Advanced Concrete Technologies celebrated 30 years of North American partnerships during The Precast Show 2020, March 6, in Fort Worth, Texas, with a traditional Lonestar State night out for its customers and partners – a barbeque dinner followed by a night at the rodeo.

Before the ridin’ and ropin’ started at the historic Cowtown Coliseum at the Fort Worth Stockyards, though, host Max Hoene and Martin Wieland shared their thoughts on the company’s three decades of success in North America.

Hoene, ACT chairman and one of its original founders, said that the company’s philosophy is to engineer its batching and mixing plants for a long service life. “So, our relationship with our customers is a long partnership – like a marriage really – where we promise to serve and support our clients over the years.”

Wieland, CEO of ACT’s German parent company Wiggert + Co., said the company has built a strong business in North America because it listens to its customers and stays on pace with technology. Headquartered Karlsruhe, Germany, about an hour south of Frankfurt, Wiggert is a single-source supplier of turnkey mixing, batching and concrete delivery systems with a presence in more than 50 countries.

“The Romans invented concrete around 300 B.C., so it’s been around for a long time,” Wieland said. “For most of that time it was relatively the same. But in the last 30 years, the technology has accelerated at an amazing pace. ACT and Wiggert have been a big part of it,” he added.

“We see beautiful architectural finishes that are truly remarkable,” Wieland said. “Self-consolidating and ultra-high-performance concrete have changed the game, and they require precision equipment. That’s where we have led the industry – installed in hundreds of plants the latest microwave auto moisture control systems, high shear mixing technology and automated control processes.”

ACT’s leadership also marked the occasion by looking into the future. Hoene introduced Charles Watkins, ACT sales engineer, as one of the company’s team members poised to keep ACT pushing new boundaries of technology.

“I’m really excited seeing how the next generation embraces new technology and has a passion for bringing it to our customers,” Hoene said. “Charles is one of those guys, and as I look out into the audience, I see a lot of young faces out there. It gives me a lot of confidence about where we are headed as an industry.”

To continue that look into the future, Watkins introduced Brian Miller, P.E., MPA, LEED AP, global marketing director for GCP Applied Technologies. Miller took the group on a whirlwind video tour of amazing futuristic precast concrete structures around the world – the type of structures that would not be possible without advanced equipment and advanced technology.

“What inspires us?” Hoene asked. “Concrete. And our customers. Concrete is an amazingly versatile building material, and I can say I’ve learned something new almost every single day as our industry has evolved. At times, the dreams of our customers have challenged ACT to innovate new equipment solutions. Our best technical innovations always start with our customers. As a company ACT and our parent company Wiggert thrive on this innovation and partnership with our customers.”