Within a year of starting up Unlimited Concrete Solutions LLC in Plain City, Ohio back in 1998, founders Dewey and Casey Cockerill bought the company’s first Somero S-160 laser screed to help them with their business as a full service cast-in-place concrete subcontractor.
The machine proved to be an integral part to the company’s growth and by 2003, James Chaney, a man with 30 years’ experience in the industry, joined the company as a full partner.
Chaney, who now serves as one of the company’s managing partners, said that with their focus on the warehouse-distribution center construction market, meeting the demands for high quality, tight tolerance work is essential. On completion, each job is evaluated with an F meter for flatness and level.
Chaney views Somero Enterprises as a true business partner as opposed to being simply an equipment provider, explaining that his company wouldn’t be able to perform its work without Somero laser screeds and power rakes. Somero Enterprises’ emphasis on product innovation is matched by its concern for product reliability, according to Chaney.
The absolute need for dependable equipment with a common scenario for the company, “when you have 16 cement trucks lined up ready to pour, you can’t afford to have a machine down,” he said.
In addition to its own field technicians and knowledgeable sales team, Somero provided training for Unlimited Concrete Solution’s service technicians and the company has three to four certified technicians on its staff.
Unlimited Concrete Solution LLC has added to its fleet of Somero Enterprises equipment over the years and they now, in addition to the S-160 laser screed, own 2 SXP-D laser screeds, an 840 laser screed and a Somero power rake.
The Somero power rake allowed the company to initiate a step it hadn’t performed in the past. It poured straight from the cement truck and then employed the power rake to increase the constancy of the mix while achieving much of the material flattening so that the laser screed can do a more efficient and better finishing job.
Using this process, Unlimited Concrete Solutions recently poured a 1.6 million sq. ft. (148,645 sq m) job in which 6 placements were 90,000 sq. ft. (8,361 sq m) According to Chaney, by mechanizing the operation with Somero equipment, they’ve been able to do more with smaller crews and with greater precision.
Somero Enterprises maintains executive offices and training facility in Fort Myers, Fla., corporate offices and a manufacturing facility in Houghton, Mich., and international offices in England and Shanghai. The company developed the Somero laser screed concrete screeding machine in the mid-1980s and continues to develop and introduce innovative machinery used in horizontal concrete placement.
Along with the S-160 laser screeds, SXP-D laser screeds, 840 laser screed and Somero power rake, Somero Enterprises’ product line includes the STS-11m topping spreader. Introduced this year, the machine is designed to disperse a wide variety of shake-on toppings from fine materials to large aggregates. Also introduced in 2013 is the S-15m laser screed, capable of screeding up to 460 sq. m/hour (5,000 sf).
Other equipment includes the CopperHead XD, a walk behind laser screed, two mini-screed models, and the HoseHog designed to replace the labor intensive positioning of concrete hose on the job site. The company also offers the Somero 3-D profiler system allowing contoured work to be performed by their laser guided screeds.
Unlimited Concrete Solutions works primarily in Ohio but also works in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well and has even ventured as far as Waco, Texas to do a job. Pouring an average of 60,000 yds. (54,864 m) of concrete per year, the company has gained strong insights into the need for the right machine for the job.
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