CDN Buildings owners also use CDN Mechanical and CDN Concrete so they can manage construction schedules and stay efficient.
CDN Buildings designs, manufactures and installs steel structures for residential, commercial and agricultural applications in Canada. Most of the production work is done in-house, but some selected projects continued to outsource until recently. When lead times for certain parts became unacceptable, the company invested in a new folder and cutter to create a new division that could eliminate that bottleneck.
CDN Buildings is a family business founded in Derry, Ontario in 2015 by Bill Dendecker and sons Will and Joel.
“We started out manufacturing small carports and have grown from there in just a few years,” said Joel Dendecker, the company’s plant manager. “Now we are building something that is 30 x 30 feet. Erecting up to 60,000 square feet in your backyard. Buildings of commercial scale.
The family also manages CDN Mechanical and CDN Concrete to manage construction schedules and maintain efficiency. The company started with just five employees and now manages a team of 50 people.
Joel Dendecker explains that CDN Buildings is competitive because most of its smaller buildings are built with tubular trusses and columns rather than heavy steel beams and columns. This gives them a particular advantage in the small construction market.
“We have fully automatic saws that can cut corners so we can produce trusses very efficiently,” he said. “We can build buildings very quickly. And because they take up less floor space, our costs are lower. We’re pretty competitive with the average wood pole barn design.”
If a client needs to adapt a unique structural design to their building that requires a heavy steel structure, CDNs are still comparable to the competition, but they are best suited to lighter buildings and finished projects.
“Our buildings also look like the traditional wood-frame buildings that people love,” Dendecker said. “People don’t want to have a commercial building in their backyard. For example, if someone wants a fancy cedar-column canal entrance, we we can do the same.”
CDN is equipped with roll forming machines for the production of C- and Z-purlins, as well as a sheet metal rolling line for the production of sides.
“But we had problems with delivery times and wrong products,” Dendecker said. “It cost us money because we work all over North America. We have installers on site and if there is a problem with the finish or something, which doesn’t quite fit, we just can’t react quickly. If I need a flash, we won’t see it for a week.”
To solve this problem, CDN has set up a new department in its manufacturing facility equipped with folding shearing machines designed for trimming and surfacing light materials. Both CNC machines are made by the French company Jouanel, which has been designing and manufacturing metalworking equipment since 1948. Empire Machinery is the company’s distributor in Canada.
“This folder is excellent,” Dendecker said. “It has a screen where you can draw on the part you want with your finger, and it basically does most of the work for you, helping you get the angles right and following all the steps you are about to take. Finally, just Stomp On Just release the pedal and follow these instructions.”
“There was a time when we manually folded the flash if we had a hard time at work, so not having to do it in an emergency was a big advantage,” Dendecker said. “But day-to-day work with folders is also much easier. We no longer have to determine the order in which we need to sort the folds – the machine will do it. We no longer need to measure and mark, because the Machine can manage it too. It’s just that the operator can look at the screen and follow the action, and the machine will take care of the rest.”
Like everything else these days, CDNs suffer from supply chain tightening but don’t affect company growth.
“Getting coils can be difficult,” Dendecker said. “In addition, the production time for garage doors and windows is long. But we are busy and do not see pauses in work. Most of our customers are aware of the situation, and we manage the installation together with them.” it becomes easier to manage this growth.
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Post time: Aug-22-2022