Walters & Wolf

Source: Exec Digital USA

Date :9/17/2007 6:56:26 AM

Training to be The Best

Walters & Wolf believes that providing the best and highest quality products is only half the battle; the people that install them must be among the best skilled available.

Written and produced by James Buchanan & Sean Bakke

No matter how good you are, a company can always get better — which is a lesson that Walters & Wolf Inc. has learned and implemented in a significant manner.

Founded in 1977 by John Walters and Randy Wolf, the company is a construction contractor specializing in glass and glazing; doors, frames and hardware; architectural precast concrete panels; and architectural glass fiber reinforced concrete panels.

Some of the products the company works with are punched windows, natural stone and metal truss, sunscreen louvers, roof screen, curtain wall, aluminum frame glass doors, hand-set stone, metal panel soffits, ornamental trellis, and metal panel canopy, among others.

Walters & Wolf is based in Fremont, Calif., and since it’s founding has expanded to include offices in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

Each division, notes the company’s website, strives to be the best available source in its marketplace through on-time completion of projects by using skilled workmanship and quality products.

“From preconstruction engineering through the completion of punch-list items, Walters & Wolf uses its unique abilities and knowledge to enhance the construction process. Our promise to our clients is to be predictably great,” reads the website.

As noted above, training is an important component of the company’s work. In 2004 Walters & Wolf invested more than $40,000 to create a state-of-the-art training center at its main office.

The training facility provides room and equipment to conduct training in a number of the disciplines within which the company works. The training site also has web-based systems that facilitate the sharing of information across the Internet with the companies other divisions, product and materials suppliers and clients.

Training is focused in three main areas. The first of which is to provide vendor clinics. In this regard, Walters & Wolf will bring an industry expert into its training facility to hold what the company calls Lunch Box seminars. The intent is to familiarize the company’s employees with the products, how they work and best practices for installation.

According to the company’s website, these clinics have included fire-rated glazing products, hardware supplies, and representatives from sheet membrane companies.

Walters & Wolf also offers quite a few internal training opportunities. Since the company uses a number of technologies in its day-to-day operations and financial management, the company offers training in Walters & Wolf’s customized drafting tools, automated takeoff and fabricating tools, Microsoft project software, and web-based management tools.

According to the company’s website, because of the custom nature of these products, the training is taught by employees that are most familiar with the relative technology. Also, because the training facility has web-based communications functionality, trainings can be viewed over the Internet at the company’s other branch offices. The trainings can also be recorded and archived for employees to access whenever they would like.

Lastly, the company offers what it calls External Training opportunities, which simply put is the ability of employees to seek classes and continue their technical or vocational training. The company will reimburse employees for the cost of these classes.

Walters & Wolf provides a number of services, which includes its own design and engineering team and estimating staff. This enables the company to handle a wide variety of projects that includes small office buildings, tenant improvements, and high-rise curtain wall construction.

Years of experience in detailing and design, notes the company’s website, means that Walters & Wolf has the capacity to manage unique and unusual building projects requiring custom curtain wall, window wall, metal panels and stone.

When it comes to doors, frames and hardware, the company has computerized door opening schedules, a $1 million door inventory, and licensing agreements with ITS/WHI. Due to the company’s level of expertise and breadth of experience Walters & Wolf has installed more than 500,000 door openings since 1980.

Further, the company has cutting edge machining capability and a hollow metal shop that can custom produce products.

According to Walters & Wolf’s website, the doors, frames and hardware division client list includes many of the San Francisco Bay area’s successful contractors. The company is also known for its product expertise and design assistance that is code compliant.

As with the rest of the company’s work, Walters & Wolf precast work seeks to be among the best of the west. The company specializes in architectural precast concrete panels, architectural glass fiber reinforced concrete panels, and natural stone on truss panels. Walters & Wolf will also provide handset stone systems and stone lobbies for its many customers.

Service that come with the company’s precast work includes complete turnkey services such as preconstruction consultation, design assist services, structural computations by licensed engineers, and detailing and coordination. The company’s manufacturing facility is IAS and PCI certified.

Further, the manufacturing facility is located on Walters & Wolf’s 26 acre headquarters in Fremont and is equipped with a computer controlled concrete batch plant, 63,000 sq. ft. manufacturing building, a 40,000 sq. ft. assembly building and sales/estimating and engineering/project management office space.