The Lean Nation Hosted By Karl Wadensten
PBN 5 Questions with Karl Wadensten
Here's the text of the article. To view the complete article online, go to http://www.pbn.com/stories/46519.html
Published online Dec 3, 2009
Five Questions With: Karl Wadensten
By Chris Barrett PBN Staff Writer
"[HAVING OUR PRODUCTS used at the World Trade Center site] is a real source of pride for our company and for me personally," said Karl Wadensten, president of VIBCO Vibrators.
Karl Wadensten is president of Richmond-based VIBCO Vibrators (http://www.vibco.com), a company that makes equipment key to producing concrete. Wadensten recently became a talk show host on WPRV-AM 790 Talk and Business, where he chats about, among other topics, his “lean” philosophy. The program runs from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Wadensten recently took some time to speak with Providence Business News about his philosophy and some of the projects that use his company’s equipment.
PBN: You are an advocate of a “lean philosophy” on your radio show and in the construction industry. Can you tell us a little about “lean?”
WADENSTEN: Lean is about identifying and eliminating waste and there’s just so much waste in construction – change orders, site preparation, material, inventory, motion, waiting, the permitting process, rework, defects and so much more. In addition to the sheer dollars, the waste can create a lot of frustration. Imagine being a contractor and the frustration you feel each time your schedule is delayed because of permitting or if you’re a customer and your project is over budget or if you’re a subcontractor who keeps showing up to a jobsite that’s not ready for your work or where mid-stream changes are not well communicated. The great thing is that a lot of large and small construction operations are beginning to get lean. There are two streams where lean can really help – the system and the process. The system is all the paper, the transactions, the planning and the communications; and the process is all of the actual work associated with the project. Both streams have so much opportunity to get Lean. The result of lean construction will be more projects at or under budget with increased job site safety, and clear, open communication channels.
PBN: Why are construction vibrators important?
WADENSTEN: They’re so important to the quality of finished concrete, especially now with more reinforced steel, more architectural finishes, and more jobs needing smooth, unblemished “as cast” surfaces. Vibration is essential to proper concrete consolidation integrity and compressive strength because it removes trapped air. VIBCO manufactures both internal and external concrete vibrators. Most people are familiar with the internal or wand-style vibrators, but using them properly is a laborious job that requires a high level of expertise. The results are entirely reliant on the competency of the individual doing the work. That is one of the reasons we are seeing more and more customers using external vibrators. They allow for a more systematic, reliable, consistent approach to concrete vibration and provide a superior finished product, and are a safer option because they do not require an operator to climb up to the top of forms.
PBN: Where are some of your vibrators in use today?
WADENSTEN: In so many places, including the World Trade Center site, the East Side Access Project in Manhattan, on trucks delivering material for the Three Gorges Dam at the Yangtze River in China, the Meadowlands, the Iway project, the Harvard Law Building and Harvard Stem Cell Research Lab and a variety of other major domestic and foreign construction projects including power plants and water treatment facilities. VIBCO Vibrators are also used extensively in the precast concrete industry to produce manholes, jersey barriers, concrete steps, septic tanks, etc.
PBN: How does it feel to have your company involved with construction at the World Trade Center site?
WADENSTEN: It’s unbelievable. It’s a real source of pride for our company and for me personally. Honestly, the greatest thing was to see how our team responded. We got the order because we could deliver high-quality concrete form vibrators in a very tight timeframe. The order came in on a Wednesday and we needed to deliver hundreds of large concrete vibrators and brackets to the World Trade Center site for a pour first thing Monday morning. The whole VIBCO team worked together to make it happen. We delivered the vibrators on Saturday and spent the weekend on site to help get the equipment installed in time for the pour. I can say with 100 percent confidence that we never would have been able to deliver that order before lean. It’s that kind of customer responsiveness and true teamwork that characterizes VIBCO’s culture now, and I couldn’t be more proud of each person here.
PBN: Ever receive any wisecracks regarding the company name?
WADENSTEN: We don’t make the sexy brand, but we do have a lot of fun. It’s actually a great icebreaker, and we get to make people smile. You should see us at our industry tradeshows, we’re the “Expert Vibrator Guys!” We take advantage of the good humor and really try to engage our customers and partners to become part of the “Vibration Nation” – we even have VIBCO Vibrators temporary tattoos, hard hat stickers, T-shirts, and the best yet … Vibration Nation theme song ringtones.
Add a Comment
