BusinessTN

For metal workers, fastening rebar with tie wire for use in reinforced concrete can be grueling work. As the preferred method since the early 1900s, tie wire is time-consuming and often yields inconsistent results and worker injuries. Despite the less-than-ideal results, the industry has come to rely on the century-old technique.

In 1998, Jon Kodi, a general contractor for over 35 years, sought a solution the trade had yet to discover. He began experimenting with plastic clips that could easily snap into place to secure rebar. Kodi developed a plastic injection mold to test materials, eventually selecting polycarbonate resin, a plastic used in bulletproof vests and windows that would not rust or scratch coated rebar.

"It was a lot of trial and error of different models and prototypes up until that point," Kodi says. The final product's four-way grip forms tight connections on flat, vertical, curved, round or cage work, while eliminating the need for diagonal support bars. Armed with his new invention, Kodi founded Kodi Klip, headquartered in Lebanon, Tenn. (The clips are manufactured in Lafayette, Tenn.) The product hit the market in 2005, and three years later, Kodi developed a pneumatic applicator gun with an extension handle to prevent bending or stooping. Today, "We are the only real competitor against tie wires," Kodi says.

Such streamlined tools work "up to ten times faster than wire, and time is money in the trade," Kodi says. Even better, there's no retraining of the labor force to offset the increase in productivity created by Kodi Klip. "It's literally seconds of training," says Heather Brown, director and associate professor of concrete industry management at Middle Tennessee State University. "Our students walk away feeling comfortable in being able to operate it like you would a staple gun."

Brown has presented Kodi Klip to classes since learning of the product three years ago from a graduate who worked for a tilt-up contractor utilizing it. "This was back in 2007, when construction was booming," Brown says. "They weren't worried about being faster; they were just getting a lot of workers' compensation claims." According to Kodi, concrete reinforcement workers have one of the highest rates of soft tissue injuries in the business, due partly to tie wire. Though the plastic clips cost more per connection than tie wire, Kodi says his product recoups that cost in increased productivity and injury prevention.

Not surprisingly, Kodi Klip has not been the only product to test the market. "There was a company called Jiffy Clip, but it went under because it failed in design," Kodi says. In contrast, the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers endorsed Kodi Klip as the official tool for connecting rebar. Understanding that it takes more than a seal of approval to protect his intellectual property, Kodi has registered two patents for the clips.

"The design patent protects the way it looks, and the utility patent protects how it operates," says Edward D. Lanquist Jr., a Nashville attorney with Waddey & Patterson that specializes in patent and trademark litigation. According to Lanquist, Kodi also has pending patents for the application gun and clip feed system.

Currently, the company is growing, despite an inert concrete industry and trickling federal funds. "Little to no concrete has been paid for by the stimulus," MTSU's Brown says. Kodi describes the situation as nothing less than frustrating. "There were billions of dollars slated for every state in infrastructure, which means interstate work, city bridges and things like that, but they just have not released it as planned," Kodi says.

In the meantime, Kodi is taking his business elsewhere by applying for patents in 32 countries. "We have distributors in Australia and New Zealand, and we're negotiating for the United Kingdom to distribute in Europe," Kodi says.

Back stateside, the slow-to-change industry has begun to accept the use of recycled plastics like Kodi Klip in concrete. "Because of the corrosiveness of steel, some of bridges are showing weakness in the long term, and people are actually considering plastic for the whole project," Brown says.

That's good news for Kodi Klip as it attempts to establish a firm, innovative grip in the rebar trade.