GMS Expands Product Offerings and Announces Platform Expansion Activity

Stockton Products Announces Manufacturing Facility, Distribution in Phoenix

Spackle by Dave Coverly

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Obituary

L&W Supply Acquires American Building Materials

JLG Augmented Reality App Available 

Action Gypsum Supply Adds New Branch 

Firestone to Rebrand as Holcim, Elevate 

Saint-Gobain to Invest in Montreal Gypsum Plant 

L&W Supply Acquires American Building Materials

L&W Supply Corp. announced that it has acquired the assets of American Building Materials with locations in Wadsworth and Hebron, Ohio.

By acquiring American Building Materials, L&W Supply will increase its team of experienced associates and strengthen its presence in Ohio. With the acquisition, L&W Supply now has eight locations in Ohio.

Founded as a family business in 1974, American Building Materials is a distributor of drywall, related accessories and tools, servicing commercial and residential contractors. The American Building Materials associates will continue to work at the locations, ensuring customers receive the quality products and exceptional service that they are used to.

“This acquisition allows L&W Supply to enhance our services to contractors in the central Ohio area and introduce L&W Supply to new customers in the Akron area,” said John McLaughlin, vice president of L&W Supply’s Northeast Region. “The experience of the American Building Materials team will be a great asset to us, and we are excited to welcome their associates to the L&W Supply family.”

JLG Augmented Reality App Available

Aerial work platform manufacturer JLG Industries Inc. announced updates to the JLG Augmented Reality app, giving the innovative digital tool a facelift and expanding its capabilities to be even more useful to users on a day-to-day basis. The next-generation upgrades include an all-new interface and experience, new content, cloud-based and offline use, expanded machine inspections functionality and a new “Fleet” feature.

“This new, expanded version of the JLG AR app not only has a more modern look and feel, but it also operates more effectively and efficiently,” said Ara Eckel, director of product management for connected solutions, JLG. “Taking a machine-first approach, we have evolved this tool with very targeted enhancements and additional features that will improve users’ productivity. Its’ customer-centric design makes the app easier to navigate and more quickly connects our customers to the information they are looking for.”

The JLG AR app continues to provide five important functions that increase safety, productivity and efficiency on job sites: 1) Machine Visualization, 2) Accessory Visualization, 3) Operation Guidance, 4) Decal Viewer and 5) Inspection Assistant. Upgrades to the app include several performance-enhancing capabilities to these functions, such as a refreshed mobile application interface and experience that starts at the machine level, allowing users to select a product and go directly into its content module from either the easy-to-use menu guide or through the app’s improved search functionality. New machines and content have also been added to the equipment modules offering users today more than 60 models to view and manipulate in 3-D.

Content is now cloud-based, rather than native, to reduce the application’s size from 1.3 GB to 227 MB and enhance accessibility to new and updated content. And, the inspection assistance functionality has expanded to cover annual machine inspections, daily machine inspections and pre-delivery inspections.

The new “Fleet” feature helps JLG customers optimize their fleet management right from the app. Users can now add and store multiple assets for easy tracking by serial number/asset ID. And, users can save data on machines and access it instantly, regardless of connectivity.

“Using the JLG AR app, users can get on-demand, digital access to information specific to a machine without ever leaving the job site,” said Eckel. Examples of this are:

• Project managers using the app’s machine visualization can make sure the equipment they’re ordering will fit in their workspace and reach the required areas without looking up dimensions in a manual or online.
• Rental companies using the app’s accessory visualization can be confident that they’re ordering the right accessories to fit the models they carry without referencing a parts manual to verify fit.
• Before machine use, operators using the app’s operation guidance can see an overlay of a machine’s control panel with explanations of control functions. And, using the decal viewer, operators can scan decals and read them in their native language.
• Technicians using their phones can walk through the inspection assistant to ensure they are following proper protocols and efficiently documenting every step.

Action Gypsum Supply Adds New Branch

With more than 20-plus years of independent building materials experience, AD’s member Action Gypsum Supply has grown to 21 locations that span across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas markets. The most recent branch opened this month in Sacramento, Calif., and is one of six locations the company has added in the last two years.

Ernie Rodriguez, an employee of Action Gypsum Supply has been appointed branch manager of the Sacramento location. Rodriguez will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 40,000-square-foot warehouse along with the support of his current team of employees who he stated are crucial to the success of the new branch. Rodriguez provided insight into his expectations for the location, “We plan to maintain the core values of personalized customer service and collaborative partnership that Action Gypsum Supply represents. We look forward to servicing the Sacramento area for both residential and commercial work.”

Action Gypsum Supply Vice President of the West Division, Tom Jordan, also shared his enthusiasm for the latest accomplishment, “We are extremely excited to expand our footprint in Northern California and further the value we provide to our customers.” Jordan continued, “We have an exceptional team in Sacramento that prides themselves on service and anticipating our customers’ needs.”

Firestone to Rebrand as Holcim, Elevate

Firestone Building Products announced that it is adopting the Holcim name and brand identity, becoming the Holcim Building Envelope division of its Solutions & Products Business Unit. Firestone’s brand becomes Elevate, symbolizing Holcim’s continued commitment to deliver superior quality and innovation with advanced building solutions.

Holcim’s range of building envelope solutions includes wall, lining and waterproofing systems for commercial and residential applications. It unites some of the most trusted and high-quality brands in its sector including Gaco, GenFlex and Malarkey Roofing Products, as well as Elevate, the new brand name for Firestone roofing systems.

Elevate represents Holcim’s commitment to deliver quality and innovation with advanced building solutions.

Under the new Elevate brand, the people, products and standards trusted in the industry will remain the same. Sales representatives and distribution networks will continue to provide the same superior customer service and product support.

Saint-Gobain to Invest in Montreal Gypsum Plant

Saint-Gobain, through its building products subsidiary CertainTeed Canada Inc., announced plans to invest $91 million CAD (including $40 million CAD in grant money from the government of Quebec) via its EcoPerformance program, to upgrade equipment at its Montreal wallboard manufacturing facility and reduce its carbon emissions, creating the first zero-carbon drywall plant in North America. The reduction in emissions associated with the equipment upgrades at the plant is the equivalent of removing 9,500 cars from the road.

The equipment upgrades will also reduce the site’s energy usage by 30 percent, creating one of the most energy-efficient wallboard plants in the world, and the plant will transition away from using fossil fuels to solely being powered by renewable electricity from Hydro-Québec.

Additionally, the upgrades will increase the Montreal plant’s production capacity by up to 40 percent, allowing CertainTeed to deepen the company’s commitment to the construction industry in Quebec, Atlantic Canada and eastern Ontario.

The ambitious project comes as Saint-Gobain continues to roll out its new global “Grow and Impact” strategy, which includes plans to reduce the company’s energy consumption and emissions. The company has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

All of the production equipment at the Montreal plant that is currently powered by natural gas will be upgraded to newer equipment powered by renewably-sourced electricity. These upgrades will allow the manufacturing operations at the plant to achieve carbon neutrality. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2023 and the new equipment will come online in late 2024.

The equipment upgrades in Montreal are the culmination of nearly two years of project design, engineering and planning by the company’s sustainability, engineering and operations teams in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

CertainTeed’s Montreal plant began operations in 1973 and sits on 15 hectares of land along the St. Lawrence River in Ville Sainte-Catherine, Quebec. The plant is home to approximately 120 employees.

This project will lead to the creation of several new full-time jobs at the plant, including roles in engineering, operations and supply chain. A complete listing of open roles at all Saint-Gobain locations, including the CertainTeed location in Montreal, can be found on the company’s careers website.

GMS Expands Product Offerings and Announces Platform Expansion Activity

GMS Inc. provided an update on the continued execution of its growth strategy with the acquisition of Construction Supply of Southwest Florida Inc., as well as the recent opening of four new greenfield locations and five new AMES stores since the company’s last update.

“We are excited to announce the acquisition of Construction Supply of Southwest Florida, Inc., and we welcome the team to the GMS family,” said John C. Turner Jr., president and CEO. “This acquisition, along with the establishment of four new greenfield locations and five new AMES stores, represent continued execution of our growth strategy through platform expansion and our focus on growing our complementary products.”

Founded in 2002, Construction Supply of Southwest Florida Inc., which is based in Sarasota, Fla., is a distributer of various stucco, building, and waterproofing supplies serving the Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice and North Port local markets with broader outreach to the Tampa and Ft. Myers markets. The acquisition of CSSWF further expands GMS’s Complementary Product offerings and establishes an inaugural stucco-focused location in the state of Florida.

Founder Laura Strub and the entire CSSWF team will continue with the business going forward, operating under the original company name. CSSWF will partner with the legacy GMS brand, Gator Gypsum Inc, to provide additional Complementary Product offerings across the region.

GMS also recently established four new greenfield locations, expanding its presence to provide enhanced service and product offerings in several markets:

• In Woburn, Mass., GMS adds a ninth location to the New England Gypsum Supply, Inc. platform expanding service and capabilities across New England and the broader Northeast market.
• In Wildwood, Fla., GMS adds its fourteenth location to the Gator Gypsum, Inc. platform, expanding service from legacy operations in Northern Florida into the Wildwood MSA east of Orlando.
• In Cleveland, Ohio, GMS adds to its Ohio Valley Drywall Supply operations with a full-product-line location in the Cleveland market, complementing last year’s acquisition of Architectural Coatings Distributors Inc., which is focused on EIFS/Stucco.
• In West Union, S.C., GMS adds to its Tucker Materials, Inc. operations with an additional location servicing the Upstate South Carolina area.

Following its acquisition by GMS in December 2021, the AMES platform continues to execute against its growth strategy by adding five new AMES store locations in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., Pensacola, Fla., North Charleston, S.C., Ocala, Fla. and Durham, N.C., enhancing its market coverage in these geographies.

GMS expects to continue to build on its strong momentum with several additional near-term greenfield and AMES expansion opportunities identified.

Stockton Products Announces Manufacturing Facility, Distribution in Phoenix

Stockton Products announced its newest facility and has signed a lease on a 55,000 square foot building in the 4700 block of West Van Buren Street with easy access to I-10 and the 202 Loop South.

Based in North Las Vegas, Nevada, Stockton Products is a leading manufacturer of welded wire corners, extruded aluminum, metal trims and custom metal brakeshapes for the construction marketplace.

Since its founding in 1949, Stockton has grown rapidly as a pioneer in the manufacture of welded wire for the stucco market and now a market leader in specialty metal components for the commercial and residential construction industry. With the expansion in Phoenix, Stockton will be able to address a broader range of industries for its planned state of the art metal fabrication capability according to Stockton President Paul McMinn.

“Our investment in precision fabrication capability will allow us to not only meet the needs of our current markets but enable us to enter other markets such as solar, automotive and aerospace with a level of automation that will support future growth capacity in a constrained workforce environment,” said McMinn.

The new facility is now operational but will maintain its wire manufacturing operations on 43rd Avenue for the near future. The Van Buren facility will be a mix of metal fabrication and distribution warehouse with a rail spur for handling raw materials from steel coil to finished goods in the same building. Planned operations include shearing, CNC controlled fiber laser cutting, punching, and bending the metal shapes and the final phase of automating those processes. Some of Stockton’s roll forming capacity will be moved from its Livermore, Calif., facility to meet the growth needs in the valley that were underserved. The company’s products are sold through national and regional building materials dealers who in turn service the contractor market.

The company currently operates six manufacturing facilities in the West, Southwest and delivered to more than 38 states, Canada and Mexico in 2021.