Culture, mission, vision, and values
are core staples at Lloyd Rebar. What started in the 2010s in a 32x40-foot backyard
pole barn, has expanded into an 80,000 square foot facility with
state-of-the-art rebar equipment.
Jared Mawhorr started Lloyd Rebar in
2012. As founder and president of the Shelby, Ohio, company, Jared motivates the
company and manages employee growth. He also helps Ezechiel (Zec) Speelman,
Operations Manager at Lloyd Rebar for six years. Zec leads the day-to-day operations
and ensures employees embrace Jared’s vision for the company.
Lloyd Rebar implemented aSa ex Windows software in
2013 then upgraded to aSa.Studio in 2022. Studio features, such as dashboards,
remnant tracking, processing, and scheduling were key factors in Lloyd’s decision
to make the switch. “(At one time,) we were bouncing back and forth between ex
and Studio. It made more sense to switch to Studio,” says Zec. He explains the
importance of adapting to new technology, particularly aSa.Studio cloud-based
software, “aSa is a very progressive company, and
to keep on growing with technology and the industry, you are going to be
progressive and fight through those kinks along the way,” Zec notes.
Zec
compares aSa.Studio Scheduling to Lloyd Rebar’s old scheduling system, saying, “The old way we used to schedule was we would print our tags, and we would have a whiteboard with the
next seven days on it. We would write down the control codes assigned to that
truck. Then, we would have all the stacks of tags sitting out on the table.”
“Now that we are using (aSa.Studio) Scheduling,
we build the load first. We schedule it, and we process that load. Then then we
just bring the tags out to the guys,” says Zec. He notes that the new process
is much faster than the old whiteboard method. Additionally, Lloyd has a TV in
the shop area, so all employees can easily see the real-time schedule
throughout the day.
Like any
change, the transition from ex to Studio took time for adjustment. Lloyd
employees were comfortable with ex but, with training, learned the
new system with “only the occasional bump in the road,” says Zec “The hardest
part was moving all our inventory and environment. We just need to tweak it a
little,” Zec adds.
Jared
and Zec point out that Lloyd Rebar is one of the first rebar facilities in the
U.S. to install large-scale plant automation equipment, including machines that
automatically count and load stock bars; shear and bundle material; and move steel
to loading or bending stations via conveyors. aSa generates cutting machine
handling instructions for these machines; Lloyd’s newest machine will print
tags “on demand” as each item is produced. Jared encourages solidarity by
welcoming other fabricators to visit Lloyd and view the equipment. “If we can
help you improve, it makes the entire industry better,” he says, adding, “If
you want to be the best, you have to lead the best.”
After completing the first stage of his company’s aSa.Studio implementation, Josh
McDufee, Branch Operations Manager of Barnsco Dallas, talked to aSa about the
experience. His thoughts provide a new user’s perspective on the implementation
process and on improvements that Studio brought to Barnsco.
“Roberto Gallo
Senior Consultant, aSa Latin America) has been critical throughout the implementation
process,” says Josh. Since the start of training and implementation, Roberto
has worked with integrating aSa.Studio at Barnsco’s Texas locations in Dallas,
Fort Worth, and Hutto. In addition to installing and configuring the software, Roberto
also trained users at all three facilities.
Josh notes that
aSa.Studio modules have allowed improve machine optimization, reduce scrap and
remnant, enhance our inventory process, and collect real-time meaningful data.
He also mentions a few stand-out team members who embraced aSa.Studio. He notes
that these employees realized the potential for aSa.Studio to make their
specific jobs easier and more productive.
Emely Rodriguez
trained with Roberto on aSa.Studio for an afternoon. She understood her team’s
critical role in a successful rollout, and incorporated SOP’s (specific
instructions for counter and inside sales associates) in her workflow prior to
going live onsite. She used the training provided by Roberto and incorporated
screenshots into internal documents to help train her fellow team members on
aSa.Studio!
"Kimberly McFeeley
has been with the company for 10 years and was recently promoted to Inventory
Manager, where she is to become the company’s “aSa Guru,” She has already begun
spearheading the integration between her department and others, ensuring that
data is entered promptly and accurately to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Darin Lightsey was
recently promoted to Fabrication Shop Supervisor. Darin saw the potential
of aSa.Studio from the beginning, and his enthusiasm for the changes helped
Barnsco see that he is the best fit to lead the team in getting the most out of
the system. He is actively collaborating with other functional leaders to drive
the utilization of aSa.Studio.
Josh praises Roberto’s hands-on
approach when working with each of Barnsco’s employees. He says the in-person
training was truly impactful to the organization. Josh’s focus of getting his
team “out of their comfort zone and into a learning and growth zone” began to
materialize when he could see an enthusiasm for the benefits of ASA to start to
permeate the culture. "Improvements to process and production have allowed
the most tenured employees to embrace aSa.Studio,” concludes Josh.
There’s another lucky winner in Las Vegas! “We implemented aSa.Studio
in spring 2022, and things could not be better,” says Vito Racanelli, Project
Manager for Black Iron Reinforcing. Based in Las Vegas, Black Iron provides
rebar and installation services throughout a large portion of the Western
United States.
As Project Manager, Vito handles all the company’s “supply
and install” packages. His responsibilities touch on several aspects of the
business, including estimating, detailing, and managing the fabrication shop. With
help from aSa.Studio Order Entry, Processing, Shipping Ticket, and tracking
modules, Black Iron produces and delivers about 1,500 tons of reinforcing per
month.
Vito has been with Black Iron since the company was founded
in 2019. Black Iron used aSa ex Windows software for about
three years, then made the decision to upgrade to the cloud-based aSa.Studio
product suite. “Before we had aSa, I would hand-write fabrication tags based on
the shop drawings. I spent hours writing tags,” explains Vito.
He continues, “aSa’s team of consultants worked with us each
step of the way to ensure things went smoothly during the upgrade (to
aSa.Studio),” says Vito. His team was thrilled to find they have access to
hours of additional training resources on aSa’s Client Care Portal website.
“Studio
has been much more helpful and user friendly (than aSa ex Windows software). We can enter and print bar lists, as well as check current
inventory, from anywhere because it’s now all online,” Vito notes, adding, “I
have printed tags while traveling for work … and even printed tags from a golf
course once!”
Vito talks about some of the modules that have had the most
impact. “With Load Tracking, I can see in real time where an order stands — and
what has been fabricated and loaded — without having to leave my desk when a
customer calls with questions … as opposed to bothering the shop to provide a
status update or going out into the yard to check,” he says. Vito explains that
Production Tracking provides his team with valuable information about
fabrication trends and speeds, enabled them to forecast future load completion
and identify areas in which they can improve.
Vito concludes, “Black Iron Reinforcing’s vision is to be a
fast-paced, organized, and efficient rebar service. With aSa.Studio, we are
making that vision a reality.”
Change can be difficult. Luckily,
the transition from aSa ex to aSa.Studio isn’t. In the words of the
philosopher, Socrates, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not
on fighting the old, but on building the new!” This past summer, Suncoast
Post-Tension considered all the new features and functionality, then decided it
was time to embrace change and make the move to aSa.Studio.
Suncoast Post-Tension was founded by the company President,
Larry Stadler, in 1983, in Houston, TX, which remains the company’s
headquarters. From 1995 to 1998, Suncoast added six locations, expanding the
company’s coverage from Texas to Arizona, California, Washington DC, and
Florida. Today, Suncoast has nine locations and services North, South, and
Central America. They have been North America’s leader in post-tension supply
for over 20 years and an aSa customer just as long.
Someone who has been there to see the company move through three
generations of aSa software is Ken Buhmann, Suncoast’s Assistant Operations
Manager. Ken has been with Suncoast for 22 years. He is responsible for the
operations of all nine Suncoast Post-Tension plants around the country, and he played
a key role in coordinating the upgrades for the six locations currently running
aSa.Studio.
aSa worked closely with Ken from June to August 2022 to complete
the transition to the aSa-hosted environment. Suncoast started out using aSa DOS
software before converting to ex, the aSa Windows product, 16 years
ago. “When we decided to expand our usage of aSa to include tracking during
production, we were originally going to stay with ex. But after some
discussions with aSa, it made sense to go to the cloud version,” says Ken. He
continues, “aSa.Studio is suited to our multi-location company, as we often coordinate
rebar fabrication among different plants.”
Upgrading six locations over the course of three months
required constant communication and input from both aSa and Suncoast. aSa’s
implementation process ensures steps aren’t missed in order make each project
successful. According to Ken, Suncoast
was pleased with the implementation process. Ken notes, “Prior to each plant’s
conversion, aSa conducted a Teams meeting with the key personnel from each
plant, introducing the key players from aSa.
Expectations from both aSa and Suncoast were clearly stated and tracked
through a shared schedule.”
Until recently, Suncoast used Estimating, Order Entry, Processing,
Scheduling, and Shearing. Since upgrading to aSa.Studio, the company has added Inventory
Tracking, Production Tracking, Load Tracking, and Shipping Ticket. Prior to
implementing Inventory Tracking, employees had to physically count all the
company’s inventory, which was time consuming. Now, employees use scanners and
aSa technology to perform physical inventory. According to David Rodriguez,
Plant Foreman at the Irving, TX location, “aSa has been a tremendous help since
we’ve got the scanners and are working in the cloud. The way it has benefited
us most is by allowing us to track every order until it is loaded and out of
the yard. It has also been efficient on the inventory side, as far as accurately
reporting what we have on-hand.”
According to Ken, the transition has been going well. “As
our employees become more and more familiar with the software, they are
becoming more proficient, and they are realizing the benefits. We are
seeing a vast improvement in inventory control; remnant inventory control; load
tracking; and scheduling,” he says.