News Detail

Reach Out!

10/1/2002

In my last memo, I talked about ACI's efforts to reach out to other concrete organizations internationally. This month, I'll discuss ACI's efforts to reach out to other concrete organizations within the U.S.

One of the terms frequently used to describe the concrete industry is "fragmented." Nowhere is this fragmentation more obvious than in the number of organizations that represent some aspect of our industry. For example, at the 2002 World of Concrete exhibition, there were 23 organizations (including ACI) listed as sponsors or supporting organizations. The mailing list for CAMRA, an organization for U.S. concrete- and masonry-related associations, includes more than 30 associations, institutes, and other types of groups. Some of these groups are very active in ACI and some are not.

Let's take a look at the role of ACI in the industry. First, we are a technical organization. The documents that ACI technical committees develop define concrete practice in the U.S. If you have been involved in litigation, you know the weight that attorneys and courts give to our documents. This authority means that the rest of the industry is generally compelled to live with what ACI develops. I would expect that any organization would want a direct role in defining the rules of the game.

Second, ACI is not a trade organization. The legal structure of the Institute prohibits us from promoting the use of concrete. However, there is no legal prohibition or logical reason why ACI cannot cooperate with organizations that do promote within the concrete industry. We certainly don't want to take actions that make concrete less competitive as a building material.

What about all of the other groups? I think that these other groups have been formed for several reasons. First, the interests of the group could not be met by ACI because of our restrictions on promotion. Second, the interests of the group could not be met within our technical committee structure. Finally, some groups were probably formed simply to give a greater identity to a portion of the industry than is possible within ACI. Overall, I think that the existence of all of these groups is healthy and beneficial to the industry because they do involve many individuals who otherwise might not be directly involved in activities outside of their own companies.

The downside to having all of these groups with differing interests is the potential for duplication of effort. At one level, there is the reduction of time that volunteers have to donate to the various industry groups. Volunteers simply can't support the work of too many groups. At a different level, there is the potential for the documents produced by different groups to say different things. This situation is confusing, and potentially costly, for the industry as a whole.

The current level of interaction between ACI and all of the other concrete organizations seems to range from excellent to nonexistent. One of the goals of my term is to increase the interaction. Please don't misunderstand my intentions-ACI does not want to take over any groups or get involved with their internal operations. We do want input on technical issues as well as input on any other topics that an organization may feel is important to the industry. Currently, I believe such input is frequently lacking.

There is no single relationship that is appropriate for all organizations-no "one size fits all." We are interested in developing the appropriate relationship for each organization. ACI staff has begun by contacting several groups to determine how we can best work together.

Please don't wait to be contacted by ACI. If you have a suggestion or recommendation along these lines, contact me directly and let's get started!

Terry Holland
President,
American Concrete Institute

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