Masonry Magazine October 1977 Page. 8
Part of the round table discussion group at the MCAA-Signode seminar on concrete block packaging included (from left) Ed Smith, Hansen & Hempel: Bob Harrison, G & R Masonry, Hale Olson, Apress Brick Co.: Paul Bronson, Best Block Co., and Jerry Dufour, Ma-Con Construction Corp. Bill Kelly of Signode Corp. is in the background.
PART I OF A TWO-PART SERIES
STRAPPING CONCRETE BLOCK-
A Pro and Con Discussion
On June 29, 1977, the MCAA and the Signode Corporation, Chicago, III., co-sponsored a seminar on "Strapping Concrete Block-A Discussion of the Pros and Cons" at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort, Lincolnshire, III. Purpose of this educational session was to explore the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing strapped or packaged block for on-site masonry construction operations.
Present at the seminar were representatives from ten mason contracting and block manufacturing firms from Illinois and Wisconsin as well as personnel from Signode and its public relations agency, Burson-Marsteller of Chicago.
The session, which lasted the entire afternoon, was co-moderated by George A. Miller, executive vice president of MCAA, and Bill Blaha, editor of Concrete Products magazine, Chicago.
Representing the mason contractors were: Jerry Dufour, Ma-Con Construction Corp., Germantown, Wis.; Bob Hansen and Ed Smith, Hansen & Hempel, Elmhurst, III.; Bob Harrison, G & R Masonry, Mount Prospect, III., and Allan Knuth, Knuth Masonry, Inc., New Berlin, Wis.
Representing the suppliers were: Paul Bronson, Best Block Co., Butler, Wis.: Allan Klos, Wausau Concrete Products, Wausau, Wis.; Norman Lunde and Emil Vandervait, Illinois Brick Co., Broadview, and Hale Olson, Ampress Brick Co., Des Plaines, III.
Personnel from the Signode Corporation included: John Fyfe, William Kelly and Herbert Zivkovic, and David DeMala and Richard Huhta from the Burson-Marsteller agency. Also in attendance was Stan Misunas, Masonry magazine, Oakbrook Terrace, III.
Part I of the pertinent excerpts from the discussions is presented here. The conclusion will be carried in the November/December issue of Masonry.
Q.-Would any of you mason contractors here prefer to receive packaged block?
Dufour: At present, no. The condition and type of job will probably determine how I should receive block. If I get a highrise or a school job, maybe I would want packaged block, but at present I do not require it. It would be of no advantage to me.
Harrison: I think packaged block is super. It works well with the equipment and everything else. We don't have problems with returning pallets or having our own pallets. or having to watch them, or making a deposit on them. Packaged block, as far as I am concerned, is good.
Q.-This is interesting, because Jerry Dufour is mainly in industrial type work and Bob Harrison is primarily in residential. Allan Knuth, you are not getting packaged block? Do you find this an advantage or disadvantage?
Knuth: We are not getting any strapped block. Rather. we are having it packaged the way we want it packaged, but we are not strapping. We don't like to dispose of all the loose straps, so we are packaging the blocks to our specifications for easier handling. We have broken a 48-by-48 cube into three packages of block without bands on them. In other words, we could take off one-third of the cube at one time with our forklift, the way we have it packaged.
Q.-The block producer is putting block on the pallet the way you requested at no extra cost. Is that true?
Knuth: Yes. We went to the block plant and worked it out with them. As a matter of fact. I took five of my foremen to the plant in Milwaukee one day, and we sat there for two hours and worked out a solution.
Q.-Bob Hansen, you receive block both ways, so you should have a good idea of the advantages and disadvantages. What are they?
Hansen: I am excited about what Allan said because I'd