Acme Brick

American Brick Manufacturer

SINOMETAL Product Page

Acme Brick Company is an American manufacturer and distributor of brick and masonry-related construction products and materials. Founder George E. Bennett (October 6, &#; July 3, ), chartered the company as the Acme Pressed Brick Company on April 17, , in Alton, Illinois,[1] although the company's physical location has always been in Texas. The company grew to become the largest American-owned brick manufacturer by the mid-20th century and was the first of its type to offer a 100-year limited guarantee to its customers. Acme Brick Company was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway on August 1, .[1]

Etymology

Acme (ακμή; English transliteration: akmē) is Ancient Greek for "(highest) point, edge; peak of anything", being used in English with the meaning of "prime" or "the best", initially when referring to a period in someone's life[2] and then extending to anything or anyone who reaches perfection in a certain regard.[3]

History

• In , Acme Pressed Brick Company was established fifteen miles (24 km) southwest of Weatherford, Texas near present-day Farm Road 113, in southwestern Parker County, Texas. The company town that evolved from the establishment of the manufacturing plant was called 'Bennett'. The community included Acme Brick homes (for 100 employees and their families), a church, a public school, and a general store.
• In , Acme Pressed Brick stockholders elected new officers, applied for a Texas charter, began doing business as Acme Brick Company, and dissolved the company chartered in Illinois. Walter R. Bennett (George E. Bennett's son) was elected the first president of the newly renamed Acme Brick Company.
• In , a merger of the Acme Brick Company and the Justin Boot Company resulted in the formation of the First Worth Corporation.
• In , First Worth Corp. changed its name to Justin Industries, Inc., a 'parent' corporation who would grow to acquire many 'children' companies.
• In , Featherlite (then known as Kingstip-Featherlite) was acquired. Featherlite began as a Texas-based, privately held company in . Featherlite began acquiring concrete block companies in and continued its expansion over the years - now operating 7 block producing facilities and 2 cement bagging facilities in Texas and 3 other locations.
• In , as housing starts hit a 35-year low, Acme built inventory: 400 million brick were manufactured by the year's end.
• In , record housing starts propelled Acme to record sales years in and .

• In , Acme began stamping its logo on one end of select residential brick. This tradition in brand recognition continues today.
• In , Troy Aikman, Hall of Fame quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys football team, became an Acme Brick spokesperson - initially in radio and print advertising, and later on television.
• In , American Tile Supply, a tile distributor and retailer in Texas, was acquired.
• In , Fort Worth-based Innovative Building Products, developer and manufacturer of a mortarless installation system for glass block windows, skylights, shower enclosures, and floors, was acquired.
• In , the Justin Industries Board of Directors approved the sale of the publicly traded company to Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. The boot companies and the building companies were split to form Justin Brands and Acme Building Brands as separate entities. At the time of the acquisition, Acme Building Brands was 'parent' to the following four 'child' companies:
  • Acme Brick Company, the leading domestically owned United States manufacturer of face brick.
  • Featherlite Building Products Corporation, the leading Southwest producer of concrete masonry products.
  • American Tile Supply Company, a major Texas distributor of ceramic and marble floor and wall tile.
  • Justin Brands - Justin Boot Company, Nocona Boot Company, Tony Lama Company, and Chippewa Shoe Company.
• In , Acme Brick set a new company record for shipments - exceeding 1 billion company-manufactured bricks shipped.
• In , Acme Brick's residential products started carrying the Good Housekeeping Seal.

• On October 6, (October 6 was also the birthday of Acme's founder, George Bennett), Acme Brick broke ground for the company's new headquarters building to be located in southwest Fort Worth. The 77,000-square-foot (7,200 m2), three-story building was completed in .
• On January 24, , Acme Brick agreed to purchase Jenkins Brick headquartered in Alabama with stores in four southeastern states.

Manufacturing plants

Acme Brick manufactures brick (primarily for U.S. customers) at plants located in four states:

Sales offices

Acme Brick sells manufactured and purchased products from sales offices located in ten states:

Acme Brick Technical Center

Acme Brick's Exploration Department, Quality Management, and Laboratory are based in Denton, Texas at the Acme Brick Technical Center. Acme Brick Technical Center Webpage

Subsidiaries

• Jenkins Brick (permanently closed)
• Texas Quarries (quarry only)
• IBP (Innovative Building Products)
• Acme Brick Tile and Stone (formerly American Tile and Stone)
• Featherlite Building Corporation

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References

• Lehr, Edwin E. (). Colossus in Clay: Acme Brick Company: the story of the largest American owned brickmaker. The Donning Company Publishers. ISBN 1--040-7.

• Handbook of Texas Online. "BENNETT, TEXAS (Parker County)". Retrieved 3 October .

Uttendorf (energate) - Brick manufacturer Wienerberger is replacing a gas burner in Upper Austria with an electric kiln that will run on electricity from hydropower. The move will reduce the plant's emissions by 90 per cent and energy consumption by 30 per cent, explained Johann Marchner, managing director of Wienerberger Austria, as part of energate's interview summer series on decarbonisation in industry. "We are building the world's first and largest industrial electric kiln in brick production here," Marchner stressed.

The plant also has a so-called "digital twin" for simulating the thermodynamic processes. The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) accompanied the technical planning of the plant. If the project succeeds in its goals, it will be of great interest throughout the Group, Marchner added. Wienerberger is the world's largest brick manufacturer with 200 plants and a turnover of five billion euros at last count.

Eighty metres long and 3 MW connected load

Currently, demolition work is taking place on the gas kiln in Uttendorf, followed by the construction of the electric kiln. Wienerberger plans to put the plant into operation next summer. The new kiln will be eighty metres long and six metres wide and have a connected load of 3 MW. In full operation, it will be able to fire about 300 tonnes of wall bricks per day. The company estimates the investment at 30 million euros, of which "a mid-single-digit amount" is subsidies, according to Marchner.

Efficiency via modified production processes

The savings in exhaust fumes are not only due to the switch to electricity from hydropower, but also to new processes, explained the head of the Austrian division. This ensures higher energy efficiency than in comparable plants, he said. "It is nothing new in itself to replace a gas burner with an electric burner. But the project in Uttendorf is really a pilot project." As examples, Marchner mentioned a new kiln design, new firing technology and new clay mixtures.

In preliminary tests, the group, together with AIT, defined in the digital twin what plant capacities are possible and what energy input is necessary for this. The electric kiln also needs a different "infrastructure" in the plant, according to Marchner - among other things, changes are necessary in the grinding of the bricks, the charging and the layering of the brick packs.

Decision even before the start of the Ukraine war

Wienerberger started planning the project years before the war-related energy crisis and also before the Corona crisis. Both events and the EU's 'Green Deal' had given the issue of energy a whole new significance, according to Marchner. Last year, the energy-intensive manufacturer booked its own storage capacities and had gas stored in view of the looming gas shortage and the danger of a supply stop by Russia. At the moment, such steps - which are also very costly - are not planned, according to Marchner: "Thank God, we have been and continue to be well supplied with energy."

Worries despite high "site loyalty"

In the manufacturing industry and especially in energy-intensive sectors in Germany, Austria and across Europe, there is growing concern about massive disadvantages in competition with China and the USA. Energy prices and energy policy are seen as the main causes of this. Site closures have increased in recent months, and production is already being relocated overseas.

This is different in the building materials industry, which is traditionally very regionally oriented because of the weight of its products and is therefore considered to be particularly "loyal to the location". Nevertheless, Marchner also sees a "location threat" - for example from competition from neighbouring European countries that can produce much more cheaply with nuclear power. There is "no alternative" to investing in decarbonisation, he commented. But it is a challenge to turn the ecological mission into an economic success. /pm

You can read the interview with Johann Marchner here. It is part of the summer interview series on decarbonisation in industry.

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