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In 1997 Southwest Concrete Products, L.P. was a rarity in the United States’ concrete masonry business – a pure, from the ground-up, start-up! Less than five years later the company has grown to become one of the dominant producers in south Texas. A Southwest Concrete Products Besser Ultrapac® facility, located 60 miles west of Houston, in Alleyton, Texas produced 9,600,000 eight inch equivalents in the year 2000. The second facility is a complete, state-of-the-art turnkey Besser Autopac™ concrete products facility in San Antonio, which started production in January 2001. Chief operating officer of Southwest and industry veteran, Bob Whisnant, explained, "We’ve been successful for three reasons. First, we have the best technical people in our markets, both in production and in sales. Second, we have the most advanced blockmaking equipment in this part of the country and it shows in the quality of our concrete products. The addition of the Autopac in San Antonio will keep us a step ahead of the pack. Finally, we stay close to our customers and work every day to make their jobs easier."

Posing in front of the Autopac® concrete products machine, Bob Whisnant, chief operating officer, Murphy Lents, president and Roger Schmelter, south Texas sales representative, discuss the new plant.

It was 1997 when the partnership founders, Murphy and John Lents and Bob Whisnant, saw a need to improve the quality of concrete masonry in south Texas. "We bet not only on the growing Texas market, but also on the concept that quality products matter," shared Murphy Lents, president, "and our success over the last three years has shown that to be a good bet. My brother John and I were new to the business in 1997 and relied on Bob’s judgment that Besser equipment was the best available in the marketplace. That proved to be a good bet as well." John continued, "The Besser equipment produces very consistent high quality products and our customers appreciate it. Now that they’ve had a taste of the good stuff, they have a hard time going back."

Southwest Concrete produces a wide variety of products including integrally colored architectural units, Versa Lok® segmental retaining wall units, utility brick and a variety of garden and foundation products. In the Alleyton plant, molds are changed as often as five times a day. Bob confessed, "I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of that. The wide variety of products that we make and the large number of custom jobs we take on simply requires a lot of mold changes. We are as good as anyone at it, but it still takes a toll on the plant’s efficiency. When looking at the new plant in San Antonio, we concluded that the quick mold and height change capabilities of the new Autopac machine would pay for itself. A ten-minute mold and height change not only minimizes downtime, it also reduces wasted material and production overruns on custom products." The ability of the Autopac to produce units from 1-1/2" – 12" (40 mm – 300 mm) high at speeds of up to nine cycles per minute provides the flexibility and efficiency desired by Southwest.

The new Southwest Concrete Products location in San Antonio is a turnkey plant built by the Besser / DeVere Joint Venture. Besser / DeVere coordinated the entire process from site preparation, building design and construction to the installation and training on the equipment. John commented, "As busy as we are now it would have been difficult to put a greenfield plant together and run our business at the same time. While we worked closely with Besser / DeVere throughout the construction period, they carried most of the load and let us focus on making and selling block."

Jeff Wallace, vice president of marketing at Besser, is proud of the new facility, "All the Besser strategic business units combined efforts to supply this versatile and high output production system from material handling right on through the splitting and cubing."

Bob related, "We’ve been asked about how we feel about having the first Besser Autopac installation – the answer is, we feel great about it. Using state-of-the-art technology has proven to be a competitive advantage for us since we started and the Autopac keeps us in the forefront. Some people might worry about being the first, but Besser has always given us terrific service after the sale in every respect. We were confident before the installation that the new machine was a winner and based on what we’ve seen so far, it is a winner. I’m impressed with the dedication and talent of the Besser engineers and technical service staff. Their expertise really shows in our new facility."

The partners at Southwest Concrete believe that while advanced technology has given the company a competitive advantage, their people are equally important. Murphy said, "One of our goals and part of our mission statement is to be the most technically competent producer in our markets." Part of that goal is met with depth of experience throughout the organization. The remaining part is met with training. Bob has over 20 years experience in the business; Lindsey Davidson, senior sales manager, has 35 years experience; and Roger Schmelter, south Texas sales manager, has 18 years experience. Iven Kincheloe, the Houston area plant manager and all around equipment troubleshooter, has been in the business 15 years and customer service manager, Cheryl Kincheloe has 20 years of experience. All of the machine operators have attended one or more of the Blockmakers Workshops®, where each has learned skills critical to producing high quality product at peak efficiency. According to Murphy, "Blockmakers Workshops are an excellent way to provide the best technical training available to our people."

The bet taken by Southwest in 1997, that quality products matter, has proven to be a winner. Becoming a major supplier of concrete products in south Texas is proof. Heading into 2001, Southwest is placing another winning bet – that strengthening its commitment to the marketplace by trusting the most technologically advanced equipment available from Besser and continuing to invest in exceptional staff will keep them a step ahead of the pack.