Masonry Magazine December 1994 Page. 6
FROM THE PRESIDENT
By L. C. PARDUE, JR.
President, Mason Contractors Association of America
The Grass Always Looks Greener
The National Association of Brick Distributors (NABD) has cranked up their "10 by 10 Challenge" a promotional campaign to increase brick sales from the current 6.86-billion brick per year to 10-billion brick per year, within the next ten years. This is an achievable goal, and we should all help in any and all ways that we can to attain it. After all, NABD's efforts to increase brick sales will result in increased sales for mason contractors as well.
It seems, however, that NABD is already hedging their bet at reaching their 10 by 10 goal in the wrong way by running around playing Chicken Little and blaming the lack of productivity on the mason contractor and our employees. I'm usually a laid back kind of guy, but I read the NABD 30-Day Letter written by their President Ken Dash (who by the way is a breath of fresh air compared to their last president) it kind of twisted my tail a little.
The main gist of his letter was that the average bricklayer lays only 480 brick per day or a pitiful one brick per minute.
Dash went on to say that if we can increase productivity to "just as pitiful two bricks per minute" we can solve a lot of our manpower needs. Is Ken right? Do we have production problems that we never had before? I'd have to say yes. No industry is perfect. We have too few bricklayers and not enough training.
However, I'm sure many of you who hear these "out of the blue" production rates are thinking the same thing I am. There are many factors that affect production that Dash doesn't address.
First of all, contractors and masons today must deal with architectural designs which require intricate masonry work, increasing reinforcing requirements, seismic wire, two piece ties, raked joints and of course the ever burdening and changing OSHA and EPA regulations.
Secondly, contractors must deal with financial retainages from general contractors, and the bigger problem of inconsistent quality and material handling from suppliers that a bricklayer must cull through before laying the product.
Finally, a number of years ago, one of our leading architects made a statement that "we didn't build them like we use to." But what he didn't realize was that to build them like we use to costs money, and they don't pay us like they use to.
Dash didn't offer any solution to the problem of productivity except to say "lay more brick." The solution is not increasing production but a need for more manpower. Our feeling is that the answer to the productivity capacity problem is to attract more young people into our industry, provide the best training available and then keep our employees motivated.
The Mason Contractors Association of America has budgeted a substantial amount of resources to hire a full time education director to develop and implement training programs and career promotion programs. This will be a very aggressive effort to encourage more training programs, better training programs and sustained training programs.
In an effort to support the MCAA effort, we are being financially supported by the National Concrete Masonry Association, the Brick Institute of America, and the Portland Cement Association. Each association has committed $30,000 to help us implement our program. On behalf of the members of the MCAA, we deeply appreciate this support.
Hey. NABD, we can use all of the help we can get! What is it that they say. "If you're not a part of the solution, then you're part of the problem?" It's time to put up or shut up!- Lenny C. Pardue, Jr.