Underground Construction - October 2018 - 2

EDITOR'S LOG
Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief

Stormy Weather and Sunshine

It was a cloudy September day with
steady rainfall, yet bright smiles
filled the faces of virtually all employees at the Vermeer facilities in
Pella, Iowa. There was a lot to smile
about. After the trauma the Vermeer community had experienced
last summer, they were now back to
work, and all equipment lines were
in full production mode.
Late in the day on July 19, a
powerful tornado ripped through
several buildings of the so-called
Vermeer Mile - the seven manufacturing plants and other assorted
buildings that comprise the company's main campus. While the
human toll was incredibly, and
thankfully, minor (only seven treated-and-released injuries), two key
manufacturing plants lay in ruins
while another suffered major damage. Several other areas of the campus also suffered minor damage.
On that day, there were many
doubts and concerns about how
quickly the company could put
people back to work and minimize
negative impacts to customers. But
by the day after the disaster, there
was hope emerging from the long
meetings as the Vermeer leadership team started planning not only
the recovery, but the future of the
company.
In early September, Vermeer officials hosted a small media tour of
the recovery efforts. President and
CEO Jason Andringa was pleased
to provide details of the event -
and quite a tale it was. Yet it was so
much more than a disaster tale. It
was story of dedication and spirit.
"Aug. 19 was a Sunday so on Aug.
20, essentially one month after the
tornado, we had 100 percent of
our team back to work," Andringa
stressed. "There is no way I would
have imagined on July 19 that
would be possible. On July 20, I
started getting rapidly optimistic
about the plans being made. But

OCTOBER 2018 | UConOnline.com

They had survived the
worst Mother Nature
had thrown at them,
responded quickly
and were justifiably
proud of how they had
navigated through an
amazing recovery effort.
The sun was shining
again on the employees
and facilities along the
Vermeer Mile.

still, being able to achieve that goal
of getting 100 percent of our team
back to work in a month is something I'm incredibly proud of. And
then, within 45 days we have recovered our full production."
Andringa and Doug Hundt, Vermeer president of industrial solutions, used the celebratory event
to announce the imminent construction of a new facility that will
consolidate Vermeer's engineering
programs, currently scattered over
three locations. The building will be
constructed on land near the manufacturing plants.
"Shop 48" as the building will be
called, is named for the traditional shop where Gary Vermeer designed his many inventions combined with the year he founded the
company - 1948.
During a tour of the destruction
and then the repaired, relocated
and reorganized production facilities, I was asked a couple of times
what I thought of the repurposed

Plant 7. The only answer I could
think of was, "It looks like a manufacturing plant." But that's a good
thing, I explained. This did not look
like a temporary facility held together with baling wire, duct tape
and bubblegum; rather, just the opposite. The plants were fully functional, people whizzing around with
supplies, floors clear of debris or
trash, welders hard at work, robotic
equipment performing dozens of
tasks, equipment being assembled
or carted off for painting - basically
a quality plant operation hard and
productively at work. That, to its
credit, is what Vermeer was striving for.
As the tour returned outside,
threatening rain clouds let loose
with a heavy downpour. About 10
people were crowded under a small
tent as the intense rain started
blowing sidewise. Suddenly, cell
phones erupted simultaneously
with a warning tone. All heads immediately snapped to their phones
as if expecting the worse - another
tornado. Relief spread quickly over
the faces as the warning was for
possible flash flooding in the area
- not another tornado. While the
weather alert was important, clearly
the Vermeer crew felt that, after
surviving a tornado, they could deal
with rain.
And on this day of dark skies
and hard rain, one couldn't help
but notice a positive bounce in
the stride of employees. They had
survived the worst Mother Nature
had thrown at them, responded
quickly and were justifiably proud
of how they had navigated through
an amazing recovery effort. The
sun was shining again on the employees and facilities along the
Vermeer Mile.

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Underground Construction - October 2018

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