load. It bends but doesn't break," Dr. Li explains in a short feature piece from the University of Michigan's civil engineering department.

The secret of ECC comes from coated microscopic fibers. The fibers are built to share the weight of the load and disperse the weight. As the weight is imparted on the concrete, tiny hairline cracks form "about the width of a human hair", rather than a small series of large cracks. The hairline cracks allow the concrete to yield to the weight without ever failing.

ECC concrete can also ensure outward stress when steel rebar rusts and corrodes. When steel rebar rusts, expands outward and causes concrete to break apart and fracture - a very common issue on bridge decks. ECC, according to Li, can endure the outward force exerted by the rusting steel and won't crack.

The American agriculture business is a massive portion of the United States economy. A multi-billion dollar industry encompassing far more than just crops, feed, grain and livestock. The agriculture business in the United States, as the United States Department of Agriculture defines it, includes many more satellite industries including forestry, fishing, food, beverage, tobacco, textiles, apparel, leather products, food services and much more,

Agriculture is big business rich with opportunity, but like with any opportunity and decision making process it helps to understand the full picture first.

Here are 4 must know things about the American agriculture industry.

1. Agriculture is One of America’s Most Dangerous Industries to Work In

Agriculture is a dangerous industry. 

How dangerous?

In 2012, agriculture was listed number 4 on Yahoo’s list of 10 most dangerous jobs in the United States. Agriculture, and specifically feed and grain, are such dangerous areas of work because of:

• Possibilities of suffocation and entrapment in grain silos and bins
• Dust explosions and sudden fires
• Workers work long hours with consistent contact with heavy machinery and equipment
• People actually getting inside of grain bins themselves and dislodging grain bridging and ratholing themselves and getting trapped under grain in the process. 

Agriculture was, again, deemed among the most dangerous industries to work in in 2013 by Farmers Weekly and Health and Safety Executive. 

2. Agriculture is a Family Affair

According to the 2012 census of American agriculture:

• 3.2 million farmers operated 2.1 million farms
• 44% of all farms reported having 2 operators and 7% reported 3 operators
• Farm operators tend to be older males who see farming as their primary profession. Second operators are usually (67%) women and the spouse of the primary operator

• Most farms are operated as a family operation
• Principal owners tend to be between the ages of 45 and 65 with the average age being 58.
• Since 1982, the average age has been increasing by 1-3 years every 5 years starting at age 50.

Most, or at the very least a sizable majority, of American agriculture comes from family owned farms.

Farms are passed down from one generation to the next with the hopes that the new generation will carry on the family’s biggest asset and livelihood.

Few farms sprout up organically and don't have some kind of connection to a family or a family lineage so it's important to remember that farms in most cases 

3. Financially, American Farms Have a Lot to Worry About

Working in agriculture means being subject to many variables that can affect the total price of farming. Many of these variables are out of the farmer’s hands.

Weather, soil conditions, climate changes, changes in equipment rental prices, changes in market valuation of farm equipment and many more all factor in to the collective bottom line of the American farmer.

“We face lower incomes, inflated land values and raising costs to farming. We have plenty of reasons to be worried” said one farmer was quoted saying in one CNBC article.

As of recently, land prices and the topic of debt have become the biggest issues.

"Land values can't stay as high as they are now," said [Blake] Hurst, [a farmer who grows corn and soybeans on a 450-acre farm in Tarkio, Mo] and who's written on the subject. "They've increased at a double-digit rate for the last seven years in the Corn Belt..."

"We can see debt already increasing," Hurst said. "A Kansas Farm Management Association report says that the number of farmers with a 40 percent debt ratio is higher now than it was in 1979," and that there are three times as many farms with a debt ratio of more than 70 percent, he added.

4. There’s a Shortage of Railcars in the United States (and it’s Costing Farmers)

On the heels of the point made above, there are many outside influences that can positively – or negatively – affect the bottom line of an American farm.

Alongside land prices and debt, as of late 2014 one of the biggest issues has been the shortage of railcars and crop-transportation mechanisms.

As the Wall Street Journal points out and one NBC News article backs up, “used grain hoppers – some of which are more than 30 years old – are leasing for about $400 a month, up 40% from a year ago. Some new hoppers are leasing for twice that amount.”

The article goes on to explain that the cause of the shortage today and in recent years is directly tied to the 2008 financial crash. “During the 2008 recession and its aftermath, [railcar] car owners scrapped thousands of cars after customers decided now to renew leases. When demand picked up recently, car owners were short-handed, especially for grain hoppers…”.

Farms don’t just lease a few cars come harvest season. The number of cars leased though a multi year contract can be in the high hundreds and thousands. 

Take a moment and calculate what $400 dollars times a conservative number like 500 amounts to. It’s a staggering number that farms and distribution companies must shoulder to get their harvest to storage and beyond.

This post comes from VIBCO's newest summer intern Emily Verardo-Goodrich 

I felt excited and a little apprehensive as I walked in to VIBCO for the first day of my internship. Before I began my internship, I talked to a few people about what to expect from the experience. They all said that it’s an interesting place – in a good way!

“What does interesting mean?” I wondered.

So my first walk into the building was filled with curiosity and more than a few nerves. I’m happy to report that, within just a short time, the nerves disappeared and my curiosity took over. I met almost every person who worked in the office - from sales to accounting to HR. I even got the chance to meet a few people from the engineering department and the factory.  

After meeting everyone and getting a chance to learn about how everyone worked individually and together in the offices, it was clear that VIBCO was not only a friendly environment but a very open environment. Most of the desks face each other, allowing for everyone in the room to converse and collaborate quickly and easily.

Lunch was the most exciting part of the day. I sat a table right next to Karl, the president of VIBCO, and many of the other people form the office. I got to experience first-hand the VIBCO team working and brainstorming ways to solve a problem.

Based on this first group encounter at lunch, it was clear that VIBCO encouraged ideas and whole-team involvement. Employees are not afraid to offer input to fix the problem of the day, and everyone works off each other’s ideas to come up with a better solution.

After one day at VIBCO, I learned how so much goes on in the office day-to-day. I got hands-on experience in many different things. I am excited for the rest of the summer so I can explore everything else VIBCO Vibrators has to offer!

Today was a big day for Rhode Island. And a proud day for VIBCO.

This morning, Governor Gina Raimondo and a team of just over 50 Rhode Island state government officials from all sectors of the Rhode Island government came to VIBCO Vibratos in Wyoming, RI to learn about Lean and operational excellence.

The governor and state officials were broken up into small groups for a fast-paced tour of the VIBCO machine shop, reception desk, shipping area, engineering office and assembly floor.

VIBCO team members shared their perspectives on Lean - from building flow and reducing lead times, and using common sense, sustainable solutions, to creating smart data management and collection, to Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) machine changeovers - each team member explained how their improvements help increase value to VIBCO customers. 

The enthusiasm and genius of VIBCO's workforce was contagious and set an extremely positive tone for the main event... the signing of an Executive Order bringing Lean Government to Rhode Island!

Rhode Island's WPRO was there to cover the story as well as the Westerly Sun and the Providence A.P.  

From the Westerly Sun, “Rhode Island state government is going to begin a systematic implementation of Lean across all executive branch departments and quasi-public agencies,” Raimondo said. “All Cabinet directors will participate in a Lean mentorship program with members of the private sector so we can continue to learn and build efficiencies.”

Watch Governor Raimondo's address signing of the order here:

Here are some shots from the day's event:

Read Governor Raimondo's full initiative here: http://www.governor.ri.gov/initiatives/lean/

Pothole season is in full swing and Rhode Island is in the thick of it.

Last week, we received a call from the Narragansett Public Works Department expressing an interest in getting some help and guidance on how to properly patch their potholes. 

The Narragansett Public Works team had purchased a VIBCO Pothole Patcher in the past and had been using it diligently. But this year, some extra help was needed.

So we packed up the VIBCO van and took a ride down to Narragansett to answer the town's call.

The workers explained that the biggest problem that Narragansett were being supplied with insufficient patch material from businesses, often, not from the New England area.

Moreover, the workers explained their issues with the Pothole Killers that the state of Rhode Island has begun using to patch their holes en masse. The workers seemed dubious of the quality of repair these machines were doing.

Combine this with the fact that Narragansett is very close to the ocean and suffers from very moist soil, getting a clean, dry work surface to patch a pothole on is a recurring problem.

Needless to say, pothole patches were coming undone often over the span of a few weeks! Leading to reworked jobs many times in a few months and distraction from getting more serious road issues dealt with in a timely manner. The workers were frustrated and wanted help.

The Pothole Patcher combined with the best practices of pothole repair and maintenance, we knew, would help to alleviate the pressing pothole problems Narragansett was facing.

Here are some shots from the day with the Narragansett Public Works team. Below are photos from meeting with the team in their offices and shots of patching two potholes on Boon St. in Narragansett:

It's no secret that potholes are a pain. Read more about the VIBCO Pothole Free Rhode Island and Pothole Free USA initiatives here and our goal to end potholes in Rhode Island and the United States.

The construction sector and the manufacturing sector have been showing signs of growth and rejuvenation in recent years. As a construction industry supplier, we feel a deep responsibility to make concrete vibrators, dump truck vibrators, and vibratory rollers & compactors that provide exceptional value. The growth in construction in encouraging - we are doing our part to ensure that the growth is sustainable and smart.

Commercial Construction Spending is Up

Recent data is showing considerable strength in commercial construction.  A U.S. Census Bureau News report that was released this past February indicated that there was almost an additional 8.5% increase in private construction spending between 2013 and 2012. Spending towards non-residential construction projects increased by about 2.1% and public construction spending projects increased 2.3% across the same time range.

Additional reports have been released reflecting similar figures. A Construction Report from the same agency for the month of June 2014 has indicated that spending has increased across the board in private and public.

These numbers become even more interesting to observe when you look at the bigger picture. Federal Reserve of St. Louis, Missouri has tracked the total construction project spending across commercial and private and measured the results year over year. Here is the bigger statistical picture mapping data from January 2004 to June 2014:

Within this context, it becomes very apparent how spending towards construction is on the rebound and where there are construction projects, there is concrete that needs to be properly managed.

Gilbane Construction and the Consolidation Discussion

Just because spending on construction projects has gone up, that doesn't mean there should be any more room to allow for preventable re-works and mess ups.

We recently held a tour here at VIBCO for Gilbane Construction, nationally recognized leaders in real estate construction and development. While on the tour, we had an extensive discussion with Gilbane leadership about the changing construction jobsite and the increased use of rebar support structures for safety and maintaining the long term structural integrity of the project.

Rebar isn't going away any time soon, but this isn't the prevailing mindset among site workers. With the introduction of more rebar, workers are still using old, insufficient ways of consolidating their concrete amidst the nest of rebar supports.

This is bad news.

Insufficient consolidation leads to air bubbles accumulating in the concrete, cracks and breakaways as time goes on, ultimately shortening the lifespan of the finished project and begging for rework.

Here's a great example of concrete that was not properly consolidated and left to set:

The cracking is apparent and plant life has begun to take up in the cracks further exacerbating the problem and racing the structure closer to failure.

Now, how do you get proper consolidation?

External vibration.

What's external vibration. Here's the breakdown:

External vibration is applying an industrial vibrator to the outside of the project usually by means of a mounting bracket. The vibrator shakes the concrete so all the air bubbles release and the concrete settles neatly. Additionally, external vibration provides the smoothest possible finish to the final product.

Here's a video to help illustrate the point:

Many contactors are unfamiliar and nervous about switching to external vibration and there really is no need to be. External vibrators are an easy to set up, and low-cost-high-value alternative to not having vibration to consolidate concrete at a job site.

The Magic of External Vibration

The sheer volume of knowledge and nuance that goes into understanding proper external vibration is immense and it's very easy for someone to fall down a wormhole and get lost in all the information.

External Concrete Vibrators: 5 Things to Know

When vibrating concrete, there is an area of influence that comes into play. The area of influence is the area around the vibrator that expands outward, shaking and consolidating everything that's within its range.

Moreover, checking to make sure that your vibrator is up to snuff is a whole other matter worth checking. More often than not, improper installation is the biggest problem that many operators are guilty of. Additionally, it's an improperly installed vibrator that ruins the vibrator itself AND can ruin the surface that its mounted on.

Luckily, we covered how to catch an improperly installed vibrator early and covered it with a slew of solutions. http://www.vibco.com/news/vibration-nation-blog/vibration-nation-blog/2013/04/23/electric-vibrator-performance---4-things-to-check

No roads, no bridges, no nation.

The United States of America has almost 4 million miles of roads, including 604,000 bridges. Those roads and bridges are the economic lifeblood of our nation. And many of them are crumbling.

Since the 1990s, public outcry has grown louder and louder to address the state of America’s infrastructure. Report after report  concludes that a large percentage - most estimates are about 30% - of America’s roadways are in "poor or mediocre" condition, and roughly 10% of America's bridges are in urgent need of repair.

A quick Google search for the term ‘American infrastructure’ tells a clear story of where we are in the discussion of repairing America's infrastructure. The words ‘failure’, ‘short term’, ‘crumbling’, ‘deteriorating’ and ‘fix’ are common key words.

Take a look around you the next time you’re out for a drive. If you see pothole-laden and cracked roads in desperate need of repair, rusted steel beams, cracking brick and mortar, chipped, cracked concrete pillars holding up bridges and parking garages (probably due to poor consolidation on pour), you're looking at the problem.

How in need is America of a massive restoration project? Below are 24 facts about the current state of America’s infrastructure.

----

1. The number of bridges that are considered ‘structurally insufficient’ is growing. As of 2014, 1 out of every nine bridges in the United States is at risk of structural failure.
2. Almost a third of all roads, or 32 percent, in the United States are in need of major repairs.
3. Business and labor are united in the effort to fix America’s infrastructure¹. Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce and Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO came before a Senate hearing both voiced strong support for raising the Federal Gas Tax to support infrastructure improvements.
4. The last major 6-year infrastructure-funding bill was in 1997 - 18 years ago². Since then, there have been 21 minor short-term extensions to the bill, but not another major piece of legislation for infrastructure restoration and massive public works projects.
5. Our ports soon won’t be able to accommodate new ships³.
6. Our airports are some of the most congested in the world.  American airport runways cannot accommodate the steadily increasing demand for air travel and additional airplanes. As of 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers have given American airports a D rating.
7. The United States is ranked at number 19 for quality of infrastructure, behind Denmark, Spain, Portugal and United Arab Emirates.
8. Infrastructure spending has plummeted since 2008. Through a combination of state spending getting cut and national budgets for public works projects getting slashed, both have played central roles to the freefall of American infrastructure spending.
9. We’re on the cusp of a failing grade for infrastructure. America’s Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has given the U.S. a D+ grade in terms of its infrastructure condition, with $3.6 trillion worth of repair and restructuring costs needed by 2020. The grade encompasses aviation, bridges, drinking water, dams, energy, hazardous waste, levees, ports, public parks, trails, roads, schools, solid waste removal, wastewater removal and transit. 
10. It’s not just what’s going on above ground. New Orleans, LA reports that as much as 2 of every 5 gallons are fresh water are lost as a result of damaged plumbing infrastructure beneath the city.
11. Gravel roads are becoming a popular alternative to asphalt roads because they’re easier to maintain and cheaper to lay down. South Dakota is the most notable example of this trend with over 100 miles of asphalt roads converted to gravel.
12. Almost 50% of American households do not have access to a bus or some kind of transportation.
13. Our electricity infrastructure is also in need of immediate attention⁴. Rolling blackouts, brownouts and general shortcomings in the US electrical grid costs around 80 billion dollars a year.
14. One bridge has been called the Achilles Heel of train-based commerce – and it’s been deemed grossly unsafe⁵. The Portal Bridge in New Jersey is responsible for supporting almost 500 trains a day to go up and down the eastern seaboard from Boston to Washington DC. The bridge is a swing bridge - a popular model when built in 1910  - but already considered antiquated by 1950. The bridge must periodically unhinge and swing outward to allow ships and barges through, and then lock back into place. This process costs the United States billions of dollars in delays and waiting times. The wait times to cross the Portal Bridge can be so extensive that trains are backed up all the way to Boston.
15. 300 bridges become structurally deficient each year in the state of Pennsylvania - or 1% annually of all the state's bridges⁶ .
16. Traffic jams are not just annoying, they’re expensive. Traffic congestion is expected to increase. The cost of traffic congestion costs the United States approximately $124 billion each year. Between 1995 and 2004, highway mileage grew at an average rate of .2 percent, while vehicle miles traveled increased at an average rate of 2.5 percent. In other words, Americans are travelling more than the rate of highway development.
17. Every time you fill up your car, you’re paying for your roads. The Federal Gas Tax (18 cents per gallon) represents 90 percent of the total revenue for the National Highway Trust Fund, the fund responsible for federally funded public works and road restoration projects. The fund is currently so underfunded that there have been talks to inject emergency money into the fund through other means of government to avoid total bankruptcy.
18. Our water infrastructure needs improvement, too. According to the 1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey put out by the Department of Environmental Protection, over $150 million will need to be invested in restoring piping and water systems over 20 years to keep water safe enough to consume.
19. An overwhelming majority of American dams and water retention apparatuses are deemed ‘unsafe’.  In addition to more than one third of all dam failures or near-failures happening in the last decade since 1874, over 4,000 of America’s dams were considered ‘unsafe’. 1,300 of these dams are considered ‘high hazard’
20. One third of all highway fatalities are the result of poor road conditions, dated road designs and layout or roadside hazards.
21. We have a ready and able construction workforce. In 2012, nearly 16 percent of America’s construction workers were unemployed.

Are Things Expected to Look Up Soon?

Unfortunately, things aren’t looking so good for American infrastructure spending.

In June of 2014, Congress passed a series of measures aimed at moving money from different areas of federal spending into the Highway Trust Fund. The steps taken to prevent the fund from reaching zero and falling into bankruptcy. While it’s encouraging to see elected officials acknowledging and acting on the fact that one of the largest sources of funding for public works project is seeing funding, it’s “hand-to-mouth funding” according to one Economist article addressing infrastructure issues nationally and internationally. According to the author, this type of funding strategy makes planning for major projects difficult and ‘encourages city, state and local governments to put off repairs as long as possible’.

What can you do?  How can you help?

Write your elected representatives and demand that they focus on infrastructure improvement. Let them know that roads, bridges, dams, water systems, and transportation systems are more important than any other "issue-of-the-day" and that you expect them to take a leadership role in addressing the real problems.

We are a nation of innovators, builders, and creators. We have the skilled tradespeople, the exceptional engineers and solid manufacturing base to solve our infrastructure problems. All we need is the political will to make infrastructure our highest priority.

Get involved, stay involved, and use your vote to elect individuals who are committed to solving the problem.

Check out all of the CBS 60 Minutes feature hosted by Steve Kroft called Falling Apart for more insights into America's infrastructure situation:

1-6. Falling Apart: America's Neglected Infrastructure. CBS. 23 November, 2014. Television.

As the weather gets warmer, snow-covered roads will soon give way to pothole-riddled roads.

And none likes potholes.

Pothole are dangerous to motorists and expensive for residents as well as cities and as spring approaches, towns across America thawing out from this rough winter are going to experience a scourge of potholes.

This spring, VIBCO is running a special program to help communities around the United States get the help they need with their pothole problems: encouraging people to contact their Department of Public Works (or DPWs) themselves and demand action on pothole-riddled roads.

The Department of Public Works is the agency in each city and town across the United States that handles pothole repair and letting your local DPW know that there are potholes that need fixing now is the first step towards making a positive change in your area.

We at VIBCO have set up a special template that those having pothole problems in their town are encouraged to use to express where and what their pothole problems are to their public works team or DPW.

Using the template is easy. Simply replace the town and location information spaces with your own town, and location and information about the pothole you're writing about and hit send.

Visit the link below to learn how a simple copy and paste template is all you need to get the ball rolling towards getting your potholes fixed in your town.

Let Us Help You Contact Your DPW Today

Trade show season is here and that means that VIBCO will be coming to a town near you!

From March 4th to March 6th, VIBCO will be setting up shop at the Work Truck Show at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. For 2 days, come down and visit the Expert Vibrator guys and our array of DC vibrators for ice control, dumpbody vibrators and more.

For more information on the location, the dates, what we'll be showcasing and more click the link below:

Come See VIBCO at Booth #430 at Work Truck Show 2015

Keep up to date with all the latest VIBCO news and trade show appearances by checking our Events page.

Finding great manufacturing employees is hard work. Finding great manufacturing employees who fit, and who are ready, willing and able to be part of a high-functioning lean culture is even harder.

Thank goodness for our excellent partnership with the New England Institute of Technology's SAMI program 

Last Friday morning, VIBCO's CMO Linda Kleineberg, and Machine Operator Antone Cherry, spoke to the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island to share their experiences with the SAMI (Shipbuilding/Marine Trades and Advance Manufacturing Institute) program. Their primary message was that SAMI provides exceptional value for both employers and unemployed/underemployed workers, and that their success is driven by the SAMI staff's genuine desire to help Rhode Islanders find meaningful work.

The SAMI program (short for Shipbuilding/Marine Trades and Advanced Manufacturing Institute) is a program operated by the New England Institute of Technology and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The program began in February 2013 with a 2.5 million dollar Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Training (TAACCCT) grant from the United States Department of Labor. The program's focus is to train unemployed Rhode Islanders and provide them with the trade skills RI employers currently need.  Their mission is to develop a "pipeline of skilled workers for Rhode Island's marine and manufacturing industries" with a focus on welders and machinists.

Through partnerships with employers around the state of Rhode Island, SAMI has played an important role in helping Rhode Island manufacturing businesses find needed talent for their operations, including VIBCO's.

Antone,a VIBCO employee and SAMI Graduate, hired through a work immersion experience funded by the Governor’s Workforce Board of RI, stood in front of the Board and the audience to share his story. He explained how participating in the SAMI Program has changed his life. Antone had driven a fork lift for 10 years before SAMI and VIBCO. Long hours at multiple jobs meant that he was not able to be present for his family. He shared that his new career in machining would allow him to support his family and spend more time with his children - a win-win-win for everyone. 

SAMI Case Manager Kathleen Partington had this to say about Antone's time during the SAMI program and his small presentation on Friday,

"Antone Cherry, who was hired by VIBCO in October, 2014, is an excellent example of the impact of employer driven skills training can have on both unemployed Rhode Islanders and employers in need of skilled workers who want to work!  Antone is a young man who faced many challenges, and after completing SAMI is working for VIBCO, and as he said earlier this week at the Governor’s Workforce Board of RI meeting (one of our funders).  “I love my job!  I am happy!  I don’t even mind getting up in the morning.  I have never said that about a job before. My plan is return to NEIT to get a college degree.”  In a matter of 8-10 weeks Antone completed this program, and was hired by VIBCO.  His life is forever changed.  He has a career and a plan for the future.”

The SAMI Program is a great example of a Rhode Island Number One moment.  An active initiative to not only provide jobs for Rhode Islanders but a vehicle to build important, lasting relationships between Rhode Island workers and employees. Rhode Island is very fortunate to have the SAMI program providing a pathway toward careers in manufacturing. We look forward to seeing the program grow and help more Rhode Islanders.

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Read more about New England Institute of Technology and SAMI here:

SAMI Program Overview

SAMI Program Student Testimonial

About New England Institute

World of Concrete kicks off today in Las Vegas, Nevada and VIBCO will be showing off our best concrete vibration solutions from February 3rd to the 6th.

This year VIBCO can be found at two booths, one indoor and one outdoor. VIBCO's indoor booth is N2962 and VIBCO's outdoor booth is O32026.

VIBCO will be holding daily demonstrations of the SVRLS-6500 vibrator at Superior Concrete's outdoor booth, booth O31644.

Read more about VIBCO at this year's World of Concrete here.

Did you know that peanut farmers and peanut processors need vibrators?

We've been working with the industry for years, but this story is particularly special because our customer cared enough to share with us, in impeccable detail, their VIBCO experience with the VIBCO Stik-It™ vibrator mount and the SVRFS-4000AL.

The following was written by our Southeast Regional Sales Manager, Carl Patton.

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On Wednesday 9-17-14, I did a test demo of the Stik-It™ and an SVRFS-4000AL high frequency vibrator at a bulk material warehouse in Alabama. The application is emptying refrigerated super sacks of shelled peanuts into railcars via a center-fill, gravity-load spout.

The gravity spout loading process creates a peak that disrupts filling (left). When this occurs, operators have to stop loading in order to push and shovel the peanuts into the corners of the car to depeak the peanuts and reduce the angle of repose.

The Problem: 

Manually shoveling the peanuts lead to peanut breakage and the possibility of contamination. Moving the peanuts manually took two operators 20-30 minutes - approximately 1 full labor hour - to complete the task.

The Solution:

VIBCO recommended a single Stik-It™ vibrator mount with a SVRFS-4000AL to depeak the peanuts and allow the railcar to fill without interruption.  The test was a success (see video below).  We mounted the Stik-It™ and vibrator high on the side wall of the railcar. The unit was activated when the railcar was about 90% full.

The Results:

Using the combination of  Stik-It™ and SVRFS-4000AL:

• Prevented peanut peaking and disruptions during filling
• Allowed for railcars to fill and unload continuously
• Eliminated breakage and wasted product and contamination
• Removed the need for shovels and manual labor required to move peanuts

The holidays have come and gone once again - but we have the pictures from our holiday season.

To close out 2014, VIBCO held their annual Christmas party and it was a day to remember. After an intense company-wide game of the Amazing Race, everyone came out to the shop and shared food, laughs and good times.

Take a look at the highlights from this year's holiday party here.

While you're checking out the Christmas party pictures, take a look at the other VIBCO Pinterest boards. The  Vibration Nation blog, VIBCO apparel, jobsite pictures and more are all up there, too - in picture form!

Oh - and Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by for a visit, too and before heading back to the North Pole took a photo-op in front of the VIBCO sign.

It's Christmas time again and that means Christmas carols!

We're bringing back our VIBCO-ized Christmas carols back for another go around for this year's holiday season. 

Give them a listen below!

Let it Shake! Let it Shake! Let it Shake! VIBCO Xmas Song

It's VIBCO! It's VIBCO! It's VIBCO! Xmas Song

Frosty the Millwright VIBCO Xmas Song

Does this story sound familiar?

You've worked 14 hours straight and you know you need to be back to work in just a few hours. There's been one challenge after another whether fighting to stay awake, fending off persistent hunger or just keeping the spreader on the back of the truck from clogging up. You're making progress but the roads you just finished plowing seems to be getting recovered in snow again.

How do you feel?

Are you tired? Are you hungry? Are you frustrated by all of the things that keep you from finishing your work so you can go home to your family? Are you on the verge of throwing your hands up in the air and calling it a night?

But you can't because you know that the work you're doing saves lives and keeps your town functioning. So you keep going.

Plow drivers across the United States all share this same story. More often than not, plow drivers go un appreciated for their work and contributions. In this post, we're going to provide a solution to make sure that plow drivers can wrap up their work sooner, with better results for residents, and get home to their family - and bed - after a job well done.

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Plow drivers’ work is physically and mentally demanding. As we talked about before in For Plow Drivers: How to Stay Awake Without Caffeine On the Job, exhaustion is a key problem.

Many folks don't realize that exhausted drivers don't just get to go home when the roads are done. They need to clean out their trucks to reclaim unused salt and sand - precious winter resources. They wait in line for an extra 30 and sometimes 60 minutes for the opportunity to clear out the rest of their bed, a job that can take an additional 30 minutes to finish. Reaching for a shovel to 4:30 in the morning after working an 11 hour shift on little sleep is not fun.

What Plow Drivers Always Wanted

We heard it straight from drivers: you want a single tool that makes cleanouts easier and faster at the end of a shift. You want to get out of the yard faster, while still reclaiming material, and saving labor hours.

VIBCO developed the Big Bertha vibrator and Sandbuster DC vibrator lines with truck and plow drivers FOR truck and plow drivers. Our vibrators feature easy push-button switches inside the cab, complete wiring harnesses, mounting kits for good, fast installation and they do exactly what you want. They make material move out of your bed - whether that's on the road or at clean-out time - so that your job is easier.

See for yourself:

For end-of-shift truck bed cleanouts, the vibrator makes fast work of frozen, stuck material - releasing it and flowing it down to your spreader/auger. Contact VIBCO today for more information on Big Bertha and Sandbuster today.

Our Big Takeaway

First, many thanks to the Richmond, RI Public Works Team for the time, honesty and sharing.

Through them, we learned that while the act of actually plowing snow is tough work, the lack of sleep and poor eating on the roads are the real challenges.

We learned that the biggest headache comes at the end of a shift, when drivers need to clear out their trucks. Already tired and longing for their bed for a night’s sleep, it really stinks to have to wait in line for 30-60 minutes before spending another 30-60 minutes to manually clean out the bed or box. In Lean terms that's up to 2 hours of non-value-added activity, and it comes at a time when a good meal, and a comfortable bed are most needed.

VIBCO SandBuster™ and Big Bertha™ Vibrators are in stock and ready to ship. Call us for a referral to a local dealer, or contact your favorite truck equipment dealer and ask for VIBCO by name.

All VIBCO Vibrators are proudly Made in the USA at 75 Stilson Road, in Wyoming, Rhode Island

Early this morning, Mark Graban brought to our attention via Twitter that we were mentioned in a Harvard Business Review piece titled "Learning New Things Means Getting Up From Your Desk".

Power's piece showcases the merit of getting away from the computer screen and actually going out to learning new things. Power explains that learning from other companies is a learning experience whose returns can be far greater than what's compiled through big data or reading articles from major authority publications.

The article places VIBCO alongside other forerunners in operational excellence and systems improvement including GE Appliances and Autoliv, Here's the excerpt with our mention:

"At VIBCO, a small manufacturer in Wyoming, R.I., big organizations like Citizens Bank and GE Locomotive, as well as many hospitals, have visited the plant to learn about the company’s continuous improvement efforts. VIBCO offers tours 3-6 times per month. Each tour lasts for 3 hours and is followed by a debrief, facilitated by CEO Karl Wadensten. During the tour, visitors engage directly with VIBCO’s line employees. This direct interaction gives visitors a real look at the hard work of continuous improvement, and it gives VIBCO employees the opportunity to feel like superstars as they show and talk about their hard work with visitors who are deeply interested in what they have to say. The interactions refocus employees on continuous improvement. Ideas inspired by visitors are welcomed, considered, and implemented. Some examples of “tour-inspired” improvements include a new assembly cell layout, improved visuals to communicate standard work, and development of new machining fixtures."

Read the whole piece here: 'Learning New Things Means Getting Up From Your Desk' by Brad Power via Harvard Business Review

A town needs their plow drivers awake and alert after a big snow fall.

All towns depend on their plowing team to keep roads safe and clean when a big snowfall hits but few people have the opportunity to see just how taxing a job like this really is.

This past week we had a chance to learn for ourselves from town workers and plow drivers for the town of Richmond, Rhode Island. We learned that it’s not so much plowing snow that’s the challenge – it’s the exhaustion and poor eating habits that come with it.

While coffee, caffeine pills and Red Bull are quick and easy fixes for fixing sleepiness on a long shift, excessive amounts of these substances can be actually be more detrimental to one’s health. To help restore alertness, combat fatigue and cure hunger on the job and to break up the pattern of coffee after coffee and ultimately answer the question, "how to stay awake without caffeine on the job", try reaching for one of these eight high-energy snacks instead.

8 Foods for Combating Sleepiness and Hunger on the Job

For plow drivers: how to stay awake without caffeine on the job is a tricky question. Being awake and alert is part of what comes with being a plow driver, but it’s very hard to do. Imagine driving a truck through the night for 10 plus hours at a time with a 2 hour break periodically thought out the shift. Snow blowing all around you, visibility is cut down and the only thing keeping you from crashing into something is the truck’s heater keeping the windshield defrosted. Sound like a situation you’re going to be 100 per cent alert and functioning in? Probably not. 

To solve this problem, drivers often turn to fast fixes for energy. 5 Hour Energy shots, caffeine pills, coffee, Red Bull and energy drinks are the go-to solutions, despite the numerous health drawbacks. Drinking large amounts of coffee can dehydrate you, energy that comes from energy drinks is usually from the high sugar content and consuming too many caffeine pills can lead to the same effects that drinking too much coffee leads to. Dizziness, shortage of breath, increased urge to use the bathroom and increased thirst are just some of the side effects that come with consuming caffeine well past excess.

Good food, as we already covered in another post [link], is the best solution for staying awake through long nights of plowing – without any of the aforementioned health issues. Here’s a short list of some of the most energizing and nutritionally substantial foods for getting plow drivers through the long, cold shifts.

• Fruit including bananas, apples and blueberries: Fruit, specifically apples, bananas and blueberries, are packed with a whole host of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Fibrous foods are fantastic for those seeking a steady energy boost throughout the day because the fiber helps the body feel full and naturally processes evenly throughout the day.
• Walnuts, almonds: As a fast, energy packed snack, almonds and walnuts can never fail. Almonds, walnuts and most nuts come packed with a lot of calories in a small serving. Lots of calories means lots of fuel for the body to burn off. In addition to a lot of calories, almonds are packed with fiber, vitamin E, protein and magnesium – all vitamins and minerals that help you feel full without feeling bloated, energized without it feeling like it’s on a timer.
• Water: Believe it or not, water can wake you up. A leading cause of tiredness is dehydration. The body needs 1.2-2 liters of water a day, or 6-8 glasses, to function properly. Drinking too much coffee or energy drinks can suck the water out of your body and leave you feeling tired and deflated. Staying hydrated on the job is a simple solution to fatigue (even if it means you might have to pull the plow over more than you’d like).
• Green tea: While it does have caffeine, green tea boosts your energy without the jitters that can come after consuming other more highly caffeinated beverages. The aromatic drink is loaded with an amino acid called L-theanine, and it offers a long list of health benefits. 
• Steak, red meat: In addition to a plethora of protein, vitamins and minerals, beef and other red meat provides iron to the eater’s bloodstream. Iron shortages in the bloodstream are common causes of fatigue and consuming iron-rich foods like red meat can act as an energy restorer. However, consume too much red meat (and too much iron) and the body can feel heavy and tired all over again, especially in men over 40.
• Fish, salmon: Fatty fish like tuna and salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s help to elevate mood, improve mental clarity and overall alertness.
• Eggs: One egg (hard boiled, scrambled, over easy, etc.) is all you need to feel wide-awake. Whether to start a shift or to keep you going through a shift, eggs whether scrambled, hard boiled or sunny side up, are a food you should be eating. Eggs are rich in protein, essential for energy burning without feeling tired or fatigued after, thaiamin, riboflavin, folate, vitamins B12 and B6 – all essential for energy production.
• Dark chocolate: Caffeine in small doses certainly can keep you alert, awake and functional but too much caffeine can work against you. Dark chocolate – real dark chocolate, not milk or white chocolate – is packed with caffeine and theobromine, a natural heart stimulant.
• Protein bars: Don’t have access to a grill to cook up some meat? Maybe you forgot to boil an egg and take it with you before your plow run started. Either way, no problem! Reach instead for a protein bar. Enjoy all the benefits of steak and eggs’ nutritional benefits we discussed above all in a bar you can keep in your coat pocket.

The Big Takeaway

Plowing is tough, tough work both physically and mentally. As a driver, you’re expected to navigate a massive truck through a dark, snowy conditions for upwards of 12 hours at a time. It’s not an easy job at all.

However, the answer for how to stay awake without caffeine on the job has a pretty straight forward answer.

As we learned this past week, fatigue and poor diet are two of the biggest problems when plowing snow for a long time. Energy drinks and coffee certainly keep you alert, but the side effects of consuming these things one after another for hours on end can be worse than what you were experiencing before you consumed them.

Staying well fed and energized is a tough problem to solve, but the foods on this list are sure to knock out both of these issues. Each of these foods are easy to carry along with you, fill your stomach and keep your body burning good vitamins and nutrients rather than synthetic ones like you might find in fast or processed foods and drinks. Also with most of these foods, a handful or a single serving has effects that last hours well past consumption and are picked up at just about any super market either before the shift or during the shift.

While the occasional coffee or energy drink is acceptable, make a point to carry along some almonds and a banana the next time you go out on the job. Your body and brain will thank you.

Pouring concrete with heavy rebar ain't easy.

We’ve been to hundreds of jobsites, and talked to workers, supervisors and foremen in person and on the phone for over 50 years. In our experience, the biggest headache for concrete contractors is getting high quality consolidation and a great finish. Many times, finish is sacrificed to ensure concrete strength and durability. The end product has bugholes that ruin the finish, and surface cracks often appear only a few years after the job.

Internal Concrete Vibration and Heavy Rebar

Internal vibration is using a dip-style internal concrete vibrator to vibrate concrete. A dip-style vibrator is inserted into the concrete, activated, and moved up and down throughout the poured concrete. Internal vibration is very much dependent on the skill and attention of the operator. A skilled worker can get great results. However, more often than not, there is little consistency between operators. 

The vibration forces the entrained air and free water to move up and out toward the walls of the concrete form. Often, this means that the air bubbles are trapped against the form walls leaving behind bugholes and honeycombing. 

The concrete is consolidated – but the visible finish isn't great.

While internal vibration is frequently used in heavy rebar conditions, there are consequences. Too often, the concrete is not properly consolidated because the internal vibrator hits against the rebar, can't fit between the rebar, or the operator has not been trained for the heavy rebar conditions. To correctly use an internal vibrator:

• Insert the vibrator directly downward into the concrete and directly up with as little movement left or right as possible.
• Proper vertical penetration is important because too much movement to the left or right will cause the vibrator to make contact with the rebar and damage the vibrator or alter its area of influence. Both of which can lead to poorly consolidated concrete
• Avoid dipping and pulling the vibrator back at angles. 
• Avoid inserting the vibrator in a spot too far or too close from the last spot it was inserted in. Doing so can reduce the area of consolidation that occurs.

External Vibration and Heavy Rebar

External vibration means never having to struggle to vibrate inside a heavy rebar cage.  External vibrators mount to the outside of the form and shake the form. Air bubbles are forced to the surface of the concrete rather than against the walls of the form. Operators move the vibrators vertically up the exterior of the form and activate them as the concrete level rises. Vibrator brackets come in clamp-style, weld-on style, and suction style. Talk to a VIBCO Concrete Vibrator guy to determine the right bracket for your form style. 

Using Concrete Vibrators is easy, but there are key points to consider.  Read the top 5 things to know about external vibrators, making sure your vibrator is running properly, and review VIBCO's Concrete guides detailing how to VIBCO concrete vibrators for concrete walls, columns, precast forms, countertops, and more.  This information will help you to understand the science and technique of external concrete vibrator so you get perfect consolidation every time.

We supplied a jobsite in New York City where the rebar looked like this (left):

Yes – that is double wrapped rebar support. Heavy, heavy, cumbersome stuff to deal with. But the job went on without a hitch because the supervisor believed in using our SVRC 5500 external vibrators.

Heck – the supervisor even came up with a new way for mounting these vibrators that we hadn’t thought of before.

On the jobsite and as you prepare to use concrete vibrators, there are some key points to understand:

• Areas of influence and position. This is the single most critical point to consider. All concrete vibrators have a defined area of influence. By understanding the Area of Influence, you will be able to calculate the number of vibrators to use, placement of vibrators (movement) up the concrete form, and how they should be spaced on the form.

• Run time. A handful of phone calls will come through the office every month with a furious customer on the other line. Their frustration? Their vibrator died. When we ask what happened. They tell us how long they ran it for and at what power level. Turns out, they overran and overloaded their vibrator and blew it out. At the New York City job, run time was certainly something we explained.
• Mounting. How the vibrator actually sits on the form and how tightly it’s pressed against the form can make or break your vibrator – literally. We tell jobsite hands all the time how important it is to make sure that your vibrator is firmly fastened to the concrete form. If it’s not mounted properly the vibration from the vibrator won’t transfer properly into the form and into the concrete. Moreover, if the vibrator has any space between it and the form, the vibrator can shake itself to pieces by banging against the form.

The Bottom Line on Vibration and Heavy Rebar

If you intend to use internal vibration, be sure to use trained operators who understand good vibration technique:

• Dip straight down and straight up
• Measure out the distance between insert points to make sure you’re not missing space between one point and another