Shaping Productivity

SHAPING PRODUCTIVITY

Author: Chad Hensley, P.E. Executive Vice President of Concrete 

As a kid, I loved watching earth-moving equipment, cranes hoist materials, and new structures transform city skylines. What I didn’t realize is that construction productivity had already peaked- a sobering fact in spite of improvements in technology and equipment. Even more concerning is that productivity has continued to decline while manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale, and retail have improved by nearly 400% on average, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

Whoa! How can we do our part to turn this around?

Support Industry Organizations

Wayne Brothers recently joined the ACI Center of Excellence for Advancing Productivity—also known as PRO—as its first Gold Member. We are excited to work alongside other industry leaders in support of PRO’s mission: “To collaborate with designers, material suppliers, builders, and other industry stakeholders to continually improve the constructability of design and the productivity of construction of all types.”

PRO has identified six strategic initiatives aimed at improving productivity across our industry. It is a noble list of initiatives that Wayne Brothers strongly supports and believes in. Facility owners, in particular, stand to benefit from the positive financial and schedule impacts of improved productivity.

In addition, we have been active members in Lean Construction Institute (LCI) and Construction Users Round Table (CURT). In my words, the common goal of all of these organizations is getting more done with less time and effort.

Implementing Lean

Recently, Wayne Brothers participated in a project that used the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) contracting method. Through this experience, we witnessed firsthand the productivity improvements that resulted from purpose-driven collaboration and teamwork between contractors, design professionals, and owners. The time and effort required to complete work designed with constructability in mind, was noticeably reduced. This experience influenced our decision to develop a company-wide LEAN program.  We feel this will truly make a difference in the value we bring our customers.

Many of the IPD processes that delivered such strong results are directly aligned with PRO’s mission and strategic initiatives.  We strongly feel that by supporting ACI PRO and implementing our LEAN program we can help influence the industry to improve construction productivity and morale of the workforce. Projects that are designed for constructability and well planned are more fun to work on. Ultimately, it’s a win-win for everyone: employees, end users, GC’s, and subs.

 

Our industry is at a turning point, and I believe the best days of construction are still ahead. By embracing collaboration, innovation, and productivity, we can raise the bar for what’s possible. For me, it all goes back to that wide-eyed kid watching construction sites – but only now, I have the chance to help shape a stronger, more productive future for the industry I love.

 

ABOUT PRO

To learn more about PRO, visit www.concreteproductivity.org. Download the latest revision of the Constructability Blueprint and use it to help steer our industry in the right direction. Here is a recent article published: Barriers To Design Optimization: Concrete in The Built Environment.

 

References: (Barbosa, F. et al., Reinventing Construction: A Route to Higher Productivity, Feb. 2017).

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