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President's Message
"May you live in interesting times."
This simple phrase is purported to be part of an ancient Chinese curse meant to doom the recipient to peril and challenge. Undoubtedly, these have been very "interesting" times for all of us involved in the construction industry, and the challenges are indisputable.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the first seven months of 2008 saw unprecedented, almost frightening increases in the price of all steel products. U. S. mills capitalized on an absence of imported steel, along with rising raw material and energy costs, to push prices to previously un-imagined levels. From January 1 until early August (when prices seemed to plateau) domestic producers forced increases of 70% or more on their customers, despite the fact that many steel consuming markets (automotive, construction, appliance) were weak and getting weaker. Interesting times indeed!
With the quadruple whammy of: 1.) exorbitant steel prices, 2.) a weak economy, 3.) a softening commercial construction market, and 4.)a presidential election staring us in the face, what can we do collectively to maintain our hard earned gains in the highly competitive steel framing market? Let me tell you what we at Aegis Metal Framing plan to do to help our fabricators traverse this challenging "obstacle course".
First, we are absolutely committed to securing lower cost steel, wherever possible. Although industry consolidation and strong global demand make this incredibly challenging, we are aggressively pursuing alternative sourcing. The recent rebound in the dollar could help by making imported product somewhat more attractive vis a vis domestically produced steel.
Second, the Aegis engineering team continues to refine and improve services for Aegis fabricators. In the past twelve months we have made excellent strides in improving response time and decreasing turn around in all areas. The team is now averaging just a bit over 24 hours for truss Seals, four days for Bracing Layouts, and less than one day on Repairs. Much work remains to be done, and Mike Pellock, P.E., Jim Looby, P.E., Joe Forsee, P.E. and the entire team are committed to making this happen.
Third, we continue to realign our marketing efforts to take advantage of rapidly developing "new media". Over the past 18 months you have hopefully noticed a more unified and consistent look and message throughout the various marketing tools Aegis utilizes. With the launch of our new website, new e-catalog, e-newsletter, and various web-based initiatives, we plan to push the message of Aegis cold formed trusses to an even broader audience.
On the software front, our programmers, as always, are focused on improving the overall quality and performance of our software. We understand your need to continually improve productivity, especially in this hyper competitive market. Our software developers are committed to delivering the tools to help you do just that.
Finally, like all companies facing an uncertain market place, Aegis is continually looking inward to ensure that we are as lean, efficient, and productive as possible.
One such effort underway is our Green initiative. Given that Green Building is a cornerstone of our marketing message, we felt it was important to "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk." We are aggressively reducing printed materials and the associated paper and printing costs. We recycle all office waste and all our office products come from a "green vendor". We are reducing energy consumption (and utility bills) through simple but effective measures like turning off the lights when a room is not occupied, and turning up the thermostat. It's all really quite easy, and the results are not just good for the environment, but for the bottom line as well.
Aegis is absolutely committed to helping our fabricator-partners negotiate the "Interesting" times ahead. We thank you for your confidence, and we thank you for your business.
Tom Valvo
President
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