My Favorite Products

Machine Technologies' pumps are ideal for applying concrete
to vertical surfaces.

A new feature on the Concrete Network is what we are calling My Favorite Products. Whenever I talk with a contractor, I ask him or her what products they find particularly useful or handy, whether it be tools or materials or equipment. There’s nothing scientific in this approach—in fact it is completely biased towards one person’s opinion. But that one person may be doing work similar to what you are doing and could have found a better way. It always pays off to be open to new ideas and it’s at least as valuable as listening to a manufacturer’s sales pitch.

The incredible variety of products used in concrete construction has always fascinated me. But if you go to the World of Concrete and try to see everything that’s out there, the task is overwhelming. A few years ago at WOC, when I was editor of Concrete Construction, a product manufacturer caught me and asked why we didn’t have a contest for the show’s most innovative products. Obviously he thought his product would win, but this struck a chord. People come to WOC year after year and can’t find the pearls in the sea of products—that led to the Most Innovative Products competition.

With the My Favorite Products approach on the Concrete Network, we are doing something similar--not restricting it to innovation, though, but to things that simply work well and provide value. So, for example, when Wayne Sellon tells me that he really loves his new Machine Technologies mortar pump you can be assured that there is at least one guy out there who has used this equipment successfully and feels it is valuable.

So here’s your assignment: Post a comment to this blog and tell me about your one or two favorite products--whether it’s an innovative new tool or an old favorite, a big piece of equipment or a handy little gadget. I will get in touch to fill in the details. Helping others makes our whole industry better and will, in the long term, mean more work for everyone.