Recreating a market
Singleton says steel processors sat on the sidelines for years waiting for the steel industry to champion and spearhead the use of steel products in residential construction. That never happened, so processors like Dietrich Metal Framing, as well as other tool and fastener manufacturers and industry groups, decided to join the effort to promote steel as an alternative.
Dietrich realized that getting the building industry to use steel was more than a sales and marketing challenge. Simply stocking lumberyards with steel studs and fasteners was not going to develop the market. Instead, the company would have to revamp the process, from design to materials distribution to the jobsite.
"Even if you had a lumberyard to supply the materials, who was going to build it?" says Singleton.
The company concluded that persuading contractors to use steel would require an extensive research and education process. It decided to guide builders throughout the process — from design to code compliance to training building crews accustomed to working with wood — to become comfortable with framing with steel.
Dietrich Metal Framing formed a joint venture in 2001 with software company MiTek Industries Inc. to produce a design program to help contractors design homes and systems using steel. The venture, Aegis Metal Framing, says Ponko, expands the use of computer-designed metal roofs, wall and floor systems, and will provide assistance to builders, from setting specifications through shell framing.
To get the process moving and help contractors get over the logistical barriers encountered when going from lumber to steel framing, Dietrich established a distribution and technical service center near Columbus. The idea is to have its hands on every step of the building process so that it can overcome the resistance that often greets new ideas.
"We’ve tried to take all of the excuses out of it," says Singleton.
One of the key steps in standardizing and streamlining the process is a pilot project that Dietrich is conducting with Centex Homes of Columbus, a division of Centex Corp., a national company that builds about 20,000 homes a year. Centex is using Dietrich Metal Framing’s TradeReady Floor System in two of its lines.
Dietrich delivers a package of materials, including steel studs, fasteners and tools to a jobsite. A group of field specialists from Dietrich demonstrates the use of tools — screw guns replace nail guns, chop saws and plasma cutters replace miter saws — and shows workers how to work with the materials.
The field specialists work with the framing crew to erect the floor system, noting problems and developing better techniques to improve the process.
Singleton says the project will help Dietrich develop building "cookbooks" that will standardize the process for contractors and cut down on building time. The project has already yielded valuable results by reducing substantially the time it takes to install a floor system.
"We’ve already cut our time down more than half," says Singleton, which means that it is now about equal to what it takes to build a comparably sized wood floor system.
And the process of research and development is ongoing. Dietrich engages with every level of the industry on a regular basis.
"We talk almost daily with tool manufacturers, code enforcement officials and representatives of vocational schools," says Singleton.
Singleton says that while Dietrich Metal Framing will continue its research and development efforts, the distribution leg will likely be turned over to lumberyards or other building materials dealers.
"What we really want to do is create the model, then give it to another distributor," Singleton says.
While Dietrich may not intend to own every part of the process, it has put its hands on its every step. Contractors have access to a technical service phone line at Dietrich that takes 25,000 calls a year.
The company offers the tools necessary for steel framing to contractors on a rent-to-own basis and conducts seminars with building code enforcement officials to explain the structural qualities of steel and how it meets code requirements.
While steel remains far from supplanting wood as the material of choice, Dietrich Metal Framing is doing everything it can to secure a place for its products in the construction industry. And it’s doing it by following a fairly simple formula.
Says Ponko: "We’ve made it easier for them to work with steel."
HOW TO REACH: Dietrich Metal Framing, www.dietrichindustries.com; Brookfield Homes, www.brookfieldhomes-southland.com; Steel Framing Alliance, www.steelframingalliance.com; Worthington Industries Inc., www.worthingtonindustries.com
