Kalman Floors have the lowest ultimate lifetime cost of ownership in the industry.
The installation costs of a new industrial warehouse floor are only a portion of the floor’s ultimate lifetime costs; costs that increase annually due to inflationary factors.
Settling for a standard, general-contactor-type concrete floor, will reduce the cost of construction, but unanticipated maintenance costs are caused by the floor itself.
Long-term maintenance costs are not generally considered during the design, or installation, of the less expensive floors and, often, owners are unaware of the ultimate lifetime costs.
Investing in a floor with Absorption Process® concrete topping bonded to a Kalman Seamless Concrete® shrinkage compensating slab provides a wearing surface that is denser and stronger with excellent resistance to the damaging abuse of daily operations.
Guaranteed performance savings are built into the longer lasting premium stone-densified, bonded topping alternative. The savings are the result of proper planning, supervision, skilled workmanship, selection of the best materials, unique mix designs and special installation techniques that, while they increase the initial installation costs, eliminate many of the ultimate lifetime costs.
“Warehouse managers are measured in terms of their performance. If their performance is inhibited by slow-moving vehicles that reflects on them. So they prefer to see our floor system in the warehouse,” according to Carl Ytterberg, CEO of the Kalman Floor Company
There are five major inefficiencies in standard, contractor-grade floors that result in additional lifetime costs:
“It costs more on bid day to put Kalman’s number in the spreadsheet. That has to be reconciled by the owner or the design-build team, whoever the decision makers are. When you consider those long-term maintenance costs, there is no question that they are saving money for years with their Kalman Floor,” explains a sales engineer.
“Let’s say you build 100,000 square feet and the normal cost is $3.50 a square foot for a standard contractor grade install. Let’s say the premium to install a Kalman is $1, so $4.50 a square foot. That’s a $100,000 increase cost of construction. But if in the cost of running the floor, we save the owner 25 cents a square foot for 30 years, the math gets pretty easy. 25 cents times 100,000 is $25,000 times 30 years and you are saving $750,000, if you are willing to look over the long view for the life of the facility. We have stories of floors in service way longer than 30 years and relationships with those owners for 50 and 60 years.
“We must be saving money for somebody. In other words our proof in this cost and longevity argument is born out by the fact that companies have been buying from us for 50 and 60 years.”
Pay less up front without considering maintenance costs – VERSUS – Pay more up front and get paid back with reduced operation costs
“The way I have always looked at it is the owner’s cost is our cost,” commented Carl Ytterberg. If we can make our cost lower in terms of install and in terms of long term maintenance, that will pay off for them and for us. We have chosen systems and approaches to construction that deliver on those issues of long-term durability and low maintenance. Owners perceive that as a real value. Long-term warranties cost us money so we want to have very low maintenance products to begin with.
“Many companies, especially the large distributors, are organized along departmental lines — engineering team, facilities team, financial team and the operations guy who runs the facility. The economic payback may be very important to some groups and less important to others.
“Kalman’s price is often higher on bid day than the standard contractor-grade floor because the owner is getting more. The payback comes from savings related to maintenance on the floor and the vehicle fleet. That is most important to the operations guy who may or may not have input during the bid process.
“When you consider those long-term maintenance costs, there is no question that they are saving money for years with their Kalman Floor,” Ytterberg said.
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The Kalman Floor Company produces the world’s most cost-effective industrial concrete floors. With offices in 11 U.S. cities, there is a Kalman office near you. High performance floors have been installed by Kalman in all 50 of the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Mexico, and Puerto Rico and throughout Europe.