DODLA 2016 AGS Panel #5

Transcription:
Ryan Hanson of Sustainable 9 Design + Build: If I can add one thing to that too. We were talking our carpenters. Our finish carpenters install all this stuff on the inside and a particular house that we do – if you remember, we were under a time crunch and you guys turned it around and unbelievable in a short amount of time.

So because the project was going and we were putting this house, it was going to be featured on our – it’s called the “parade of homes” locally in Minneapolis. It was one of the dream homes there and we needed to get it done on time. So we actually had our sighters – they were finishing sighting the house as the interior was being finished. They were the ones that installed the exterior rails and again, they were a little bit scared. We’ve never done this before and like, you know, talk to the trimmers inside. These guys installed it super quick and they did. They got it and it looks great.  


Facilitator: Excellent. That is one of the nice things about having everything all engineered and then prefabricated. We number every post – the cable, if there’s a cable rail system, we can cut all the cable to lead with the in-fittings on. We put the cable in separate bags. The installation instructions are very clear. Put this post here. Put this post there. Force it and it’s in. It’s just really custom installation time and as a builder, getting your guys off that project and on to the next project, it’s money, right?  


Ryan: It’s huge. Totally. Time is money. Also what he said as far as pricing goes, I think you guys were so much cheaper than our local fabricator and I think it was because it was just a supply and demand thing. They were – again, they were working on the stadium and they were just – they could charge whatever they wanted. We’re like this isn’t going to work for our budget or the client’s budget, so yeah.  


Facilitator: We found that nationally the cost for local fabrication for custom design stainless systems, it’s about 400 a lineal foot and up. Of course you can always get something cheaper. But the question really comes down to what are you getting for the work.

If you want someone who is a master craftsman, who has been fabricating for 10, 15, 20 years, they could just as easily build you a railing system as build a hood system or a table for your next door neighbor. So why would they give you a deal? They only have so much time, right?

So if you’re good, you have plenty of work. For AGS, because we’re set up as a factory, you get a couple of major advantages. One of the advantages is that if it’s an emergency, we can free up a whole production line and knock your project out. It’s what we did for Ryan. Very difficult for a local fabricator to do that because they don’t have any other resources. A couple of guys working together. They might put their junior guy on your project and teach him how to make railings on your home.

But is that what you’re really looking for? So again, when you’re dealing with a prefabricator that has been in business for almost 30 years, you’re going to get a great product and it’s going to be made very precisely. I know the case for Brian because we’ve talked about it. They can improve quality in their homes.

If you get a chance, go over to the outdoor living section and look at the method homes. It’s the monogram modern projects. You will see our railings there.

This is just a beautiful house. It’s the second one we’ve done together last year and this year. But when we talked about it before, they can improve quality by building it all in an environmentally-controlled area.

Same thing with railing. With tape welding [Phonetic] which is what you use for stainless steel, it’s very sensitive. So local fabricator, they’re going to do as much of the work as they can in their shop. But some amount of work will have to be done onsite. That’s called “field modifications”.

With tape welding, just the wind-blowing can throw off the quality of the weld. So they do the best they can. With AGS Stainless, all of our team works in our quality-controlled environment. So our welders sit at a table. They have their post op. They have their base plates. They weld, weld, turn, weld. So the seams, the welds around our connections are flawless. They’re a work of art. Oftentimes when people are saying oh, I think I can get it done cheaper locally, we will just send them a post. We will say, OK, we’re going to send you what we’re going to build for you and have the local guy give you a sample. You decide for yourself. We don’t lose any of those jobs.

If you get a chance, come by our booth and we will show you a few of the four samples. You can just deliver higher quality and more consistently if you build a product the same way every time in a quality-controlled environment.