Alchatek Blog

Today's blog post is a brief profile of our longtime Operations Manager, Matt Schmitt. 

Matt's responsibilities include: leading the Production Department in manufacturing our resin products, supervising the assembly of customized equipment such as the MixMaster Pro slab lifting gun, overseeing labeling and packaging, tracking inventory, and ordering raw materials. His management skills and acute attention to detail are key components in ensuring that top quality product is available and ready for use in your next project!

Matt's hobbies include fishing, backpacking and woodworking. At one point in his career, Matt was a very successful chef - which is where he became an expert at keeping track of raw materials, mixing ingredients to perfection, and delivering the best results to customers.

Have a question or suggestion for Matt?

As mentioned in the previous blog post Stop Erosion Through Your Seawall with Polyurethane:

When it comes to seawalls, there is a lot more to learn than meets the eye. A seawall is like a living, breathing thing: especially in the way that they are designed to function. But like all living breathing things, they have a finite lifespan. For many of them, it's a mere 20 – 30 years. For many seawalls, their lifespan is a mere 20-30 years and depending on where you live, replacing a seawall can cost anywhere from $150 to $500 per foot. Today however, signs of seawall distress can be solved before they get too bad through the application of polyurethane grouts to seal leaks, fill voids, and stabilize the surrounding soils.

Now that you're armed with this information, let’s take a look at a few advantages of pursuing large industrial seawall projects over residential projects.

Higher Budgets/Larger Areas Needing Repair

Additional Properties

Industrial property owners and managers are more likely to have additional properties needing repair. After you complete your first job for an industrial customer, keep in touch with them regularly so that you're top of mind when their next seawall repair problem arises.

More Bang for Your Buck

Think about it this way. You have to spend a certain amount of your marketing budget per lead anyways. Why not focus that money on industrial sized customers? You're more likely to get a higher return on your investment in the short term and seriously scale up your business in the long term.

Want more information on industrial seawall repair?

Recently in Queens, New York, a property owner came to our customer George Laubshire of LJS Waterproofing with an incredibly dire problem. Previous contractors poured an 8000 square foot, 36 inch deep slab for him. But they skipped a critical step: They did not waterproof the slab. It turns out that there was water running through underneath. Within a few months the concrete began to completely fail.

The property owner tried to use a diesel pump to get the water out. As you can likely guess, this didn't help much (even after 6 months of running the pump 24 hours a day). By this point over 60 psi of water was pouring out of cracks. In some places, water shot out about 6 inches above the concrete floor. Oakum was applied to slow the water down. But the pressure was so high that it essentially blew the oakum back out - even when the contractors were trying to stomp the oakum down into the cracks.

After careful evaluation, we recommended they use AP Fill 700 (paired with the catalyst AP 107). We advised the contractor to drill ports at an even distance from each other, and then slowly inject AP Fill 700. First they curbed the water flow, and then eventually they permanently remedied the problem. The soil under the slab was solidified to the point that the water in the ground had no choice but to flow somewhere else. After months of failed repair attempts by other contractors, the property owner was happy to finally get this problem resolved.

Afterwards our customer George Laubshire said to me, "Anthony, I've been pumping grout for years. And this is the best product that I have ever used. This product will make any contractor into a hero!"

Want more information on concrete leak seal repair products?

In this post I'll provide an overview of the concrete repair equipment that we offer, including slab lifting pumps, crack injection pumps, air compressors and accessories.

Hydraulic Proportioners Customized for Lifting  

PMC plural component proportioners are used to inject AP two-component structural polyurethane foams for slab lifting and soil stabilization.  Rugged and dependable, these pumps utilize relays and circuit breakers instead of circuit boards, vastly increasing reliability and preventing maintenance problems.  Read more...

Airless Sprayers Customized for Crack Injection  

Modified for injecting Alchemy-Spetec leak seal and soil stabilization resins, the world-class Titan pumps we offer are essential tools for sealing both small and gushing leaks as well as filling voids behind and below structures.  Read more...

Air Compressors

The FS Curtis series of air compressors we offer are the go to choice for powering your PMC drum pumps and air powered proportioners.  Dedicated to their customers, this brand name is synonymous with legendary reliability.  Read more...

Custom Slab Lifting Gun

We also manufacture an injection gun designed specifically for slab lifting. It is custom built to handle back-pressure. For detailed information, read this blog post: MixMaster Pro- The Reliable Slab lifting Gun.

Accessories

Want more detailed information on Alchemy-Spetec equipment?

Armed with the right approach and the right tools, you can increase your market presence significantly while attracting more and more leads. I'll briefly mention a few basic points in this article. For more details, make sure to download the brochure linked at the bottom. 

First and foremost, your website design should be user friendly. A frustrated website user often becomes a lost lead. In addition, your website text should be optimized for search engines. Find a specialist to research relevant key words most often searched in your city or state. It's important for site to be well designed, easy to navigate, and easy for search engines to find.

One of the most effective ways to capture leads is to maintain a frequently updated blog. Pack it with articles that your customers might find useful. Make sure to incoporate search terms into your blog post titles so they're easy to find via search engines. Offer something of real value at the end of each post in exchange for contact information. If maintaining a blog sounds like a lot of work, then hire an assistant or freelancer to assist you. Done correctly, this approach can have an extremely positive impact on your lead volume. For more on this subject, read this excellent article.

It also helps to maintain active accounts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Refrain from clouding your accounts with sales pitches. Instead, share useful information such as links to your blog posts, helpful tips for customers, etc. With this approach, your followers will be more likely to stick around and your content is more likely to be shared. You can also join industry groups on some of these platforms to share and receive tips, leads and helpful info.

Other effective approaches include giving presentations at professional associations, signing up with referral sites and exhibiting at home shows. The possibilities are endless, really - but hopefully that's enough to get you started in upgrading your approach. Feel free to give us a call for marketing advice at 404-618-0438. 

Want more detailed information on how to market your contracting business?

The other morning we were sitting in our sales meeting, and our Western Regional Manager mentioned something about running a small order through distribution, even though the contractor is huge and is probably used to dealing directly with suppliers. Thad's point was that on a really busy job, it is much more convenient to buy from a distributor that can deliver product directly to your job site, as opposed to depending on a freight company to deliver it from the manufacturer.

Spelling Out the Advantages

Want help finding your local distributor?

 

We're happy to annouce that equipment financing is now available through Accord Financial Group. Accord has been helping countless businesses finance their equipment since 1992. They are a small, family owned business with an emphasis on taking care of their customers. Check out the interview below with Dough Richter of Accord Financial Group.

How did you come to focus on financing equipment, specifically? 

Equipment financing and leasing is a very specialized industry but it is huge. Small businesses, especially, can’t always afford a large equipment payment. We decided to focus on this area because it provides a huge benefit for our customers. In fact, some of them would not be in business without our services! We work in a number of industries but gravitate towards the construction and excavating industries where there is much need for capital equipment.

What are the advantages to financing equipment versus paying the full amount up front?

There are some hidden costs associated with paying cash for equipment that the customer doesn’t always realize. What other uses or investments could the customer make with that cash outlay? Perhaps hire a new employee, advertise in a trade magazine or just maintain a cushion of cash for a rainy day. By utilizing our services, the customer keeps his cash free but builds equity in the equipment as he or she uses it.

What advantages would you say Accord Financial Group, Inc. offers over other lenders?

Accord takes a very “hands-on” approach with its customers. We work hard to figure out the best terms and conditions for our customers. Big banks and leasing companies are very automated today and customer service often takes a back seat. I talk to every customer and make sure I get the best program for them. Most small business owners appreciate our approach!

Through Accord, we are able to offer a one-stop-shop approach in helping you finance your equpment. All you need to do is review the equipment we offer, then call one of our reps to discuss your options in more detail and get a quote. Once you have a quote, you can click the link below and apply for financing!

Alchemy-Spetec Equipment Financing Application

Want more information on Alchemy Spetec Products?

Recently I was interviewed by VoyageATL about Alchemy-Spetec. VoyageATL is a culture and news site that highlights the best Atlanta has to offer. Check out the excerpt below and then click the link at the bottom to read more.

Back in 2012, after three decades in the industry, Stephen Barton decided to start Alchemy Polymers. He wanted to focus specifically on injection resins for sealing leaks, stabilizing soil, and lifting/leveling concrete slabs. Armed with a clear vision for higher quality products and better tech support, he and his team made it a priority to provide customers with the powerful polymers and painless procedures they need to achieve the rapid results their projects demand. Due to this laser focus, they experienced tremendous growth in just a few short years. That success didn’t go unnoticed. This past spring Alchemy Polymers was approached by Resiplast US/Spetec to discuss a potential partnership.

Read more...

Want in-depth info on Alchemy-Spetec products?

Think you can use a spray foam insulation gun for slab lifting? Well think again. If you've tried it, you know insulation guns become an expensive proposition with the constant need for replacement parts. They're also tedious to use, which can slow down production. And they often leak foam at the port when used for slab lifting. This is why we designed a gun specifically for the slab lifting industry. 

The MixMaster Pro slab lifting gun is built to last. It easily handles back pressure and has a leak proof port connection. It boasts an efficient design with minimal replacement parts. With an average cleaning time of 10 minutes, this gun is designed for ease of use. Spend less time repairing and cleaning your gun, and more time pumping foam!

Want more information on this reliable slab lifting gun?

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the basic costs of buying a polyurethane slab lifting rig and the packages that we offer. These configurations usually fit the bill for many of our interested customers. However, we also have the ability to put together a custom rig package for you.

Investment

Slab lifting trailer rigs usually start in the upper 40K range and go up from there. We have many configurations but have found that three different packages generally cover the needs of most contractors. Each rig is packed with unmatched quality and a plethora of features. These include but are not limited to; insulated walls and ceilings, AC/Heat, diamond plated floors, breaker panels, ramp doors, and a work bench.

Entry-Level Rig

This rig features an air powered PA-25 proportioner. Don't get me wrong, entry level is not the best choice of words because this setup is also good for residential and commercial projects. It's in a 16' v-nose trailer and has a gas powered air compressor and generator. We have many contractors with this set up doing everything from residential to D.O.T work.

Mid-Level Rig

This rig can either be a 18' or 20' trailer that happens to be built around the best selling PH-25 proportioner. This setup is made for the contractor who wants stellar result in an affordable range that features a hydraulically powered proportioner. This is also the best selling machine package, it boasts a 22 KW diesel powered generator and electric air compressor.

Advanced Level Rig

This rig is similar to the mid-level rig with larger PH-25 and PH-40 proportioners. These rigs come in 20' and larger trailers and are powered by 35 KW Stateline Diesel (John Deere) generator sets and also include electric air compressors. This setup is suitable for huge insulations jobs or larger buildings.

Optional Hands-On Quality Training

The best way to get “real world” scenario training is for one of our guys to come out to locations where you have potential jobs and train on site. This is a fool proof way to learn your new equipment and get paid while doing it. This is a good way to learn useful evaluation and estimating skills for the next job ahead.

Want more information on polyurethane slab lifting equipment?