|
In the early 1990s, The Shaw Group recognized that most of its existing products or markets were in their mature phase or tied into the construction industry's traditional cyclic pattern of activity. To help keep the company prosperous, we expanded our vision and developed a four-prong diversification strategy.
Innovative Opportunities
During the last decade The Shaw Group has actively sought innovative opportunities that allow us to transfer and adapt our traditional natural resource-based manufacturing skills and managerial expertise into new fields. This means selectively starting new businesses, or purchasing companies that offer the right opportunity profile or partnering.
In 1997 we formed Shaw & Shaw, an alliance with Shaw Pipe Protection from Calgary to leverage both companies’ expertise and take
advantage of emerging opportunities in the east coast offshore
industry. Between 1999 and 2001 the partnership secured and completed
two major projects to apply the anti-corrosion and concrete
weight-coating to 434 km of Sable Offshore Energy undersea pipeline. In 2008, the Shaw & Shaw partnership was the successful bidder for a coating contract for a 175-kilometre line from the Deep Panuke platform to mainland Nova Scotia.
In 1999, we purchased Prestige Homes, a New Brunswick company with a 20-year history of success in manufacturing modular and panelized homes and light industrial buildings. This solid company had plenty of growth potential but it needed some investment and a change of direction to capitalize on future opportunities.
In 2004, we substantially expanded the capacity and versatility of our Brick Division by purchasing a well-established manufacturer, G S Concrete of Windsor Forks, Nova Scotia.
Two years later we diversified again, adding Ven-Rez Products Limited of Shelburne to the Shaw corporate family. Ven-Rez has been a highly respected and successful furniture manufacturer to schools, institutions, libraries and churches for over 50 years.
The Shaw Group has tripled its sales and the number of employees over the past decade. Our plans are to continue to grow and diversify in the years ahead.
Adding more value to existing products
One of the ways we make sure our products retain their market position is to keep looking for ways to add value to them.
One good example is our Prestige Homes subsidiary. They are continually discovering new ways to advance the technology and improve the quality of preengineered buildings. In 2001, Prestige successfully pioneered a new technique and can now apply drywall to their homes during the manufacturing stage. This capability provides another measure of quality control for the end customer.
New markets for existing products
In recent years we have discovered that many products developed specifically for domestic markets have tailor-made markets elsewhere.
For example, we spent decades perfecting the materials and technology we use to create bricks that can withstand Atlantic Canada's punishing freeze/thaw winter weather cycles. We make very tough, very attractive bricks. Today, we export these bricks to several other locations where the climate poses real challenges. We have also developed a very successful product for a Japanese customer that works with an internal anchor system to withstand shock forces during earthquakes.
When pellet stoves started catching on with homeowners, we saw a need for a better soft-wood pellet fuel than the products then on the market. The quality we built into the product made it a winner. Today, we also ship Eastern Embers pellets in bulk to several countries in Europe for use in area heating plants as well as home use.
New value-added products
The Shaw Group is never content to just keep doing the same thing year after year. We're always looking for ways to adapt the technology we use to make new products or to incorporate a new technology to introduce products that offer cost-effective alternatives, solve problems, or give consumers a better range of options.
|