To dramatically exceed expectations in its first year, Titanium Contracting Inc. had to pull together all the necessary building blocks to launch a construction company: identify potential jobs, win bids, work efficiently, employed skilled people, and use productive equipment. And, as it turns out, taking a different approach to some aspects of the business wasn’t such a bad idea either.
“As a firm that focuses on municipal services work we like to handle jobs that are a bit outside of the realm of what a lot of other contractors are comfortable doing,” says Stephen Foster, Vice President of the Toronto Company. “Specialization helped us almost triple the first-year goal we sat for ourselves.”
Titanium Contracting, a heavy equipment general contractor that works throughout Ontario, handled these types of jobs the first year; demolition and destruction, landscaping, replacing and installing culvert, site remediation, and storm water management.
Titanium Contracting sets itself apart by its ability to work at water-related sites. “It’s the type of project that other firms tend to avoid,” says Foster, who has an affinity for working with water from his training as a hydro-geologist. “On jobs, such a building roads, you can control most variables. You add water, everything changes. There’s more risk. Is it a controllable risk? I like to think so. But maybe others don’t.
“In our short history, we’ve become very good at dealing with situation where construction takes place in and around water. The niche has helped boost our reputation and allowed us to generate additional revenue.”
As a new company with plans to bid on a variety of jobs (including some that were fairly complicated) Titanium Contracting decided early on to look for reliable and productive equipment. That search took them to Top Lift Enterprise, the Doosan dealer in Stoney Creek, Ontario.
A visit to their Doosan dealer and to the Doosan Real Operation Center helped the company decide to purchase two crawler excavators: a DX420LC-3 and a DX235LCR. Both were productive contributors to Titanium Contracting’s success. Foster explains: “The DX420LC-3, even with added accessories such as a mechanical thumb, FOPS and ROPS, quick coupler, and auxiliary hydraulics is the perfect size for floating [moving from site ti site],” he says. “Our goal is to avoid paying for overweight permits. As we travel throughout Ontario, we would have had to get five to 10 different permits. It would have been a nightmare. A $3,300 move could turn into a $7,000 move. Along with being the right size for floating, the DX420LC-3 has the power and precise controls that allow us to lift and place a 12- ton culvert, which is one of the most common jobs we do. Overall, it’s a great machine.”
View full article in the 7th issue of Equipment Journal