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While those enamoured by architecture and design may be enticed by appearance and style, nothing happens in residential or commercial development without the required foundation and forms from which everything rests upon and rises above. Construction of any structure requires the ‘good bones’ of high-quality materials – especially concrete formwork, scaffolding and shoring equipment. It may not grab the headlines or spark conversation like architecture does, but it is essential to any project.
One of the worldwide leaders in this field is ULMA Construction, founded in Spain in 1961 and which has been operating in Canada since 2009 with its headquarters in Cambridge, and five locations across the country. ULMA offers integral solutions focused on product rental and sales of in-house manufactured systems designed with the highest construction engineering technology. Its products touch almost every construction project you can imagine, from residential homes to skyscrapers, schools, hospitals, stadiums, hydro projects and power plants, and even roads and bridges – all provided by its immense manufacturing plant in the North of Spain.
“Our production plant is one of the largest manufacturing plants in Europe with a surface area of 619,000 ft², with fully automated and robotized processes,” says Mark Tisdall, President of ULMA Canada. “From here we supply the thousands of products we manufacture to our extensive worldwide network of logistics centres distributed over the five continents. The products manufactured by ULMA, developed thanks to the permanent effort of research and development, respond to the needs of the construction sector. With an excellent response in terms of quality and safety by integrating compatible systems and designs, we offer a wide range of products that resolve the execution of the specific project in building, civil works or refurbishment in each case.”
The manufacturing plant is outfitted with the latest equipment such as laser technology and is structured in different work areas, where each of ULMA’s six phases of the production process takes place, all manufactured to European standards. It has an efficient quality system, based on quality management and inspection techniques applied to production, which aims to guarantee a continuous level of product and service quality.
Process control, measurement and continuous monitoring of each production phase have turned ‘traceability’ into an example of total safety and quality. This is an area where ULMA provides some of its greatest value to its many clients.
“One of the biggest value adds with dealing with any supplier of formwork is the traceability of the final product,” observes Tisdall. “The result of this is often overlooked in our industry. For example, our 'Load Charts' that are used in all application designs, are developed not only using engineering calculations alone, but also on the strict management of raw material quality, manufacturing tolerances and the process itself. Managing this entire process in-house allows ULMA to guarantee a quality product gets delivered to site.”
One of the main focuses for ULMA is sustainability and it is kickstarting new internal initiatives which focus on sustainable forestry and environmental certifications for our products.
“All our products are reusable and we offer our customers options to rent products, thereby reusing them many times in their working lifetime,” says Tisdall. “ULMA believes in being a part of the process of building healthier communities for people and the environment. We take pride in our sustainable products and practices, and how we can fit into international sustainability and environmental standards.”
One of the reasons for ULMA’s success and leading position in its marketplace has been its ability to constantly manufacturer solutions for its varied client base. An example is a new digital platform recently launched, myULMA. This is a user-friendly construction management tool, designed in-house with an intuitive interface, allows customers to oversee, track and manage the progress of their project with a single click. The 24/7 portal provides a comprehensive overview of project status, stock on-site, invoices and permissions’ management tools. The platform is compatible with all devices and accessible anywhere in the world.
“Providing our customers real-time on-site inventory on each of their projects, allowing them to control production and cost, is yet another way ULMA demonstrates our commitment to post supply services,” says Tisdall. “myULMA is a powerful tool that keeps our partners informed and provides full visibility on every single piece of equipment being rented.”
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