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>> Steve Wright: and the first
layer of asphalt.
Then you have something to work off of.
It's clean.
It helps you with all of this EPA stuff I've
been telling you about.
It just really doesn't happen that way very often.
But the parking lot is the last thing we do,
as a matter of fact.
They want it clean, and they don't want ruts in
it from heavy concrete trucks.
Most of it, like where you park your cars over there, that is
not made for heavy traffic.
I'm sure all of you have driven by Wal-Mart in the middle of
night and there is 14 semis parked out
there and guys are sleeping in them.
Next thing you know I get a call that my
parking lot is breaking up.
I actually have to send guys there with video cameras to film
these trucks that are parking there in the middle of the night
when the manager doesn't see them.
That's tearing up their parking lot.
Now the part where they bring their
trucks in, that's heavy duty.
It's like an interstate construction.
>> Dr. Wafeek Wahby: What are some examples of
changes in technology from the time you started until
now in dealing with materials, equipment, metals, etc?
>> Steve: Any of you guys own
a slide rule, or even know how to run one.
That's a big change.
You got those.
I've been fortunate that I've stayed
up with the technology pretty well.
I mentioned that I've got a 25 year old daughter.
So, I had her pretty late in life.
Because I kind of understood, she was going to have to know
about all of this stuff, I forced myself to
be computer literate.
That's probably the thing.
The methods, I mean you've got better equipment and more
environmentally friendly equipment, but there are still
crains or there are still bulldozers
or there are still scrapers.
They are just bigger and newer, and they work better.
I would think the biggest change has just been using computers
instead of doing it by hand.
It speeds everything up.
And then of course, we have these new issues that people are
concerned about.
They'll about beat you death about
safety, pollution, and immigration.
That really don't have a whole lot to do with construction.
Somebody asked me, I shouldn't even talk about it.
I have never had a bad accident on my jobs.
Certainly no deaths, really no serious injuries.
A few broken bones.
We are pretty strict about safety.
>> Dr. Wafeek Wahby: So OSHA is happy with you?
>> Steve: Yeah.
I once got a 300 dollar fine because we didn't
have rails on some scaffold.
It was an oversight.
It was our fault.
My superintendent knew it, and let him get away with it.
But we just don't.
And nobody likes to wear a hard hat.
Everytime you lean over it falls off.
Too bad, it's part of the job.
Is it break?
Go ahead.
>> Dr. Wahby: Do you prefer to own
some kinds of equipment or do you rent?
>> Steve: And it's just me.
I don't want to own anything that can be rented.
Part of the reason for that is, this is a management style.
I think it's any business.
I hate debt.
When you go buy a 1/2 a million dollar piece of equipment, and
as you know our friend Charlie Adams owns lots of that stuff.
I don't want to own it.
Reason he does it is for convenience, not because it's
that cost effective.
I rent sky tracks, something to lift material with.
Maybe a bobcat to clean up trash with.
He's got to have that big stuff, and he's
got to have it right now.
Even big highway contractors like him will have rented
equipment out there.
Because the particular job, you need 12 and he owns 8.
I don't do that kind of work.
On the rare occasions we when need something, I'll rent it for
2 or 3 months, paying a huge price.
I'll tell you what I do own.
I own generators.
I own trash pumps, 2 inch water pumps.
I do that because of this EPA business.
If we get a big rain, we got to keep that stuff
on the site somehow.
Sometimes you don't have time to go to 3 different rental stores
to find what you need, so we own that.
Then, I own trailers to haul it in.
I own 2 pickup trucks.
Yeah, that's it.
>> Dr. Wahby: How practically successful
is the just-in-time concept?
>> Steve: I don't.
For my point of view, I don't want it just-in-time,
I want it there now.
If we don't it until January 14th.
But I have to admit, here's what we do
and here's what Wal-Mart does.
You get it here, so we know we got it.
I'll pay you for it.
In construction, I think it's foolish not to buy because
everything is priced.
Usually any pricing quotation is good for 30 days
and plywood is 32 dollars a sheet.
Three months from now when you need, it is 35 dollars.
If you had bid it at 32.
So, get it here, protect it.
I will pay the sub and Wal-Mart will pay me.
Now I think for manufacturing it's probably way better.
You know you really don't need a bolt until the thing gets down
the assembly line to where the bolt goes.
It's repetition.
Ours really isn't repetitious.
You really have to be flexible with these.
Maybe the concrete guy is having a problem.
And the electrician can't start work until the floor is there to
run his equipment on.
So, he's got to shuffle over here and maybe work in the EDC,
the Electrical Distribution Center, instead of running
overheads like he planned to.
You know Wal-Mart just looks like this.
They light them up to about 80 foot candles.
You've probably got 100 in here.
>> male speaker: How hard is it to add
on to a store once it's built?
>> Steve: I hate additions.
It is difficult.
But the most difficult thing is you can't close them.
Not only can you not close them, you can't
get those customers dirty.
Usually, they do a lot of it, remodels.
I can't tell you the last time we got one.
Because when they insist that we bid and we're just so high that.
They may tear a whole in the wall in three places.
You got to build this queen barriers to keep the dust off of
the customers and get them new entrances so they are safe.
The manager is just yelling at you all the time.
I hate remodels.