For over three decades, Corbett Concrete Products Ltd. has specialised in the manufacture, delivery and fitting of high-quality cattle slats to a wide range of satisfied customers across Munster and beyond. We popped into the company’s Cahir, County Tipperary facility to get an insight into day-to-day operations at this market-leading operation from general manager Michael Corbett.
Corbett Concrete Products Ltd. is a successful family-run business, which has been operating out of Cahir, County Tipperary since 1979. Founder Pat Corbett started out by manufacturing wet cast products such as sills, kerbs, lentils, wall caps and paving slabs. However, in 1982, he began producing cattle slats and Corbett Concrete is now one of the premier manufacturers and suppliers of cattle slats in Ireland, producing a wide range of slats from 6ft 6″ up to 16ft 6″ (as well as scraper slats, manholes, beams and floors for the agricultural market).
Corbetts deliver and fit their cattle slats throughout Munster, the midlands and the east coast area. “Since we started manufacturing cattle slats, they have become the core of the business,” says the founder’s son Michael (general manager). “We now produce a full range of cattle slats as well as underpasses for cattle, culverts, bridge beams etc.”
Corbett Concrete Products Ltd also produces a wide-slab flooring system, which has proven to be a major success, as well as manufacturing hydrometric products (including concrete stands, weirs and bases for testing stations) for clients such as the EPA, ESB, Tipperary County Council and Inland Fisheries to name a few.
Today, they manufacture a wide variety of concrete products to service a number of different industries. These include cattle slats, beams, pig slats, concrete cattle troughs, manholes, water troughs, wide-slab flooring, sewage treatment tanks, sills, kerbs, lentils, wall caps, pier caps, paving slabs, garden edges, fireheads, flue gatherers, chimney caps, posts and rails, crook stakes, drains, gate posts, struts and strainers, panel fencing and gully boxes.
“Anything to do with concrete, we do it,” confirms Michael. “The only things we don’t do are readymix, blocks and pipes. We manufacture every other concrete product that the agriculture sector could require.”
Quality has always been a primary concern of Corbett Concrete Products Ltd., who use top quality steel in their slats and manufacture, supply and fit them to the very highest standards as set out by the Department of Agriculture.
It’s very much a family-managed company and this ensures that customers are afforded a keen personal touch. Pat is still the main man and he is joined in the running of Corbett Concrete by sons Michael and Patrick (Quality Control supervisor).
Corbett Concrete Cattle Slats are renowned for their quality throughout Munster and further afield, into south Kilkenny and Wexford. Over the decades, Pat has built up an unrivalled reputation in the industry, by insisting on producing high-quality products, made to order at his state-of-the-art concrete plant, which are promptly delivered and fitted by a crew of highly-skilled workers.
“He has always had a very positive attitude towards his customers and goes out of his way to accommodate them at all times,” notes Michael. “We provide quality products and a quality service and we never let anybody down
“We implement quality control checks and we achieved the CE mark at the first time of asking when it was introduced in July, 2013. All of our products are regularly and rigorously tested by our engineer, Dave Reading, who is highly respected in the industry. We insist on seriously high standards across every facet of the business.”
A fleet of three Volvos is used to deliver most slats, while a 40-foot trailer is hired in for the bigger jobs. Although each job is different, a quick turnaround is guaranteed. “With an average 70-foot tank, we should have the whole thing sorted out in a day, using one team,” says Michael. “We have three teams and employ a total of 26 people.”
In the actual concrete plant itself, things move along smoothly and fluently…
“We have two production lines and we use a very reliable system, which we have fine-tuned over the years. All our products are fully traceable and all raw materials are CE-marked. We insist on using only the best raw materials
“All of our products are manufactured to the very highest standards – and they have to be. We are at this over 30 years and we follow all the relevant guidelines and are fully confident in our products.”
Corbett Concrete Products Ltd.’s customers seem to agree, judging by the high volume of repeat business!
Looking to the future, Michael confirms that there will be no let-up in the relentless implementation of high-quality standards: “Our aim is to keep our product quality and customer service levels as high as ever and also to modernise the operation,” he concludes.
“With the five-year grants coming out in the slats and slurry end of it, there could be a significant increase in demand and we will be ready for that. It’s a very competitive market, with up to 30 companies in Ireland manufacturing slats, but we have been at this a long time and we have the utmost faith in our products and service.
“To keep standards high, we will continue to reinvest in the business. To this end, we have just introduced a brand-new lorry, complete with a state-of-the-art automatic crane, to the fleet earlier this year and we’ll be investing more money to increase efficiencies in the not-too-distant future.”
Corbett Concrete Products Ltd.
Mooneraha,
Cahir,
County.Tipperary.
Tel: 052 7441590
Mobile: 0879550799 / 2525327
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 1, January/February 2015
