Keith Wallis Jr. Receives 2019 T. Henry Clark Award
Keith Wallis Jr. was presented the T. Henry Clark Award at PCI’s awards luncheon during the PCI Committee Days and Technical Conference Featuring the National Bridge Conference. This award was established to recognize an individual, group of individuals, or a firm that has delivered a resource that improves or enhances the quality of precast, prestressed concrete products or processes. T. Henry Clark was a believer of quality and quality processes; this award is to recognize those who create or promote quality in a way that would have made Henry proud.
Keith Wallis Jr. has worked for Prestressed Casting Co. for more than 40 years. He began his career with the plant in quality control in 1979, worked in the engineering/drafting department from 1981-95, and was operations manager from 1995 to 2000. Since 2000, he has served as general manager, overseeing all aspects of the company.
A PCI Fellow, Wallis has been a member of the PCI Board of Directors, serving from 2007-12 and since 2015. He is currently the chair of the PCI Board.
Wallis is currently active on more than 10 PCI committees. His committee service has included membership in the Financial & Risk Management and Erectors committees as well as all committees within the Quality Activities Council. He served as PCI Quality Activities Council chair from 2007 to 2012 and in 2015 to 2016. He is currently chair of the Tolerance committee. He also was a Kansas City Builders’ Association board member for two two-year terms.
Quality Talks – Series 2 is Now Available
Over the course of producing quality precast concrete members throughout the year, it is necessary to take a moment to reflect on the right ways of doing things. Taking time on a regular basis to consider some quality-control-related topics and production best practices will help continually improve the culture of quality at a production facility. PCI’s Quality Talks can serve as a valuable resource for this purpose.
The Quality Enhancement Committee has released its second series of Quality Talks. There is now a total of 22 Talks, with more on the way, covering a wide range of additional topics, from basic math, to proper steel form care and methods for reducing bugholes in finished products.
These toolbox talks should be used at least once a month to discuss quality with the production teams. All available topics may not directly relate to every plant’s production practices. Plant personnel are not limited to the topics provided; plants are encouraged to use this format to generate toolbox talks that may relate more directly to their specific needs. View Quality Talks - Series 2
PCI Website Adds Erector Service Area Search
Precast erectors will typically service projects well beyond the border of the states where they are located. To help potential users of PCI-certified erectors identify those firms that could be available for their projects, PCI has added a Service Area search function to the Certified Erectors Directory.
The Service Areas includes all 50 states, the U.S. territories, Canadian provinces, and Mexico. New York City has also been added, since not all erectors who work in New York also work in New York City. The database was populated based upon surveys distributed to the erectors. Firms that did not respond to the survey were listed as serving their domiciled state only. Certified erectors are encouraged to review their listings and forward any updates to qualityprograms@pci.org.
Clutch Maintenance Webinar
This short webinar reminds us to properly inspect lifting devices and all component parts in order to maintain safe working environments and preserve the quality of products when lifted. This is an ideal resource for periodic training of staff, similar to the Quality Talks discussed above. View Clutch Maintenance Webinar
If you have suggestions for future quality-related articles for this newsletter, please forward these to Mike Kesselmayer at mkesselmayer@pci.org.