What Is It

In January 2012 following the uniting of C-TEC, Batterton Waterproofing, and Moeller Engineering the new C-TEC AG team sought a way to improve the efficiency of implanting consistent standards and managing an accelerating number of crews around the country (and the world)! The vision crystallized with the development of a customized tablet app that would be used by crew superintendents daily to control, measure, and document activity. More than a report the dynamic new app:

-     Records all training and mandates daily safety monitoring and reporting activities

-     Expedites ordering of supplies and minimizes project delays for the customer

-     Maintains a digital Photo Record of project progress for C-TEC and its customers

-     Provides a Digitized Method for crew time sheet management and payroll processing for productivity

Each crew chief is equipped with a 4G iPad and reports every morning and at the end of the work day. The app tabulates and presents management with reports on productivity, material usage and project progress against the daily/weekly work plans. As importantly, the information can be available to the end customer.

What GEAPS Attendees Will See and Hear

Art and Paul will review the genesis of the app and display screen shots of what crews enter in daily as well as display sample reports that C-TEC AG management uses. The goal of the presentation is to allow GEAPS participants to begin thinking of ways to deploy the ever reducing cost of technology to:

-     Increase Productivity

-     Increase Control

-     Gain Efficiency

-     IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

Arthur D. Moeller, PE

I am often asked when it is advisable and essential to secure engineering expertise in planning, designing and guiding construction or repair projects.

The answer is not simple since a great number of variables must be considered. Most often there is no decision, since the requirement is set by regulatory and or insurance oversight.  Too often the decision not to deploy engineering expertise is made with the idea of saving cost. At question is whether omitting engineering discipline saves anything. Costs for guesstimate/trial and error work always lead to inefficiencies and rework due to project failures, construction overkill (if a little is good, more is better, right?) or an inability to pass inspections. Beyond money, the costs of the engineering omission can be time. Protracted project delays and facilities unavailable for scheduled use, cut deep into budgets and retard production operations.

Rather than respond with negatives or fear, my answer to the question of “why an engineer” almost always has me offering the top ten values of the service:

1. 1.    Most jurisdictions require a Professional Engineer’s review and/or stamp prior to approving the building permit.
2. 2.    An engineer will design a solution that is in compliance with the governing building and safety codes.
3. 3.    The lending institutions and insurance companies may require an “engineer’s review and report” prior to loan approval and insurance coverage respectively.
4. 4.    An engineer will analyze your problem and design a safe, efficient and cost effective solution. Spending more on needless contracting and materials is not a savings.
5. 5.    To determine if your structure is safe, an engineer will analyze the structural components of your building, evaluating the condition, deflections, geometry and forces acting on each member, to draw a conclusion regarding the integrity of the building system. Remember any change to a structure affects all aspects of the structure.
6. 6.    An engineer will design the structural and mechanical aspects of your project and communicate those aspects to the contractor through the use of drawings and specifications. These drawings are a permanent record that will be required when and if further changes are contemplated. 
7. 7.    Through an understanding of the characteristics of different building materials a structural engineer can clearly explain why certain structural elements need repair and make recommendations on how to fix them or make modifications to the structure in the most cost effective way while remaining code compliant.
8. 8.    For life safety reasons-“there are always people involved with the constructing or use of a structure, whether it is a grain bin, an equipment support tower, parking garage or a street light.”
9. 9.    Qualified engineering capabilities are broad and include areas of expertise in problem solving, engineering foresight, project management, cost estimating and analysis, creativity, and document preparation.

10. Engineers apply mathematics and scientific principles. Engineers do not guess!

Arthur Moeller, PE is COO of CTEC AG and CEO of Moeller Engineering LLC headquartered in Des Moines, IOWA. After earning his engineering degree from Iowa State University, Art has specialized in Agribusiness facilities engineering with major insurance companies and as CEO of his own firm.  

-       Rebranded our enterprise CTEC AG

-       Completed two acquisitions: Moeller Engineering & Batterton Waterproofing

-       Integrated three separate groups of employees together to now work as a team

-       Introduced scores of new systems, processes and technologies in our growing firm

We embarked on this journey for many reasons but mostly for our customers and our staff. CTEC AG is now better prepared to meet our customers’ needs faster, more professionally, and with improved safety. Our people are learning new skills and growing personally. Our emerging company now offers career and developmental paths I could not have imagined a decade ago.

All of this struck me today as I watched the CTEC AG team work. I saw the productivity and coordination. I saw our team gearing up for summer, preparing to meet customers needs with speed and efficiency that was only a goal long ago.

I was reminded that the people who really made this happen and gave me a great morning were: our customers, our employees, our prospects and our intermediaries.

My thanks to all of you for your:  support, hard work, patience and for allowing me to enjoy a wonderful introspective morning.

Thank you,

Greg Wurst  CEO  CTEC AG

Licensed to Chill: Heat Stress Overview & Solutions

This webinar was given at the perfect time as we are headed into the warm season to prevent heat related illnesses.

The vision of CTEC AG was fulfilled with the acquisition of Batterton Waterproofing and partnering with Moeller Engineering. It all developed based on our confidence in the industry and the ever growing needs for Quality Service.  

For several decades C-TEC has flourished based upon our relentless and passionate commitment to quality and safety. I have been intrigued as a number of our clients have questioned whether we will be able to maintain our standards with the growth of our business.  The motivation for our growth is to “raise the bar”  in the industry and eliminate questioning quality .

The integration of CTEC AG has been planned to insure the implementation of quality and safety practices which have been the foundation of C-TEC. Examples of our planning include:

-          CREW SUPERVISION STANDARDS – Over time I have personally established the standards for our crew superintendants. That practice will remain at CTEC AG and our new organizational design has new superintendants reporting to me directly to insure standards are maintained.

-          CREW INTEGRATION – Cross training has been a key to C-TEC success over history. With growth new personnel will be integrated and rotated to insure personnel are exposed to consistent standards and techniques.

-          SAFETY – The scale of our new organization now allows us to increase our investment in safety with a full time dedicated resource who can implement our training and audit programs.

-          OVERALL QUALITY – The opportunity to offer integrated internal engineering oversight to project planning is a unique and differentiating quality enhancement to our service.

-          INTEGRATION  PLANNING – In an effort to mitigate the potential of any failures in our historic operating and business practices we, prior to the formation of CTEC AG, retained consulting services to assist us in integration planning.

The commitment to quality and safety has grown with the formation of the new CTEC AG. I remain extremely proud of our new organization and am confident the market will experience a better, stronger, more responsive quality service provider today and over the decades ahead. We will make bigger ever better at CTEC AG!

Greg Wurst  CEO

CTEC AG

During the new employee orientation, the employees were all certified in new first aid and CPR standards!

This group also finished the CTEC AG safety orientation.

Congratulations Charles, Michael, Benji, Nick and Waylon!

This particular group of men were excellent students and showed an immense desire to update their training.  As a trainer it is always exciting to see new employees excited about and really care about safety.

Don Stewart, Safety Trainer

CTEC AG

Our new team had one key mission at the GEAPS Exchange this year – to announce that over the last month C-TEC, Moeller Engineering and Batterton Waterproofing merged to form a new company, CTEC AG.

Our thanks to: our customers, vendors, and friends who stopped by our three booths to learn more and wish us well. It was a record show and the excitement was contagious.

Highlights:

-       A SEA OF BAGS – C-TEC distributed over 500 carry bags at the show. Looking over the floor it was fun to see a sea of blue as most attendees collected material in a C-TEC bag.

-       LEE BATTERTON CELEBRATED 41 YEARS AT GEAPS – Lee Batterton announced his retirement at the show. The amazing story was that Lee came to his first GEAPS show 41 years ago in Minneapolis. Everyone offered their congratulations for over four decades of contributions to our industry.

The most frequently asked questions at all the CTEC AG booths were: why did you merge, what are the benefits, and how will you operate in the future:

The answers were:

WHY?

INCREASED RESOURCES TO SERVE YOU – The combination of C-TEC and Batterton Waterproofing increases the scale and capability of our repair, construction and coatings business. More crews, greater scheduling flexibility will mean faster response to your needs for estimates, project completions and minimizing the downtime of your facilities.

INTRODUCTION OF INTEGRATED ENGINEERING RESOURCES – Our unique structure allows us to provide integrated and efficient engineering resources to our repair and construction projects. This feature will benefit you with increased quality, efficiency, and speed of service delivery.

HOW WILL WE OPERATE IN THE FUTURE?

Our new entity will be marketed as CTEC AG while three divisions will specialize:

• C-TEC – Repair & Construction Services
• Moeller Engineering – Independent and Integrated Engineering Services
• Batterton Waterproofing – Coatings, Painting, Waterproofing Services

We will enjoy two headquarters in Nebraska and Iowa as the Batterton Waterproofing team is merged into the C-TEC facility in York, Nebraska. Moeller Engineering will remain at its headquarters in Ankeny, Iowa.

Our facilities and teams are integrated so you may contact anyone at any location about our services and will coordinate on your behalf to insure the ideal resources are applied to meet your needs.

The new CTEC AG team is committed to delivering QUALITY and PROFESSIONALISM to the AG industry and beyond. Going forward CTEC AG will be applying: best practices of each of its divisions, increased technology, formalized project management disciplines and all with a dedication to safety going forward.

Thank you GEAPS for a great reception and support for our future!

GREG WURST                                             ART MOELLER

CEO                                                                COO

C-TEC AG                                                      C-TEC AG