Published in Port Charleston magazine

Find the Need and Fill It

Charleston Marine Containers finds secure business growth in government contracts for its innovative Quadcon and Tricon mini containers.

By Shelia Watson

For all the ribbing it takes for its image of bureaucracy and rigidity, the U.S. military does an amazingly good job of learning from past experience and implementing corrections to processes.

Take the process of shipping, for example. For centuries items have been shipped in bulk, a labor-intensive process that often created waste and delays. During both world wars, the need for a better process of getting things from Point A to Point B was evident. In some cases, how quickly and efficiently cargo moved could determine the outcome of battles.

The military learned that lesson, promoting containerization in the early 1960s. It was used successfully during the Vietnam War, with whole divisions able to pack up and move in containers.

And then they discovered a glitch during the next major deployment after Vietnam, the Gulf War. "In order to ship themselves to the war, the military bought thousands of containers," says Fred Whittle, director of programs at Charleston Marine Containers, Inc. (CMCI). "They got twenty-footers and forty-footers, packed all their gear in them, got them over there and then said 'What's what and where's what?' They discovered they had to unload an entire container to get to what was in the back of it, and they knew there had to be a better way."

Lesson learned. The "better way" – two versions of mini containers able to connect into the same footprint as a 20' ISO intermodal container – is now being produced by CMCI's manufacturing facility on the old Naval Base in North Charleston. The Tricon is configured so three together will equal a 20' container and the Quadcon is configured so four together will equal a 20' container. Both are ISO-compliant and Type Approved, Customs Approved, and CSC-certified by Lloyd's Register North America, Inc.

The Tricon was designed about 30 years ago originally for European and North Sea offshore oil industry use; the Quadcon was designed specifically for the military. "Our design of the Quadcon allows you to open either side and be able to reach in halfway, four feet from either side," says Whittle. "The military wanted a special container, a side opener, but if you take a standard 20' and try to make it into a side opener, you'll destroy the structural integrity of the box."

Whittle explains that the Tricon, three coupled together, or the Quadcon, four coupled together, is a structurally sound way of making a 20' container with side-opening doors. "Basically, it's a mini mobile warehouse that's water-tight, weather-proof, and when coupled as a unit, can be sent forward with others and broken apart when it gets there."

CMCI has a five-year contract with the U.S. Marine Corps to build up to 34,000 Quadcons for both the Marines and the Army. Now in the third year of that contract, CMCI has fulfilled roughly one-third of the order. The Army has ordered 3,500 Tricons in a separate five-year contract.

The mini containers are bought in kit form. They put the sub-assemblies in a jig, weld them together, followed by state-of-the-art abrasive blasting, metal preparation, painting, and finishing. CMCI maintains more than 50% of U.S. content for the container, which is required by the contract.

The company has made improvements to its own processes in order to increase efficiency. The manufacturing plant has two lines of Quadcons, each line producing about 525 per month for a total of more than 1,000 per month. Improvements in efficiency have also brought production of Quadcons up from about 12 per day to about 25 per day per line – a total of 50 per day with two lines currently in production.

Implementing such an innovative idea did not happen overnight for the company. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Sea Containers, Inc., CMCI was formed in November, 1996, to make 40' high cube containers for its parent company to supply the Southeastern United States. Plans changed, however, when China started making containers and eventually gained 90% of the container manufacturing market.

The company also manufactured chassis until recently, when the chassis market went down, leaving a glut in supply. Today the company is using the old chassis production line to make Quadcons, reconfiguring existing equipment that otherwise might have sat idle until the market changed.

"We have the flexibility in this company to do many things," says CMCI President Herbert Ellis, "mostly because of a capable workforce, savvy supervisors, focused managers, and an understanding of the company's capabilities. Also, we have intellectual capital in Tony Hawes, a world-class container engineer, and Bill Smith, who is well-known in chassis world."

Having been affected twice by shifting economic markets, CMCI is now well-placed financially with its military contracts. "We're resistant to any economic shift because of those contracts," says Whittle. "They're long-term in nature with a fixed price, so we have to control cost. Otherwise we have a long backlog that'll take us years into the future."

Whittle says the war has increased demand for the products they make, although a speedy conclusion to the war will not significantly impact their business. "It's raised the awareness of the need in the Department of Defense to be intermodal, to be rapidly deployable. The only way to do that is to use commercial ships, to use commercial standards, to be compatible with the commercial world for shipping. You want to be able to go to a foreign port and not cause them to need any more equipment than they've already got. So you want a container with the standard footprint."

CMCI has a fully equipped structural testing facility, approved by Lloyd's Register of North America. Engineering Manager Tony Hawes notes, "We undertake all required ISO testing in-house as well as re-certifying containers for our parent company and other shipping companies." The facility is one of four in North America.

The company also practices small business participation, using companies such as Laurentide, a Hanahan company producing aluminum shelves that fit inside the Quadcon.

"We believe in helping small businesses here," Whittle explains, "and we want them to participate in the government contracts. In fact, it's a requirement [of the contract] that we get as much small business participation as we can. And Laurentide has been very good, very cooperative, and very reliable."

Following the Naval Base closing in 1995, which was projected to spell doom for the Charleston area (forecasters were wrong), CMCI was the first company to sign a 25-year lease with the RDA for industrial purposes, stepping up to the plate for the community. Under the leadership of Ellis and the management team he has put into place, such commitment and innovative practices should position CMCI well for growth in the Charleston industrial and the port community.