CEO Report
Hugh Dobbie

 

The market meltdown has started in earnest. Many detailing companies in North America have begun layoffs, salary reductions and shortened work weeks. Some of course will eventually close their doors and go out of business.

At Dowco we are fortunate that we have a good backlog of work, with several large projects pending. We are taking advantage of the current meltdown to expand our staff by hiring intermediate and senior detailers and checkers, who are becoming available.

Our market is expanding and we are bidding on projects worldwide. As we continue to grow, our skilled staff can handle several large projects at a time. We continue to work directly with engineers to provide modeling and detailing services before the fabricator is on board. This procedure, as we have demonstrated, facilitates the shop drawing production and removes much of the risk from the fabricator.

A number of staff attended the North American Steel Construction Conference (NASCC) held April 1-4, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. It was evident from our conversations with engineers, fabricators and detailers, that many companies are seeing a large drop in their workload, with 12 to 24 bidders chasing any job that comes available. In this kind of market, we must remain competitive and continue to maintain the high quality that Dowco has been known for over the past thirty-nine years. Because the fabricators are struggling to keep their shops busy, schedules have become more important than ever. This is increasingly challenging for us.

I was asked to present a paper at NASCC titled "How to Get Rich being a Detailer" (and other oxymorons!) An abbreviated copy was printed in the March issue of Modern Steel Construction. The full paper can be found on the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) website. It was suggested that a paper on "Why you shouldn't be a Detailer" might have been more appropriate, as detailing is such a demanding vocation. But as we know, one can also gain a lot of satisfaction from the challenges steel detailing poses.

We are now a third of the way through the year, and our future still looks secure. I believe this time next year, that the worst of this recession will be over and things will start returning to normal. Let's continue to do a good job. Dowco staff must be thanked at this time for the extra effort they have put in to expedite some of these very difficult projects.