CanWest Blog

Innovation Breeding Success at CanWest

Innovation breeds success.

And part of that success is accountability when it comes to being on time and on budget, a cornerstone of CanWest Concrete & Cutting & Coring’s foundation, says marketing manager Valerie Hambrook. Which is why it’s important that the company was a leader in installing GPS units in its trucks, a vast fleet of which there are over 100 units on the road at any given time.

“We’ve been around for 35 years now and we were the very first company to do GPS on vehicles years ago. We were doing it when nobody was doing it yet,” she says, adding it speaks to the company’s core values of being where they need to be.

“Because a lot of the work we do can be quite urgent, a lot of our customers call and needs service immediately. Our GPS units allow us to see in real time where everybody is and get someone there as quickly as possible,” Hambrook explains, adding the units also contribute to accurate billing. 

“We work in an industry based on trust and not only can we respond in a timely manner, but we use the GPS units to have proof of work, which is very helpful for billing.

Another benefit to having access to a vast fleet of services and equipment is CanWest can better drive to completion on time and on budget, Hambrook adds.

“Time is money. If we’re down and equipment is not working, things come to a standstill. And that doesn’t work for anybody.”

CanWest prides itself on being industry leaders and that same philosophy applies to the equipment it uses. The company has a full range of state-of-the-art concrete cutting and coring equipment and highly trained operators to service everything from large industrial projects to residential developments.

“We are proud that we can provide our customers access to the newest and most well-maintained fleets of equipment out there today. And because we have multiples of everything, there is no downtime if something breaks down.”

The other benefit of having access to a vast network of equipment is turnaround time on any last-minute needs.

“One of our clients biggest pain points is timely access to equipment. If someone needs a saw in two hours, we get them a saw in two hours. Nobody can do that but us,” Hambrook adds.

CanWest operates an industry-leading safety program that includes job-specific safe work practices and procedures, multiple certifications and a stringent environmental policy, hazard assessment and controls.

The company recently invested heavily in a cutting-edge sustainable concrete cutting process where workers can safely recycle the slurry that’s created when they cut concrete. The process separates the contaminants from the water, which can be reused for the next project.

For more information, please visit www.canwestconcrete.com. 

CanWest takes reins in environmental leadership

Being the largest company of its kind in Western Canada means that CanWest Concrete Cutting & Coring must be leaders in safety and environmental responsibility.

“We’re in the position where we must be leading the pack,” says Dan Hambrook, Canwest’s Owner and President. “Because we’re the largest, we’re the ones being watched.”

This environmental commitment has lead to the recent investment in a modern concrete cutting process to safely recycle slurry. Slurry is created when water is used with the diamond blades to cut concrete. Until recently, CanWest has been collecting slurry in a vacuum, storing it in a tank and taking it to concrete dumps. But as the company has grown, the amount slurry is too great for those concrete facilities, Hambrook says.

They’re now using specialized dehydrating machines that collects the slurry and, using air pressure, pushes the clean water out. It also produces a completely dry puck that can simply go back into the concrete pile.

“Now we can reuse this water for the next project. It’s completely clean and recyclable,” Hambrook says. “These machines are making a big difference.”

It’s a modern approach to the issue of slurry collection, and one that may be too expensive for CanWest’s smaller competitors.

“Most of our competitors are not dumping it properly,” he says. “People have been dumping slurry down drains for years. People will do a concrete driveway and just wash the slurry down the drain.”

But environmental responsibility is a priority both for CanWest and its partners, who want to know dumping is being done legally.

“Nobody wants to be dumping slurry in the drain. The water goes in the ground and contaminates the earth,” Hambrook adds. “We care about the environment. The world has to change — we want our kids to have clean water.”

In addition to these new machines, CanWest has converted various equipment to electric in a bid to further their environmental responsibility. This includes excavators, concrete saws, bobcats and more. Now when working on projects in food plants, or other interior buildings for example, the adjacent workers aren’t getting fumed out, Hambrook says. The company has also begun to use a vegetable-based hydraulic fluid instead of oil based. All part of stringent environmental policy, hazard assessment and controls, to ensure there’s no contamination.

The first two slurry recycling machines are now up and running, with full time employees whose sole responsibility is to look after slurry. This reflects CanWest’s industry-leading safety standards.

“Anybody can go out and buy a concrete saw,” Hambrook adds. But these smaller companies that people hire because they’re cheaper don’t have the same safety controls.

“They might not have safety programs, or full-time safety employees, or on-site safety meetings. It’s a problem in this industry.”

To learn more about how CanWest can meet your concrete and coring needs, contact one of the regional offices.