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Rinker Materials Concrete Pipe grows with Innovation
With the help of: Manufacture Nevada
About
Rinker Materials – Concrete Pipe Division, a QUIKRETE Company, is one of the nation’s largest and leading manufacturers of concrete pipe and related products. Founded in 1963 and acquired by QUIKRETE in 2017, Rinker Materials is an industry leader in product innovation, technical expertise, high quality products, safety and customer service. Comprised of over 30 facilities that serve 30 states with a corporate office in Houston, TX,Rinker Materials facilities produce a full range of concrete piping products.
Rinker Materials Concrete Pipe of Henderson, Nevada, manufactures concrete pipe and box culverts for water, sewer and flood control. Rinker Materials manufactures a complete line of standard and specially designed precast concrete boxes for various stormwater and bridge replacement applications. Rinker Materials precast concrete boxes are a proven solution for special waterway requirements, unusual load conditions, low head room, junctions in a drain system and anywhere access is a factor. They have been in the Las Vegas valley since the 1950s and have 85 employees.
The Challenge
Rinker needed to compete with alternative products in the marketplace. They went to Nevada Industry Excellence (NVIE), a NIST MEP affiliate, for expertise in innovation and process engineering.
NVIE's engineering and business analysis provided the data needed to implement the innovation of longer and larger box culverts.
MEP's Role
NVIE provided consulting services for the manufacturing of longer span box culverts and longer lay length box culverts. Precast concrete box culverts are an alternative to circular concrete pipes. Box culverts drain high volumes of water and generally handle a higher flow rate than pipes. Box culverts offer superior strength and easier installation than other materials, and can also be used as tunnels, for storage, or material handling. Some culverts double as bridges that can accommodate vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
NVIE studied the return on investment for manufacturing the larger box culverts and determined that there was a 20% cost reduction to the cost of goods sold from the investment. As a result, Rinker expanded into this new production line.