July 26, 2016 Ceco Building Systems | Industry Today

Volume 4 | Issue 2

Ceco Building Systems applies a total focus on customer needs to the construction of top-quality metal buildings, according to Tom Robinson.

A pioneer in the design and engineering of metal buildings, Ceco Building Systems, founded in 1947, is one of the leading metal building design, engineering and manufacturing companies in the United States.

Operating from three strategically located manufacturing plants, Ceco is well positioned to fulfill the building needs of the manufacturing market segment. The company’s three plants – Rocky Mount, N.C.; Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and Columbus, Miss. – are given the autonomy to concentrate on designing and manufacturing buildings to meet customers’ specifications, local code requirements and other geographic considerations.

Ceco has earned, and proudly displays, the credentials for quality construction required by Fortune 500 clients. Among these are membership in the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (Ceco has been a member of this organization almost since its inception), certification of its three plants by the American Institute of Steel Construction-Metal Building category (AISC-MB) and testing of individual products to ensure they meet and exceed the highest national testing standards of such respected names as Underwriters Laboratories and the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Form Follows Function
With its “Non-Standard is Standard” philosophy, Ceco Buildings is uniquely capable of meeting the functional needs of its manufacturing customers. Ceco-built manufacturing facilities feature handsome, state-of-the-art designs that optimize its customers’ investments by maximizing usable space to minimize square-foot cost. Ceco Building Systems permits customers to occupy their new facilities faster than with conventional construction, thus helping them earn quicker returns on their investments. The company’s buildings require little or no maintenance and use energy-efficient insulation systems, meaning lower overall costs for the facility.

Ceco’s expertise at designing and fabricating buildings allows it to furnish a wide range of building dimensions to fit customers’ exact requirements. Clear-span buildings of 270 feet and more, and heights of 60 feet and greater, are within Ceco’s engineering and manufacturing parameters. In addition, the company’s “Widebay” system, which uses bar joists, can provide bays of 60 feet and greater, should the space requirements dictate.

As the customer’s needs grow, its Ceco building can grow. Ceco buildings are easily expandable – giving the customer additional space in a timely and affordable manner, and thus allowing the customer to respond quickly to market opportunities.

Design for Building
Ceco constructs buildings to meet the exact requirements of the customer’s manufacturing process. The buildings are designed to include overhead cranes, materials-handling systems, mezzanines and loading docks. Ceco buildings are compatible with cranes in a range of sizes, from the lightest jib crane to 30 tons and greater for heavy manufacturing such as steel mills and shipbuilding. In addition, Ceco can meet special requirements such as the need for “blow-out explosion” sections.

A key element of any industrial building is the roof, and that is where Ceco reigns supreme. Ceco roofs are so well engineered that they literally move with changes in the temperature, ensuring that all is well overhead. Ceco’s CXP standing seam roof has been tested to the highest standards in the industry, including Factory Mutual approval and industry-leading results with ASTM’s E 1592 uplift rating. This roof uses acrylic-coated Galvalume material, which carries a warranty for 25 years, six months, and a life expectancy – to quote NamZac, the Galvalume institute – of “25 years and beyond.”

How can a Ceco finished building look? Any way the customer wants. Customers can choose exterior facing materials from Ceco’s extensive selection of wall panel profiles and color finishes; these materials may include glass, wood, masonry, stucco or concrete tilt-up.

Works in Progress
However, the proof is in the performance. The photos accompanying this article are examples of manufacturing buildings from Ceco. At the present time, the company is constructing or has recently completed heavy manufacturing projects for clients such as Shimizu/America in Rome, Ga., Celotex in Carrollton, Ky., International Paper in Mobile, Ala., High Steel in Williamsport, Pa., and Caterpillar in Newberry, S.C.

A key factor is how Ceco is able to provide a quality metal building on time and on budget. Ceco accomplishes this through a network of 600 local Ceco builders, who know their craft and respect the integrity of Ceco buildings. Ceco builders are construction professionals whose expertise and reputation in the local marketplace make them ideal business partners.

Ceco and its builder organization have designed and erected more than 100,000 buildings. Usually the local Ceco builders can meet customers’ needs either with turnkey construction or steel erection. The builders are also backed, when needed, by Ceco’s company erection capabilities, either with its own crews or using one of the company’s “steel erection partners,” all working in compliance with the latest safety standards.

Ceco’s builder organization ensures the customer that its finished building is properly constructed. Ceco proves every day that it is better in fulfilling customers’ need for a quality facility than anyone in the industry.

The Case for Ceco
Ceco Building Systems – through its local builder, Tri-State Enterprises of Minooka, Ill., provided six metal buildings for an Illinois-based company that manufactures rebar up to 2 inches in diameter for the construction industry.

The project included a rigid frame, clear-span building with a 12-by-250-foot ridge monitor weighing 371 pounds a lineal foot, and designed for a 15-ton top running bridge crane continuing from an existing building; a building designed for a 15-ton bridge crane, with walls open below the crane beams and a stainless steel valley gutter system connecting to two adjacent buildings; an RF-2 (one interior column) building designed for two 40-ton bridge cranes in each module, all four of which could be in the same bay at the same time, and jack/crane beams to allow material flow across the building without crane columns or building columns being in the way; and a single sloped building with a 60-foot jack/crane beam on the high sidewall. Ceco also supplied the crane beams and independent crane columns for the project.

Ceco buildings serve more than the needs of manufacturing. Throughout the country, Ceco Building Systems are used in schools, shopping centers, office complexes, warehouses, community and recreational facilities, and more. Companies wishing to consider Ceco for their next projects can call the company toll free at (800) 474-2326.

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