K-Line Group

Source: Construction Digital

Date :11/04/2008 03:26:43

Strength in numbers is key says K-Line Group. Exec asks Vice President Chuck Mossman just why this is

Written by Roxanne Ridge and Produced by Lenny Antoine

The high voltage construction industry can be complex – just when you think that there is a solution for one problem, another can arise. And it can be hard to know where to start with resolving it.

This is where K-Line Group steps in – a high voltage construction company with a twist. Providing a powerful solution to a multitude of problems through industry specific divisions, the company aims to provide a unique service that is tailored to each customer’s needs.

Made up of two associated companies - K-Line Maintenance and Construction Limited and K-Tek Electro- Services Limited - the company has eight divisions addressing the engineering, design, procurement, construction, commissioning and maintenance of high voltage power delivery systems.

Customers can approach K-Line Group for one contract and have every part of that contract attended to by the company’s various sectors.

K-Line Group also provides temporary power services for large-scale construction sites. In fact, there’s hardly any area within the high voltage construction sector that K-Line Group can’t look into. So, how has the company pulled all this expertise together and made it work?

Solutions, staffing and safety

“K-Line Group has a long history of providing a superior service,” explains Chuck Mossman, who has been with the company since the mid 1980s. “The K-Line Group of companies was co-founded in 1967, when two brothers – Glenn and Craige Kellett – bought a line truck and started to look at providing high voltage solutions with great customer service to both utilities and private sector clients alike.

“At this time, the idea that there were cost and time benefits to be gained from outsourcing high voltage construction projects was relatively new. Clients had the need to deliver projects quickly and effectively but did not possess the internal means to do so.

“Glenn and Craige worked hard at creating a good solid customer base, and by the 1970s their hard work was really starting to pay off.”

Today the company prides itself on this very same customer service that it started out with. And as the power industry has constantly evolved, the company has been reinventing itself too. “Customers can come to K-Line Group for a complete range of high voltage expertise – we’re not a company that deals with just one part of the process, we can take responsibility for every phase of a power project from initial financing to ongoing maintenance.

“The advantage of this is that the process is much more efficient. Customers can save on both project scheduling and money. A single source of responsibility ensures that nothing gets overlooked”

In order to provide such a service, K-Line Group invests a lot of time in staff training.

“The industry is in a position where there is a definite lack of trades people and engineers and essentially, there is more work than skilled workers to do it.

“We recruit staff through an apprenticeship programme, universities and community colleges while offering competitive compensation packages that make the K-Line Group an attractive group of companies to work for.

One of the reasons why over 200 staff are attracted to working at K-Line Group is because of its rigorous safety culture. And arguably, the company’s focus on this area is one of the best in the construction industry.

“Staff know that by coming to work for the K-Line Group of companies they’re not just going to earn a good wage, they’re going to go home safely every night,” says Chuck.

On every job that the K-Line Group takes out it analyses, documents and double checks to ensure that the safety standards are met and exceeded. “Safety is always first on the job,” he continues. “And by doing this, customers – not just staff – know that they’re going to be exposed to a lot less risks.

“The systems and solutions we’re designing are always going to have safety as a top priority,” he adds.

Improving safety is just one of the elements that the company is focusing on while it works to achieving ISO 9001 recognition this July. “We have a very top-down focus in our company,” explains Chuck. “And safety is one of the key areas that makes us stand out from the competition.”

A strong business

Another way in which the company stands out from others is through the partnerships it builds with clients and key suppliers it has affiliated with.

“We’re not a low dollar service provider,” says Chuck. “We’re a company that builds long term relationships – our unique service means that clients come back to use for various solutions time and time again because of the overall value that we are able to provide.”

This is the certainly the case. The company has a multitude of partnerships. Most recently, it has established a contract with Great Lakes Power Ltd. Shortly before this, the K-Line Group of companies signed three-year Alliance Agreements with Burlington Hydro Inc., and Barrie Hydro Distribution Inc.

“We’re a strong team, and we work beside our Clients to ensure that no details are overlooked,” says Chuck.

It is this kind of amicable approach to partnerships that has lead to the success of the international sector of the K-Line Group. K-Line International is one of North America’s leading international high voltage construction companies. They design, engineer, construct and commission substations, transmission lines and related equipment in developing countries.

K-Line International has worked on EPC projects in Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad as well as some European countries like Cyprus. And the company benefits from the financial backing of the Canadian Government.

Moving forward

This year, K-Line Group’s annual revenues were in the region of $100 million – an impressive amount. However, the company is confident that this will continue to rise.

“We’re always on the lookout to get involved with both larger and smaller projects and partnerships,” says Chuck. “And recently, we’ve been expanding into the renewable energy sector, wind development in particular.”

Over the past three years, the company has embarked on a number of large-scale wind power projects. The latest wind turbine project to be constructed by the K-Line Group is the Ripley Wind Project for Suncor Energy Products Inc & Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc.

The company has also worked on wind projects for Airsource LP, Saskpower International and Canadian Projects Ltd, among others. “It is this kind of work that we hope will diversify our market base and increase our sales on a consistent basis. It also allows us to showcase all of the core competencies that the K-Line Group has to offer.”

One of the ways the company hopes will make this possible is through their Sales & Marketing Team initiatives. “Ten years ago, we almost had to reinvent ourselves due to deregulation in the utility marketplace,” Chuck explains. “And this is hard to believe considering how well known we are in the Canadian high-voltage construction industry. As we’ve developed a superior service, we’ve continued to promote it. We’ve improved our website – which has much more detailed information, we’ve used targeted advertising and had a greater exposure through industry focused tradeshows and conferences. Moreover, the ISO recognition we’re due to get in July will definitely make us more visible in the high-voltage construction sector.”

Undoubtedly, if they continue to keep up this performance, the K-Line Group will definitely become a recognised National Canadian brand.

Click here to view the corporate brochure on K-Line Group