Kick Haas Podcast
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Kick Haas Podcast
Start Strong/Finish Strong: Commission Report
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The episode emphasizes the significance of starting and finishing strong in the context of business performance. The conversation covers several pivotal topics, including goal-setting for the year ahead, the importance of financial transparency, and accountability in achieving targeted results.
• Overview of financial health and commission structures
• Goal-setting for 2025: Revenue, profitability, and billable hours
• Strategies to ensure strong starts and finishes for projects
• Encouragement for open communication and ownership of outcomes
• Emphasis on teamwork and collaboration for success
• Highlights of upcoming projects and company events
Introduction to Episode 10
Speaker 1You are listening to the Kick-Ass Podcast . Hello and welcome to the 10th edition of the Kick-Ass Podcast . I'm your host , jeff Cowan , general Manager of Haas Crane Equipment , joined today on this nice brisk start to the day of minus 14 degrees . We've got John Haas , rob Mohan , kevin Rake and Taylor Haas John Haas , rob Mohan , kevin Rake and Taylor Haas Fellows . Thanks for taking the time to join us to go over all things HME and TFI Today's lineup . We've got discussions on fourth quarter 2024 , what first quarter of 2025 is looking like , broad outlook of projections for 2025 , john's start strong , finish strong update on some projects and the always popular HME Group Company holiday party . So with that , kevin , I'll throw it over to you to talk all things financial .
Speaker 2Thanks , jeff . We issued out that update letter here I guess it's been a few weeks ago to kind of run through where the commission plan ended across all reporting units and then also the overall group incentive plan , and so just to kind of touch base on a couple of those , as most of it's kind of outlined in that letter . But the commission plan is individual to each company that we have and then the overall incentive plan is for the HME group as a whole . The commission goals are set around three factors we have revenue , growth , profitability and billable hours and we try to calculate that on a rolling 12-month basis so that by the time you get to the end of the year or the fourth quarter , then that is the 12-month basis that we're looking at . So that letter really reflected the results of all of 2024 for each one of the reporting units and then walked through and showed kind of what the cumulative results were from each of those quarters and then ultimately how that ended up for the year .
Speaker 2A little bit of downturn in the last quarter . We had a little bit of slowdown in work across the HME shops , some of the slowdown across the Topeka Foundry shops and so that had some of those commission results dip a little bit for that fourth quarter , part of why I think you know John's anxious to talk about the start strong , finish strong . But it also kind of walks through you know the importance of the HME group and kind of how we work together and what that incentive does . And so when we look at all those goals and we look at how do we increase our growth , how do we put a focus on billable hours , and then ultimately that profitability hits in both . It hits in the commission and it hits in the incentive . It's really supposed to be that motivator , right . How do we build up our company to grow , to have the strength to give job security and really to have achievable results that then we have each department , each employee kind of working towards to hit . Like I said , we did have some real bright spots . We had some strong finishes . In Topeka Foundry door shop we saw Peak to Peak pretty much rocked it all year long . All four quarters did really well and so we want to make sure that we identify the reasons why they were successful and then , obviously , reasons why some other units weren't successful . But ultimately we kind of put that all behind us and we start looking forward towards 2025 .
Speaker 2There's really two big reasons why we set goals . One , we have to set the parameters around the bonus payouts right . You know we have a bonus plan set around that commission and that incentive , and so we need to set goals . And so we set goals for revenue growth . We set those for profitability or profit dollars and then , obviously , billable hours .
Speaker 2But again , more importantly , the reason that we're having these plans and that we're trying to set those goals is we want to grow and strengthen the companies .
Speaker 2We want to make sure that we can maintain positive results all year long and we want to provide job stability to all of our 600 plus employees .
Speaker 2And so , when we look at 25 , we want to see growth going in the form of sales , whether that's , you know , in the things that we produce , the way that we subcontract some of our other partners . And so we've set revenue growth goals that I'd encourage you guys to kind of talk with your supervisors on . I don't want to go here and talk about every numbers because we'll bore you guys all with the actual specifics , but we want to be transparent , we want to showcase those . So , for example , if HME sales goal is 11% , let's talk about that and get with your supervisor to figure out how can we help as a team to achieve some of those results . You know peak to peak has a pretty big revenue growth , but they also have some specific jobs . They have a huge backlog right now that's our biggest ever and so they've got to be goals that we strive for , but then also goals that we have a chance of achieving , and so I think we've got a good mix of that for 2025 .
Speaker 1What is , in years past for like HME , what has been a standard growth goal year to year ?
Speaker 3Typically we look to try to hit 10% growth and there's a couple reasons for that and it's not because I'm saying , oh , I'm greedy and I'm going to make more money . It's the fact that we have to bid more work than we expect to get because of ups and downs in schedules , of when jobs are going to be awarded , the economy , a lot of different things and if we don't bid more work than we can expect to do , we'll end up short on work . And I think end of 2024 was a great example A good part of the year for TFI , machine and Fab was a really great example . But we've got to bid more work than we can do . The expectation that some of the schedule is going to slide , some of it's going to you know not get awarded , some stuff may get canceled .
Speaker 3We always have to have work so that we're continuously busy and the unbillable hours kill the profitability of the company and we've talked about that . You know it takes 10 billable hours to pay for one unbillable hour . So very , very important . The next thing on my list is we need to grow to become more competitive . My list is we need to grow to become more competitive . You know , when you look at the market , all fabricators are becoming faster , more technology being able to produce more per man hour , and we're no different . You know we've got to keep advancing the state of the art equipment and we also find that the larger we can come or the more our purchasing power is , find that the larger we can come or the more our purchasing power is , the cheaper we can buy materials , just from a bulk buying standpoint . So if we can grow to a point where we're bulk buying materials on a regular basis , we get better pricing and we're able to be more competitive . So across the board , growth equals competitive bidding .
Speaker 1Okay , and so that 10% has always just kind of been the rough number for years past .
Speaker 3Right and I think that if we try to do more than that , we start looking at problems where cash flow can become an issue . You know , if you have an average of 5% on a job net profit and you grow 10% and you have 10% retainage on most jobs , you end up having cash flows .
Speaker 2You grow 10% and you have 10% retainage on most jobs , you end up having cash flows . So that'll be kind of the 2025 goals will be kind of shown out there in that first quarter update , once we kind of put that out there . So look for that towards the end of April . Again , you know we want to encourage the open communication . So if you have questions , you know , get with your supervisor . We want to be able to have that communication .
Speaker 2We also have a lot of individuals just curious about what are my commission rates or what is my incentive rates . So we don't have those currently available in the portal . That's one of the things that we're trying to work towards . Building out is so that employees can just like they can go look at their W-2 or their final pay stubs . You know that they could go out there and get some of that information on the portal , but right now it's just not available , and so what we're trying to do is encourage you guys to talk with your supervisors to have that communication , because we really want everybody's participation and their buy-in right . We want to figure out how they can be involved , to move the needle , and so we don't want to just set artificial goals . We want to make things that are achievable and we want people thinking creatively . How do we make those goals happen ?
Speaker 1Okay , First quarter how are things looking ? I know there's some discussion about some projections .
Speaker 2It's a little bit tough right now to tell and honestly , I've been doing our financial audit so I don't know that I've pulled my head out of all that work . But you've had enough on your plate , yeah , and then the IRS comes right after that with taxes . But no , in all reality it's a little early to say . You know , for first quarter , I think some of the reporting units have done fairly well so far . For January , we're starting to work on those financials as we speak and we know that we have some aggressive goals right . A double digit 10 percent growth goal year over year is aggressive . But I do think that we have the backlog , We've got the personnel , We've got a lot of great things to work towards those goals . It's just a matter of making sure we're pushing Rowan in the right direction and kind of working together .
Speaker 3One question I maybe would like to have clarified . I know you mentioned it the commission plan is based on a rolling 12 . And I think I know what that means , but maybe give the troops a little better definition of rolling 12 .
Speaker 2Sure . So what we're trying to say is , instead of the commission just starting over January 1 of every given year good , bad or otherwise what we'll actually do is look back the previous nine months of 2024 , from , say , april through December , and then we'll add in the first three months of 2025 . And that'll be that 12 month reporting period . You're not starting over . If you had a really good year prior , losses in a previous period or a previous quarter and , all of a sudden , big payouts , right . So it's a good way of just keeping it consistent on an average basis and making sure that we're always , you know , accounting for the results that we had , plus then , by the time you get to the end of the year , that 12-month period just ends up being that full year .
Speaker 1Kevin , thank you for the update on the financials . John , I know you've had a message as of late emphasizing start strong , finish strong . Give us an update of what's going on in your world .
Speaker 3All right , thanks , jeff . I believe the secret to our continuing to be successful and profitable is to make sure that we start every job strong and we finish every job strong . Right now the economy is extremely tight . We're struggling to win work and sometimes we're bidding stuff near cost just to keep the shops working . So very important that we're as efficient as we can be in every aspect of the jobs . Any errors or inefficiencies in the process can cause that job to lose money pretty quick . You know , I'm looking at what we can do as managers , as production personnel , as a company , companies across the board for success . I think the number one thing to ensure that we have sufficient work scheduled to keep all of our people working efficiently every day , from start to finish , with minimal downtime . What can we do as managers ? I think we need to make sure that our people have all the information to complete jobs prior to starting . Generally , missing information kills productivity . People have to stop work and find somebody to get answers . So we need to make sure that our drawings are complete and accurate , that our scheduled completion date is identified . We need to make sure that we have all our materials and they are correct . Missing materials kill productivity . Missing information kills productivity . So we need to make sure , before fabrication starts or machining operations start , that we've got all of our main and small parts cut and they're checked and ready for production . We need to have accurate schedules for manpower , equipment and delivery requirements . I think one of the largest cost overruns and ultimately loss of profit is schedule gaps , which causes unproductive labor hours to be charged to jobs or unbilled wires charged to overhead . Either way , whether a person clocks into a job and he's not working efficiently or he clocks into overhead , that costs us more money and one way or another , the company doesn't make as good a profit as they should .
Speaker 3From the estimating side , estimators must provide accurate labor estimates to create schedules from . Accurate estimates are the core basis of every job . If we don't have good , accurate estimates , we have a hard time of doing well on the job , and that includes not only from a start but also finishing a job on time . If we have less estimated time than required , then we're typically late on schedule and we upset our customers . Simply put and I think I've said this before we lose most every job . That's overbid . So we've got to be accurate , both on not missing stuff and also not being too conservative , we also win every job that we underbid . So those are automatic losses and hard to finish on top of those . Moral of the story about estimating no way to finish strong with inaccurate estimating . We've got to have it From the production side .
Speaker 3It's easy to not be disciplined and hit the floor running . You need to come to work with an attitude that I only get paid if I produce work . As an example , if you waste the first half hour of the day , that's about six and a half percent of an eight-hour day . In a tight economy that's more than the profit that we have in the job . Finishing strong again same mindset or thought process . If you end up your day a half hour before quitting time , that's another six and a half percent . Very quickly you can see that we don't really have a chance to win on jobs if we're starting slow and finishing slow . So we've got to start strong and finish strong .
Speaker 1You know one thing that a sports analogy is that if you're an athlete and you're a slow starter , you'll never see the field , and if you don't have the ability to finish strong , you'll never win .
Speaker 3I agree with that one . So what's some more important things about finishing strong , report damage or missing parts early . A lot of times we get to the end of a job and we figure out that we've got missing parts or maybe we've damaged some and we can't finish the job so we can't get it out on time and people spend a lot of time , you know , looking for those parts or have downtime where they're remade . We also , if we have missing parts , we usually miss delivery dates , so we piss off our customers . So please get those missing parts or damaged parts reported early . I think the other thing is we need to take responsibility and own our mistakes . In general , you know , if you make a mistake or you crash a machine , own it , report the issue so that it can get corrected as quickly as possible . If we send out a part that's incorrect or we make a mistake and it doesn't get reported , we may go on making that mistake on and on .
Speaker 3One of the examples that was really detrimental to the machine shop this year at some point in the year we had a DBM machine crash that nobody owned . The repairs by third party were $123,000 . In-house repairs were another $11,000 . But just as important , lost production hours were 400 hours . Our overages on the SpaceX project due to parts being machined out of tolerance was estimated at 500 hours . If the crash had been owned , we would have checked the machine for misalignment and halted production until it was within clearance . The estimated cost of that machine crash was $315,000 .
Speaker 3Now I realize that we're all human and we make mistakes . I make mistakes myself . It's part of working hard and trying to get done . It's part of the business . So we get that . But when we don't own a mistake or we don't let somebody know about it , it can cost a lot of unnecessary cost and also can cost us some customers To go on with that . I think worse than the crash in the dollars is the lost opportunity to do work with customers that put their trust in us . We miss schedules , we provide or ship incorrect parts , we have price overruns making us uncompetitive in the marketplace , and we may not get a second chance to do that type of work again . So going right from there , I believe we get the opportunity to work on some of the coolest products in the marketplace and we may not get a second chance to do that type of work again . So going right from there , I believe we get the opportunity to work on some of the coolest products in the world and if you think about it I was watching Trump and Elon Musk talking about making America great again last night I feel like we're a part of it .
Speaker 3If you think about some of the projects that we've done the SpaceX project you know the machine shop builds rocket parts . We make submarine parts . You know we get to build airplane hangars , hospitals , schools we're working on some airplane parts right now water treatment plants , construction equipment , steel mills everything you can think of . But when we screw these opportunities up , most of the time we don't get a second chance . So if you think about that , every time that we're working on a project and we do poorly on it , we ship a poor product .
Speaker 3There's a pretty good chance that we won't ever get an opportunity to work with that company again , and that's a big deal . So we've got to take pride in ownership in our jobs and make sure that we're doing the best we can to get it right . On the first time , I asked our management teams to provide some suggestions of what we can do better as managers and also what production people can do better . To start that out , I asked the TFI management team to provide some ideals or thoughts on what we can do there , and I think Taylor's going to talk about that and then I'll come back to the HME team .
Speaker 1Taylor talk to us all things to be a Foundry .
Speaker 5Yeah , thank you , jeff . Start strong , finish strong . The latest addition in the series of ideals , I'll give it to you , dad . I like it . Topeka Foundry how about it ? Doran Hardware ? You guys killed it in 24 . Hit your goals , stayed on it and finished it with some great results . Huge props to the group . Awesome work and we're off to a strong start this year already . Bolts . Huge props to the group Awesome work and we're off to a strong start this year already . Machine structural . What a rough year . There's no sugarcoating it . We lost some big customers from 23 , and those equipment crashes that dad brought up yeah , that felt like a continuous kick to the nuts while we were already hurting .
Speaker 5Downtime , rework , ticked off customers the list goes on . But the way I see it , we can cry about it or move on and get better . We got to take those tough lessons and tighten up the processes and planning . We need to make sure our people , machines and materials are good to go right out of the gate . Strong start Sales estimating this is where the strong start begins . Sales team we have got to be out there hunting the right jobs , build those strong connections , go above and beyond for the customer and protect us from the bad guys . These big manufacturing companies like to try and beat us little guys up . Feels like it's part of the game , unfortunately . But seriously , we got to push to get the feedback . What did we nail ? What did we miss ? Follow up after the job and learn from both the wins and the losses . Estimating Understand the scopes , make sure we're putting forward competitive pricing , verify the schedules and the lead times . Double check your work , because we all know that when we underbid it's not a strong start and when we overbid we're out of the race . Estimating we are the foundation . It's plain and simple Engineering , detailing , programming you guys have to be dead on . The details really do matter . Talk to the estimators , the PM , the customer . Get that sign off and don't skip the final check .
Speaker 5Programmers , the quality of your work has a direct and immediate impact on our machinist . Bad programs can cause rework , machine crashes and lost production . It's largely on us to set the machinist up for success . Machinist , we gotta own it . A strong start means hitting the floor ready to go . Keep those machines going all shift and bonus points if your machine can run without you during your launch period . Finish strong , create a smooth pass down to the next guy . Remember , green lights on those machines is our goal . And speaking of green lights , one thing that grinds my gears we've got these CNC machines right Robot welders , lps systems , bar feeders , co-bots .
Speaker 5Big money is invested to stay competitive . But if we're just standing there watching a machine run or a robot weld for hours , we are losing that machine's overhead , plus you standing there doing nothing but watch it run . That costs more money than running an old , wore out manual machine or a guy welding by hand . If we have cycle time , we need to find ways to increase throughput . Ask your supervisor for a task . Run two machines . Do your handwork . Just work like you own the place . We're all leaning on you . Our sales and estimating teams are working hard to bring in that right mix of work to allow us the opportunity to be productive . It's a team effort QC , shipping management and everyone in between . Finishing strong is our job too . Help spot the problems early , keep the customers smiling and help us deliver on time .
Speaker 1So , john , I was going to throw this back over to you , talking about some of the cool projects the companies have got to work on , some of the infrastructure , and you referenced Elon Musk . Not a lot of people probably had direct conversations with Elon Musk you in fact did .
Speaker 3I'm one of the lucky ones Kind of got my ass chewed for a little thing that happened . It's been a couple years ago . It was on the High Bay Rocket Storage Facility , our erection team LPR . At the time their crane got struck by lightning and Elon Musk showed up in the afternoon and it wasn't running and he was kind of pissed and he threw out the F-bomb a couple times . But you know , I was just happy to get to talk to him personally .
Speaker 1I was going to say kind of cool , you got to talk to Elon Musk . Granted , he was calling to discuss the project , maybe not going as he thought it should , but still got to talk to Elon Musk .
Speaker 3It was pretty cool and something you know that I'll remember . But you know , the bigger thing is , you know , listening to him talk there with President Trump and the visions that he has and the efficiencies that he's looking for out of the government are some of the same basic ones that we need to make sure that we're keeping an eye on the efficiencies that we have and what we do . But you know , when I made the statement that you work with somebody like that and it's an awesome opportunity , I mean you're working on space vehicles or parts for spaceships . That's something to be proud of and not everybody gets to do that . So when we get that opportunity to do it , we've got to do it right , because if we screw up , we may never get a chance to work with that company again , and I think that we've probably seen that in a couple situations . So we've got to learn from those mistakes and really make our best effort to build parts as good as we can , and if we make mistakes , we've got to own them .
Speaker 1Rob bring us up to date on paint shop some of the production issues and other jobs going on .
Speaker 4I was going to throw it in when we were talking about machines . One thing I do notice , a little more than we all realize , is we frequently create workarounds for equipment . I went to use the vertical saw . The mister wasn't working but there's a spray bottle of coolant that you could spray onto the blade by hand . Our automated equipment , the Vortman equipment , has a lot of automation behind it and sometimes you'll notice , guys , something's not working right . So we just do a workaround , which is okay for a temporary solution , but sometimes those temporary solutions become more of a permanent solution . So I guess for all of our equipment , all our machine operators out there , to be thinking about that and make sure those temporary solutions don't become long-term solutions and we report those repairs to maintenance .
Speaker 4To continue on the start , strong finish , strong theme . On the production side , we look heavily to our shop leadership , the department managers . The shift leads to be the ones to take ownership of what's happening in the shops . Be the ones to take ownership of what's happening in the shops by prioritizing the tasks , managing time and schedules efficiently . Being organized is an incredibly important tool . A lot of our leads , you know , they get there early . They make sure they understand the production needs . So as soon as the next shift shows up , those guys can hit the floor running . And those are the things that we're looking for .
Speaker 4Our production leads to continue to do Ensure work is staged ahead of shop personnel , things are moving efficiently .
Speaker 4You know it's our job as managers , scheduling department to keep the appropriate type of work and the right mix of work flowing through all the facilities so we can fill all the holes in all the machines and balance everything out . And to John's point , reporting you know , if there's a defective piece of material that we catch at the saw , make sure that's reported immediately so it doesn't end up fabricated later . Machine problems I touched on that , that you know . If there's a workaround let's get it fixed and make sure the machines are operating as designed . The other thing is , as leads and managers , it's very important for all of us to be intentional and genuine with our coworkers and with our employees . Make sure we're hearing them , make sure we're hearing each other , make sure we're clear about the expectations , from simple expectations of we need to be to work on time to the production expectations or needs of certain projects . Work on time to the production expectations or needs of certain projects so that engagement and participation of our leadership team is a huge part of the start strong finish , strong
Financial Overview and Commission Plan Insights
Speaker 4success .
Speaker 3You know .
Speaker 3Another comment on that that I would like to make is I feel like that with really great employees or people on your team , as a manager , you can focus on the really important aspects of getting a good product out the door and the organization of how it's going to flow out and seeing how to be more productive in meeting our goals and being profitable .
Speaker 3But when you have employees that you have to worry about productivity or their discipline to get their hours in right , if they're being late or maybe they're quitting early or not being productive , that takes away from your ability to really focus on making a great product and it takes away from your enjoyment of the job .
Speaker 3One of the things that I hate more than anything is having to deal with an employee that's maybe has a discipline problem or we have to talk to somebody . Great employees do their job and they do it to the best of their ability and you don't have to put your finger on them or watch them . I think that's an important part of our company that you know it's always been part of the culture is that just come in and do your job , do the best that you can and nobody's going to ride you hard or be watching over you If we , as managers , are doing our jobs right . We're watching to make sure that we're getting a good product out in an efficient manner and not worrying about you know , do we have an employee that's goofing off ?
Speaker 1All right , John , anything else on start strong , finish strong .
Speaker 3I polled our management team over at HME and you know was asking for suggestions and I got some really good ones . You know the first one it came back from you , jeff . It was a simple statement plan to work , work to plan . You had an explanation of it , but I'm going to let you explain that one .
Speaker 1Well , it's something I can certainly do a better job of myself , but you know it's something I can certainly do a better job of myself , but it's clear and simple instructions on what you're wanting to accomplish . My whole thing is try to kind of work backwards to what you're wanting to accomplish , breaking it down from if it's a quarterly goal , breaking it down into what that means per month , what that means per week and what that means per day . The other thing I'm a firm believer in is trying to get ownership from others , get them involved with the process and let them , you know , have a stake in . I think that's one of the themes that we've been talking about is having , you know , employees that kind of own their work are the ones that do the best and you don't have to worry about . And I think it's also important that everything is measurable so you can kind of have a scorecard .
Speaker 3Awesome .
Speaker 4So , basically , you want to plan the work and work the plan Exactly this kind of reminds me of what I hear Andy Reddick talking to you about frequently . Jeff , Please put equipment moves in aft surfaces so we could perform the work .
Speaker 1You know what I miss Adam Dotson when he's gone .
Speaker 3All right , great information there , jeff . We appreciate it . Just kind of working through my list a bit here . Connie Casper is over procurement . Her comment was to make sure all the equipment and the software is working in good order when we arrive in the morning . This can include PowerFab , e-services , internet tablets . You know that we identify when we got software problems early . Nothing slows down , I think , whether it's procurement or estimating or detailing , project management , production , anything . So if you see something wrong in , you know , the internet services or the software , let us know as soon as you can . Or let IT know . They may get to it the next day , but I'm kidding , put in a ticket , it . No , they may get to it the next day , but I'm kidding , put in a ticket , you know .
Speaker 3Connie also commented that it's important that you really do have good people in your department and you don't have to make sure that they're getting to work on time or that time thing . You know that if you have good people it's easy to focus on the real problems and not worry about their productivity . So again , reinforcing what I said earlier , kyle Cochran just want to say Kyle's one of those guys that day in and day out just does a phenomenal job and he's quietly taking care of business , and you know ? I asked him you know what's your secret to success ? And his word was be present . And I think what he means when be present is he's saying to be involved with the everyday processes . Don't hold yourself , as a manager , above being part of those processes . Get in the middle of it . Work the problems , figure out how you can do stuff better and make it better , and communicate with your people . Appreciate that . Kyle .
Speaker 3I think it's a good one to think about , and his details were a little bit more than that , but just don't have time to go through them . Chris Bloom he commented communicate expectations on the front end and then , on the back end , make sure that you review and make sure all the expectations were met . Ed Mohan he's our recruiting specialist . He had quite a few things to say , but I thought one of the important ones that maybe myself I look at and some of the HME employees look at is we all need to communicate with all of the HME group companies and sometimes I think me personally that I get focused on HME too much and I don't get a chance to focus on the other companies as much as I should . So to work on that . That's really all I got on . The start strong , finish strong .
Speaker 3I just like to everybody to think about you know , what we can do better and you know , be greater tomorrow than we are today .
Speaker 2Yeah , and John , one thing that I like that you brought up from that is you kind of addressed managers first , right , I think it does start with us , right , it starts with the department heads , the frontline managers , to make sure that we're doing the best that we can to set up the production floor estimators , detailing other accountants , whatever it may be everybody involved to do . Well , so it really does start . You know , we're kind of speaking to ourselves here that it starts with the managers first and then it kind of rolls on from there .
Speaker 3Oh , absolutely , and I think it's important that every one of us , you know we look at . The situation is what can I do better and not put blame on other people .
Speaker 1You know , I know communication is a common theme , with some of these comments and the you know idea of being present and engaged with employees . I think that's one of those things where you can learn . You know what , if there's processes that can be improved or just that open communication , you know ? To Kyle's point , I think is can , there are huge benefits .
Speaker 4And it's crazy . You know we always talk about this that the the example of you know one lost hour of production can kill a whole day of profitability . Example of you know one lost hour of production can kill a whole day of profitability . And you know , a strong day , a strong 10-hour day , can be lost by 30 minutes of downtime . The profit of that strong day , just like our strong year of 2024 , was dissolved by the last quarter of 2024 . And I hope that everyone understands that .
Speaker 4The Start Strong message is all about process improvement . Let's get better , let's always look to do better . And this message is not out to pick on any one person , any one department or even any one company . It's for our entire group to be thinking how can we do better , how can we start strong and finish strong ? And the goal is we want to educate everyone to never become complacent , to always do our best in everything we do . And I think we all know in any aspect of life , we can predict the outcome based on the effort we put in . So you think of your relationships , your family , your kids , your spouse . The amount of effort we put your family , your kids , your spouse , the amount of effort we put in determines what we get out of that and what the people around us get out of that .
Speaker 1So this message , I feel , spills into work life all of it . The retainage in construction is there for a reason because the last 10% is tough to get and you know you're talking about 10% profit margins . You need to get 90% done on a project . Getting the final piece of that done is always the biggest challenge . So , rob , give us an update on the paint shop .
Speaker 4Paint shop well , well underway . Let's see Upcoming milestones . Overhead cranes are in , all the drywall's up , we still have to do some mudding and taping . A lot of mudding and taping . Heaters are on . So we're definitely we see a finish line . Hopefully , I'd say in the next four or five , maybe six weeks we'll be moving in and starting production activities .
Speaker 4So we have our spring break bash coming up in a couple of weeks , on March 8th . Just a reminder it's from 6 pm to 11 pm that day . We're doing a skeet shoot from 12 to 2 o'clock and then go-kart racing from4 to 6 . And the championship go-kart race will be at 8 pm . Rubbin' is racing and there'll also be Mechanical Bull Axe and Alo have a throwing tunnel and the T-Box will also have a golf simulator set up as well . So just a reminder don't forget to RSVP . We hope to get as many people there as possible . As we all know , 235 Kansas is kind of a project . We're just kind of keeping motion on continuing to work that remodeling process . A couple of other things to note on the estimating front . Lots of big , heavy-hitting jobs have been bid or are underway of being bid . We have another Newport News facility , a handful of warehouses , buildings for Mars and Coca-Cola three data center projects . All of those combined are over $130 million worth of works . Estimating has definitely got a lot of things cooking .
Speaker 3Yeah , one thing we might say about that is that owners are being slow to award those projects . I think those are all we're waiting to hear , and we've bid them tight . It's one of the emphasis on start strong , finish strong . With the way the market is today , we've had to bid those jobs tight to have a chance of getting them . And when we do get them , we're going to have to work our butts off to get the jobs through the shop efficiently and profitable .
Speaker 1Well , sounds like a lot of nice projects that have possibilities of .
Speaker 4Yes , yes , and there's other budget projects out there that our teams put out as well , so there's definitely a lot cooking .
Speaker 3To add on to Rob's comments about the spring break party most all the ideals for the activities were mine . I just wanted to make it special and fun for the employees , not from a standpoint of , hey , let's just go out and drink and eat and have a merry time . Let's do something special and fun that . You know we're an activity-based company . I'd like to think that we work hard and we play hard , and so I'm hoping that it's a really good time for everybody to . You know , get out and have some competitive spirit . You know we'll have some awards for , you know , the skeet shooting contest and , you know , maybe a go-kart trophy , axe-throwing trophy , some cool things there . So , you know , bring your A game .
Speaker 1Well , all the previous HME parties have always been heck of a good time , so this one just raised the bar a little bit .
Speaker 3I asked Amanda to see about maybe a big marshmallow dodgeball contest , but I don't know if that'll happen or not .
Speaker 1Well , we're starting to wind things down . What about shout outs ?
Speaker 4I want to throw shout outs to the individuals that have stepped up and really jumped in to go above and beyond , take on more responsibility and help the company any way they see fit . Trent Terrell he runs our Miss Metal Shop . There was an opportunity or a need to fill production lead at Peak to Peak . Trent took that on as well , on top of his current role , and that's going wonderful . On top of his current role , and that's going wonderful . Sam Graves he seized the opportunity to move over to Topeka Foundry Night Shift and take the role of a downtown campus night shift manager .
Speaker 4Dylan Forgy he manages our weekend shift , does a great job Throughout the duration of this paint facility project . He's also taken under construction activities throughout the weekend to keep that project moving . And he accomplished that through , you know , delegating responsibilities to his existing shop leadership , giving those guys opportunities and , you know , just some hard work and grit . So we appreciate that . Kyle Burkhart he's been downtown for a little while now , the campus weekend manager downtown , and he's been making a big impact , really looking for ways to improve , just doing an exceptional job . And the last one on my list is CJ Holt , over at the door shop . Cj's really jumped in and he's been taking on more responsibilities in the production shop and helping out , and so we really appreciate that . That list of guys and I'm sure there's some I missed and I apologize but really want to thank you guys for all you're doing for the group .
Speaker 5I'd like to give a big shout-out to Tim Hoblin . Tim has dedicated 35 years of service to Topeka Foundry and , you know , ever since the acquisition back in 2017 , tim has played a pretty integral role in helping our younger teams get up to speed and understand some of the complexities of the work that we're doing today . So congratulations , tim , wish you nothing but the best into your retirement and hope to see you back sometime .
Speaker 3Yeah , absolutely , tim , great getting to know you and working with you . I just have one here and Rob kind of took the show on the rest of them , jason Paskey . So Jason moved out to Denver a few years ago , took on the role of estimating and has really come on really strong managing that Denver office and he's put together some really nice strong estimates relationships with contractors out in Denver . And just wanted to shout out to Jason for a great job .
Speaker 5I'd like to give another shout out to Dalton Cowan . Dalton has really gone above and beyond as a salesperson , helping bring some really great work in the door and also making sure that the details are accounted for . So great job there , Dalton . Keep up the good work .
Speaker 1Well , that's going to start wrapping things up for this 10th edition of the Kick are accounted for . So great job there , dalton . Keep up the good work . Well , that's going to start wrapping things up for this 10th edition of the Kick-Ass Podcast . Be greater than yesterday , stay safe and keep kicking ass .