Production & Quality School (PQS I) is NPCA’s flagship course and is the perfect starting point to provide plant personnel with the fundamentals of quality precast concrete manufacturing. Designed for all production personnel and QC inspectors, this course covers all aspects of manufactured concrete production – from raw materials to post-pour inspection with special emphasis on maintaining quality throughout the entire manufacturing process. This course satisfies the plant certification requirement of the current edition of the NPCA Quality Control Manual for Precast Concrete Plants.

PQS Level II – Production is designed for plant personnel who will benefit from a comprehensive understanding of precast-specific production practices in four key areas: lifting and handling, issues related to production practices, lean manufacturing and patching and repair. This course goes beyond the fundamentals explored in PQS Level I to prepare students to think critically about the links between these four areas and common plant production and safety issues. Course participants go in-depth in exploring these topics, discussing best practices and learning to address production challenges in their plants. Shift supervisors, team leaders, production managers, batch plant operators, engineering and drafting personnel and those who aspire to these positions should attend.

Attendees of this workshop learn what it means to be a leader – learning to lead themselves and influence others. The discussions, skits and activities presented will enhance the skills and knowledge necessary to become a person of influence. Attendees learn key attributes required to build teams, select employees and motivate others to accomplish the organization’s goals. Anyone who wishes to be a person of influence in their company, their community or in any organization is encouraged to attend this course.

Lightweight aggregate provides weight reduction that significantly reduces the number of trucks needed to deliver precast concrete products. Additionally, lightweight aggregate provides internal curing of concrete products, which enhances hydration of cementitious material, reduces cracking, improves long-term durability and extends service life. This presentation introduces expanded shale, clay and slate (ESCS) lightweight aggregates (LWA). We explain the rotary kiln process for manufacturing ESCS lightweight aggregates and discuss characteristics and properties of lightweight concrete and how it benefits precast concrete products and structures. This program also discusses applicable design considerations, specifications and codes.

The precast concrete industry is consistently growing and evolving, and companies are continually working to hire and crosstrain employees. Ensuring employees get up to speed swiftly improves teamwork, enhances efficiency and helps new hires quickly become integral team members. This course is intended for those who are new to the precast industry or for those in roles outside of the typical production area. This course introduces precast concrete industry terminology, equipment, processes and concepts. During this course, we discuss the similarities and differences between precast and cast-in-place concrete, address the benefits precast offers over alternative construction materials and discuss important terms like water-to-cement ratio. We also discuss different types of concrete used in the precast industry and common applications for each; look at typical raw materials and review the desirable characteristics to look for; and discuss different types of reinforcement, their uses and the importance of proper positioning. We review typical production practices and address best practices throughout each step – covering everything from proper material storage to proper handling and storage of products. Finally, we discuss fresh and hardened concrete tests and the importance of quality control and quality assurance.

Precast concrete production involves many materials, machines and employees. Inevitably, challenges can pop up on any given day. Wouldn’t it be great to have a group of people in the room who do what you do and have some advice to offer? This course provides that opportunity. Bring your questions and join the discussion with experienced precast concrete managers and supervisors, representing a variety of precast products. These NPCA Master Precasters will share some of their most challenging situations and how they handled them. This will be an interactive course where attendees can share their own experiences and ask for advice from others who have been there. This sharing of experiences and knowledge can provide valuable ideas to take back and use when the next challenge falls in your lap.

This course covers the most common types of fibers in precast applications. What are the benefits of using fiber reinforcing? There are different benefits for micro and macro fibers. We discuss the applications that can be using fibers compared to some applications that do not lend themselves to fiber replacement. There will be a short discussion on the different calculation methods used and the associated testing methods as well as a brief discussion on the batching techniques used for fiber reinforced concrete.

There are many components to producing quality precast concrete products. Raw materials, mix design, reinforcing, consolidation and curing all play a part in achieving the final product. In this interactive class, attendees learn from an expert and from each other, including a discussion of best practices and solutions to production issues that precasters deal with every day. Bring questions as we will address your production issues and discuss how to resolve them.

Taking information from a set of drawings and converting it to a plant shop drawing has a significant influence on quality assurance. We focus on making sure the take-off is done correctly and the information on the shop drawing is accurate. But how easy is it to read? Every assumption a plant employee makes increases the chances of error. Every question the employee must ask the engineering team affects production time. Therefore, the clarity of a plant shop drawing is so important. This course focuses on an overview of CAD-based drawings as well as useful tips and tricks when using this software. Use of other software options will be discussed.