Masonry Magazine March 1970 Page. 19
MARLIN MILLER, JR.
Executive Vice President
Glen-Gery Corporation
Reading, Pennsylvania
All panel work done by Glen-Gery Corporation has been accomplished through Kurtz-Gery Corporation-a company jointly owned by Kurtz Precast Corporation and Glen-Gery Corporation.
Why should prefabrication with brick panels now be considered strongly by the Glen-Gery Corporation or by any group associated with the masonry industry? The answer to this question, I believe, can be found in an understanding of the nature of today's and tomorrow's construction market. While traditional construction methods are doing as well as ever and will continue to do well, certain new influences are dictating that new construction methods will receive an increasing share of the growth predicted for construction.
What are some of these new influences that will favor prefabrication?
1. The growing shortage of craftsmen to meet increased levels of construction.
2. Rapid growth in wage levels of skilled craftsmen, pushing up the cost of conventional construction to the point where panels are now competitive.
3. Increasing Government interest and research in new construction techniques.
4. Increasing interest on the part of owners, architects and builders in rapid construction. (Financing costs of up to 18% on construction loans is one strong motivation for rapid construction.)
5. Architectural and builder desire for new construction approaches, and systems that permit closer estimates of final job costs.
6. The concept of panel construction is well established. Concrete and steel panels have been successful despite some of the problems of cost, leakage, expansion, etc. The cities of Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago are testimonials to this fact. In Europe, where panels have been used generally longer than in the United States, they are taking an ever increasing portion of the construction market.
7. The research and development work done on load-bearing masonry construction now makes possible a load-bearing brick panel. This is one of the most important factors! Our industry has done a great deal to keep our product modern and up-to-date by developing the Contemporary Bearing Wall. Now, we must carry this concept forward into the era of high speed construction and systems building if we are to continue to present a modern and forward-looking image of brick masonry.
Many commitments for housing starts
What is the Glen-Gery approach to brick panelization or prefabrication? We are now producing 4"-thick brick bearing wall panels that are 47%" wide x 9' 1½" high. Nominally, they are 4' wide by 9' high. These panels are constructed with modular brick 7%" long using a " mortar joint. Panels are being produced without the use of conventional bricklaying tools, and patents are now being applied for to cover production techniques. Three houses have been constructed using these brick bearing wall panels and many commitments for spring starts have been made.
The first houses erected have confirmed that if the foundation is prepared, erection of the brick panels, window and door panels and roof trusses covered with plywood can be accomplished in one normal working day, confirming the high speed possibilities of the system.
JOHN A. DAWSON, P.E.
Construction Division
Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce
Ottawa, Canada
Industrialization of the building industry, or industrialization of building, is nowadays an often used phrase. It is in fashionable common use whenever and wherever builders meet. It dominates the conference scene. But despite this popularity the question, "Is there any uniformity of opinion among builders as to what industrialization really means?", can be validly posed.
Yet, there are certain precise and essential ingredients that have characterized industrialization from the days of the Industrial Revolution until the present time. These are:
* Organization.
* Mechanization.
* Repetition.
* Efficiency.
* Profit.
True industrialization of the masonry industry must involve efficient, productive, profitable methods, based upon organized, mechanized processes of a repetitive character.
I have used the term "masonry industry." What is the masonry industry; what does it consist of? I suggest that it consists of three major sectors and several minor, but nonetheless influential ones. The three major sectors:
* The manufacturing sector.
* The design-specifier-user sector.
* The applications-masonry contractors sector.
The minor sectors include:
* The mortar constituent manufacturers and suppliers.
* Machinery and equipment manufacturers and suppliers.
* The labor unions.
For the time being, I shall confine my remarks to what I have defined as the three major sectors, though keeping the minor ones very much in mind.
Masonry industry is interdependent
A main characteristic of the masonry industry is the dependency of each of the three main sectors, one upon another. It seems obvious that there is no point in manufacturing masonry units if there are no specifiers and no applicators to ensure their proper utilization. Similarly, the contracting sector depends for its continuance upon units with which it can profitably work.
The specifiers of masonry products (architects-engineers-users) relate to the other two sectors rather differently because they can and must carry out their professional activities with some degree of remoteness or, one might say, objectivity. The manufacturer and the masonry contractor are, however, quite dependant upon them, and this leads me to conclude that there are well-developed linkages of interdependency within the sectors making up the masonry industry.
These linkages of interdependency truly encompass the process inherent in the masonry industry. I shall call it the masonry process. The process involves the production and utilization of masonry products and, like all industrial processes, the masonry process contains the essential element of quality. Indeed it is the criterion of quality which imparts strength or weakness to the linkages of interdependency in your industry.
The architect or engineer will not knowingly specify masonry products upon whose quality he cannot rely. The responsible masonry contractor will always opt for masonry units of quality, and responsible manufacturers will always insist upon high quality standards in his op-