ClarkDietrich is the largest manufacturer of cold-formed steel framing in the world. Products manufactured are used primarily in commercial construction. We operate a network of 11 steel plants, one vinyl plant and one composite bead and trim plant. We have approximately 1,400 employees and are headquartered in West Chester, Ohio.

We are the technical leaders in the industry, with 4 engineering offices and over 60 engineers. Our next closest competitor has one engineering office with approximately 8 engineers.

Our products are sold through a distribution network. The distributors are not exclusive to us. Most distributors buy from 3 or more manufacturers. Our market share is not public information, but it is more than 20% and less than 50%.

Our offering consists of 6 product categories and thousands of products. One category, Drywall Framing, consists of 30 products, not counting variations in length, accounts for about 1/3 of our sales. Another category, Structural Framing, consists of approximately 100 products and accounts for about 1/3 of our sales.

There are 6 large customer groups that account for 70-80% of all of our sales. Sales are made in both full truckload quantities (42,000 pounds) and route truck quantities. The route truck quantity might be as low as 8,000 pounds. For the most part, both types of stock purchases are sold at the same price.

Our competitive environment consists of 6 “super regional” (not nationwide in scope but some are close) competitors. One of them, operating in the Pacific Northwest, sells direct to contractors. All others sell through distribution.

The product offerings of the “super regional” competitors is very similar to the ClarkDietrich offering. The smaller competitors typically only offer the commodity products. The top 6, along with ClarkDietrich, probably account for 85-90% of the market volume.