The competitive advantage of Cives Steel Company lies with one simple fact, we deliver the product that you want on-time. In construction, the biggest factor in cost is not the up-front price, but the time duration of construction -- "time is money." Nowhere is this more evident than in today's market, where each day a structure is delayed or accelerated means major dollars out of or into the owner's (and your) pocket. Each initiative Cives takes, and each investment Cives makes, is targeted toward this goal of on time structural steel that fits. With Cives on the project, your risk of cost overruns is substantially reduced, because the structural steel will be there. And nothing else can happen until it is there.

To accomplish this, Cives Steel Company operates in a unique fashion:

1. Cives Corporation is an employee-owned company, and that means that each person you deal with is a stockholder in our company. Stockholders have a stake in the success of the business beyond receiving a paycheck each week. They know that without you, the customer, they have no company. You are number one!

2. Since our beginning in 1952, we have grown our company by establishing medium-size fabricating plants in geographically diverse areas operating as autonomous profit centers. This means that our Division people are close to the customer, with the agility to respond quickly to changes in the customer's needs. No matter where the customer's projects are located, there is, most likely, a Cives Steel Company plant close by. Unlike other fabricators, our six plants mean that we have six doors for raw steel to go in, and six doors for fabricated steel to go out. Consequently, we have the scheduling flexibility to respond to our customer's needs. When it is necessary, we can team up two, three, or more plants in order to meet the most demanding schedule.

3. In order to keep control, our philosophy is to do as much as we can in-house. Consequently, we have established two in-house companies to prepare our shop detail drawings. Along with our central offices, we have a complement of detailers at each plant in order to expedite changes and revisions. In addition to this, our Cives Engineering Corporation does mainframe and connection design on a fully insured basis. The most critical time of a project is during the engineering and detailing phase when, if time is lost, it is difficult to recover. Consequently, we want to control these aspects in-house. We also do all of our own painting in-house, in atmospherically-regulated paint rooms and do not rely on subcontractors. When it is necessary to do work outside our company (such as joists, deck and erection), we have a collection of suppliers and subcontractors who have demonstrated their dedication to Cives Steel Company's goals.

4. We have dedicated ourselves to continually improving our work processes, through technological innovation. All fabricating operations at our seven Divisions are accomplished through computer-controlled equipment. The data necessary for the operation of this equipment is transferred electronically from our computer detailing system. If the customer has the technology to download information to our computer detailing system from the engineering model, information will pass from that model to our shop machinery with little or no human interference. We have established electronic communication links among our various locations so that information is transferred utilizing e-mail or Cives Steel Company's web page on the worldwide web (www.cives.com).

5. Our singular project management system means ease of communication with our customer, and a specific line of authority for the successful execution of the project. Decisions are made and changes processed in an expedited matter impossible with multiple lines of communication. Cives Steel Company is dedicated to continuous improvement in hardware and software to make our business run more efficiently. Each year, Cives Steel Company invests a significant portion of its after-tax profits in capital improvements, which will result in making our business more efficient. This includes continuing evaluation of shop equipment; replacing and upgrading where necessary, so that we are able to utilize the latest technology in the fabricating operation. We have three full-time people dedicated to research and development of our computer systems. One person is responsible for the technical systems, such as computer detailing, interface of our computer detailing system with engineering design systems, and interface with shop systems. The second person is focused on the continual improvement of our business systems, including estimating, production control, accounting, communication links, wide area network, and internet communication.

A FOCUS ON QUALITY WORK

Cives Steel Company has made a commitment to furnishing a product that meets or exceeds the quality standards established by our customers. Our commitment to this end is evidenced by the following:

1. We were one of the first fabricators to establish a Quality Assurance Department in each of our plants, independent of production management.

2. As one of the largest participants in the growth of the nuclear market, we regularly furnished structural steel and weldments to the demanding nuclear specifications and quality criteria.

3. As a result, all of our plants meet or exceed the standards established by the AISC Quality Certification Program for Complex Steel Building Structures, and all carry the Sophisticated Painting Endorsement.

4. Continued investment in equipment and technology is reflected in a superior product out-the-door.

5. We maintain a list of suppliers and subcontractors for such items as joists, deck, and erection, that produce products and services to the quality level that we require. We continually review their performance so that this quality level is maintained.

THE INDUSTRY LEADER IN TECHNOLOGY

Cives Steel Company has been, and will continue to be, the industry leader in utilizing technology to advance the means and methods of the fabricating business. Specifically:

1. Cives Steel Company's six fabricating Divisions and the corporate headquarters are linked by a wide area network. This means that electronic files and e-mail can be sent directly by anyone, inside or outside our company, to anyone in our company.

2. We have an established presence on the Internet with this web page (www.cives.com) and an FTP site (ftp.cives.com) in order to facilitate communication and exchange of information including drawings.

3. We have developed internal proprietary estimating, production control, and cost accounting software utilizing the FoxPro database system. Information is downloaded into the production control system, and all control is exercised through this system, from material ordering through to shipping. Integrated with this proprietary internal system is a packaged accounting system.

4. We have also invested heavily in computer detailing that now utilizes over 60 SDS work stations by Design Data. This system has the capability to receive structural steel detailing neutral files from the engineers' 3D model. Utilizing this system, we produce shop drawings, which, as computer files, can be transferred electronically. We were the first fabricator to handle shop drawing approvals electronically, so it is "old hat" now. Drawing files are uploaded to a secure page on the Cives FTP site, where they are downloaded by the approver. The approver electronically marks up the drawings and uploads them back to the FTP site. Cives then downloads these files and makes the corrections electronically.

5. Each of our fabricating shops is equipped with the most modern computer-controlled drill lines, angle lines, plate fabricators/duplicators, and burning tables. Typically, our computer driven machines receive the necessary data directly from the computer detailing system, eliminating the potential for human error.

6. As noted above, research and development and investment are ongoing processes in our effort to continuously improve the efficiency of our system and the product we produce.