Congratulations! James CRAFT & Son recently had a very successful night at the 30th Annual ABC Excellence in Construction Awards Gala.
Excellence Awards were received for the following projects:
Additionally LGH Stauffer Overbuild was awarded PROJECT OF THE YEAR!
Congratulations to everyone for your hard work and efforts towards this win.
Having materials pre-assembled, fabricated and ready for final install can be a huge advantage to your company or your business. You can save downtime for your systems or operations, reduce installation costs, increase the level of quality control, reduce safety risks, improve your schedule and other benefits. Below are some photos of our shop in action. Call us or e-mail us for more information.
Why does quality matter for your mechanical systems? Those systems are located behind walls or tucked above ceilings, so why is a quality installation so important?
Glad you asked!
Often overlooked and underappreciated, quality workmanship is an important aspect of mechanical construction projects. Too often the construction industry gets a bad reputation because of the few “bad apples” in the industry who cut corners and don’t stand behind their work. What’s the motivation? Save a few dollars on the front end? What happens after you leave? Who cares that’s someone else’s problem!
Every specification calls for it, but rarely do customers and customer representatives enforce it. Quality control is a cultural among your organization. Those that find value in quality benefit from lasting systems. Systems that work the way they were intended and end up costing the contractors and customers much less in re-work, damages and headaches.
At James CRAFT & Son, Inc. “Quality CRAFTsmanship” is in the name, it’s how we define what we do compared to others. And it’s why customers call on us time and time again. Below are two examples of a quality installation compared to the “lowest bidder”.
Can you spot the problems?
Maybe this will help you look at your next project a little differently when hiring a contractor.
Back to School!
For James CRAFT & Son Inc. September marks the end of a busy summer and fiscal year, but also leads to an exciting new year full of opportunities. For some of our skilled work force it means back to the books. Our apprentices are already thru their orientations and are now attending classes working hard towards their journeyman’s status. These folks are earning while they’re learning and balancing a full work schedule with classes. We are very proud of this group of employees and wish them the best of luck this year! Below are pictures of a few of the apprentices in action!
Sheet Metal 1 –
Philip Gregg
Matthew Price
Earl Urey
Sheet Metal 2 –
Dillon Getz
Kyle Gurtizen
Electrical 4 –
Michael Cramer
HVAC 3 –
Caitlyn Weatherly
Zachary Nelson
Instructors –
Jerry Brown III – Sheet Metal 2
Drew Doxzon – Electrical 4
Plumbing 1 –
Tyler Brenneman
Ivan Maletin
Dakoda Ross
Matthew Tressler
Plumbing 2 –
Joseph Kutsch
Richard Toner
Craig McKee
Wilfredo Berrios
Michael Harrelson
Adrian Ortega
Plumbing 3 –
Sean Druck
Padric Marianos
One of the key controls to any successful project is a well-coordinated, updated and accurate schedule of work. Some of our most successful projects at James CRAFT & Son are ones that follow a working schedule that is well thought out and implemented to meet or beat that schedule.
Here are some of the ways that we plan our work:
2-Week and 3-Week Look-ahead schedules
With this tool crew leaders can list activities and their duration’s in a short window of 2 to 3 weeks. Man power requirements are listed as well as any tools and equipment needed for each activity. This information is then shared with the general superintendent for manpower requests and with the customer and other contractors for coordination efforts.
Microsoft Project (Gantt Charts)
We use the Microsoft Project software for larger projects which contains an overall view of a project’s schedule from start to finish. Created by project managers and superintendents this schedule is used by the project team and also helps project work that is months away for material and equipment deliveries. It’s also useful for project milestones like topping out the structure or owner occupancy.
As the ever changing construction environment presents new challenges, James CRAFT & Son changes with it to continually provide customers with Quality CRAFTsmanship. This means utilizing the latest technology and tools to deliver our systems. Here are two examples of these innovations and how they help us get the job done.
Viega Mega Press: The press fit system for schedule 40 steel pipes eliminate the need to thread pipe and fittings. Sounds fairly simple, but this time savings and quality in the field is unmatched. It eliminates the need to set-up a heavy and bulky thread machine and saves down time when working on a live water, steam or gas systems.
Learn more here…
http://www.viega.us/xchg/en-us/hs.xsl/9216.htm
Bluebeam Revu: This powerful software incorporates all the aspects of PDF editing software while also providing construction features like on-screen take offs and scaling. Our project management team can save time and paper producing submittals and O&Ms (Operation & Maintenance Manuals) while also providing more detailed document mark-ups for project team members. Learn more here…http://www.bluebeam.com/
Tuesday May 24th marked an exciting milestone for a special group of people as they furthered their careers at James CRAFT & Son (and within the industry) by graduating from the Associated Builders & Contractors Apprenticeship Program. Ian Dilley, Aaron Owens & Ian Sayres graduated from the Plumbing Program; Jason Smith & Ben Witmer graduated from the Sheet Metal Program.
There were some special recognitions highlighted also…
Straight A’s all 4 years – Jason Smith & Ben Witmer
A & B Average all 4 years – Ian Dilley & Aaron Owens
Perfect attendance all 4 years – Ian Dilley
Perfect attendance for 2015/2016 – Ian Dilley and Ian Sayres
JC&S breaks ground on the plumbing and HVAC package for Fuchs North America’s new Hampstead Headquarters. The facility will be a 210,000 square foot building to house manufacturing, administration, product development and sales. The current construction schedule runs from the Fall of 2015 to the Summer of 2016. JC&S is contracted under Kinsley Construction to perform the design build HVAC and Plumbing.
A special Thank You goes to the late Charlie Wolf for securing this contract and for his 19 years of service at James CRAFT & Son. He will be greatly missed by both our employees, as well as the many customers he served over the years.
For more information on the project http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2015/06/23/fuchs-north-america-starts-work-on-hampstead-hq.html
