Tag: <span>Productivity</span>

Tag: Productivity

Coolers to Dollars: Korellis Roofing takes up employee suggestions to save thousands

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By Curtis Hankins, NW Indiana Life.

Note: RT3 Member Tony Brummel of Korellis Roofing was featured in NW Indiana Life for improving processes leading to nearly $500,000 in savings for the company.

Tony Brummel is used to skepticism. He promises to cut a businesses’ costs without losing jobs, while creating more work, and making things more convenient for employees. It sounds far-fetched, but he has done just that at Korellis Roofing as their Business Process Manager – helping to save the local roofing company more than $500,000 since he joined last December.

Brummel’s job centers on identifying the different processes in play at Korellis and mapping ways of improving them. He adopts the continual process improvement principle called DMAIC. DIMA is a LEAN Six-Sigma methodology, which in basic terms, provides a way to problem-solve. It breaks down the process into five steps – define, measure, analyze, improve and control.

“Our President Pete Korellis is really forward thinking,” Brummel said. “The idea is to stay ahead of the competition and set ourselves apart. This methodology allows us to be more efficient and effective.”

Brummel can talk for hours about the strategies, data, and complex methodology behind his work, but in many ways, it is quite simple. He starts out by doing a one-on-one interview with almost everyone on staff. They explain their job, how they do it, and any common problems or inconveniences they have. Then, he sets to work finding solutions to those struggles and creating ways to get everyone communicating effectively.

“I ask, what and where’s your biggest headache? Or, if you could do something to make your job better what would it be,” Brummel explained. “No idea is discounted, no idea is bad.”

Sometimes, huge savings are found in the simplest places. After Brummel had been around for a while, one roofer joked that getting more efficient coolers for their ice could be the next big change.

“I just said. ‘let’s talk about that, tell me why,’” he said. “He explained that their ice melts too fast and he has to run to the gas station to refill the cooler. I pointed out that’s half an hour or so of downtime each day. We got them new coolers and it will save that one crew $3,000 annually,” Brummel said.

In fact, Brummel encourages these kinds of suggestions on a regular basis, folding continuous process improvement into the fabric of everyone’s workday. At the Korellis safety meeting in February, team members were recognized for their brainstorming sessions that resulted in new techniques and innovations that saved nearly 10,000 labor hours annually.

Business process managers like Brummel are still fairly rare in the construction industry, despite being ripe with opportunities for improvements. That puts Korellis on the cutting edge, making things more convenient for their employees.

“I think that uniqueness comes from a lack of exposure to this kind of thinking,” Brummel said. “But Pete and his core team are always looking forward.”

Source: NW Indiana Life

How an idea at a homebuilders association meeting grew into a statewide skilled trades initiative

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By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

Iowa Skilled Trades was started in 2017 to address the labor shortage and encourage youth to consider a career in the trades.

We love learning about new initiatives that will have a positive impact on the future of the roofing industry so when RoofersCoffeeShop® partner, Vickie Sharples, shared with me an organization she came across on Instagram, we knew we wanted to know more about them. The group she found is called Iowa Skilled Trades.

A visit to their website told me that this group is “A Team of Industry Pros Bringing Initiatives, Education & Awareness to Skilled Trades in Iowa.” We wanted to know more – what were they doing, how were they doing it, how did they get started?
To answer these questions, I had the opportunity to have a phone interview with Brandon Patterson CSP, CGP, CAPS, Workforce Development for the Home Builders Association of Iowa (HBAI), the group behind the Iowa Skilled Trades initiative. Brandon only recently joined the staff at the HBAI after having served on the board and as a volunteer for many years. He grew up in a family plumbing business and that is how he came to be a board member at HBAI.

Brandon said that every year, they would get together for their board meetings and talk about the need for builders, tradesman and craftsman, but that no one ever really seemed to do anything about it. “We are fans of the programs out there that support the development of interest in the trades, such as SkillsUSA and Keep Craft Alive, but we felt like our investment in those programs wasn’t making an impact in Iowa and we wanted a local initiative,” explained Brandon.

“A few years ago, we kind of got this crazy idea to make something happen. We got together with our local industry and started privately funding a program at one of our schools here in Des Moines called Central Academy that does industry-specific training for high schoolers. It could be nursing, aviation, pathology, CSI but they didn’t have an organized skilled trades program, so we raised the money to provide the funding to establish a skilled trades curriculum there.”

Their goal was to raise $900,000 to cover the first three years, but after getting started they realized they were going to need a little more for classroom build outs and other costs. They ended up raising $1.6 million and the school now has plumbing, HVAC, drywall, flooring, welding, framing, roofing and more. “We are in the process of switching over the curriculum to NCCER, which is a more of a widely utilized curriculum by both unions and non-unions,” said Brandon. “Year one will be core classes and the second and third year is where they specialize in a trade.”

Brandon said that after they raised the money to get the program in place, he was frustrated that so many people had no idea that the program existed and wanted to get the word out. They invited Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame to visit and speak about not only the need for skilled trades but to talk about what he saw at Central Academy and other Iowa programs. They organized a fundraising event that brought more than 1,600 people together and raised enough money for the group to continue their momentum. They put the nearly $90,000 that the event raised into scholarship funds to help cover costs for smaller programs such as the Professional Women in Building’s summer day camps for kids.

Their next initiative is called “Build my Future.” These are hands-on construction career days that are being held in four cities across the state of Iowa. The goal is to reach 4,500 youth and adults in Sioux City, Des Moines, Cedar Rapid/Iowa City and Quad Cities. “It’s a career fair but it’s hands on,” explained Brandon. “We’ve got roofing, plumbing, carpentry, welding, heavy equipment and we also have AR and VR. We want people to understand there is a tech component to it as well.”

The kids come from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the day and then from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. the event features an adult job fair. “We partner with other groups including the FFA, Scouts, SkillsUSA and other groups to try to bring the kids through the doors. Our goal is to expand next year into two or three additional locations.”

“Like everything we do at Iowa Skilled Trades, this event is not just builder specific,” Brandon said. “We have collaborated with union shops, commercial and residential associations, department of education, workforce development programs and others to make sure we are representing everything this industry has to offer. We like to make sure we are making a big lasting impact on the students with our events and from there let the student decide which path best suits them.”

They’ve also gotten very involved in supporting Professional Women in Building, partnering with them to host educational events, an award-winning girls’ construction camp and to develop tool kits for schools – including visits to the schools by members.

Iowa Skilled Trades began in 2017 under the HBAI educational corporation and their goal is to establish themselves as a separate entity so they can expand their reach beyond the community of HBA members. In just two years’ time they have seen tremendous interest and success.

Learn more about them at www.iowaskilledtrades.com.

Source: RoofersCoffeeShop

Study suggests autonomous robots working together are the industry’s next big thing

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By Karen L. Edwards.

Collective robotic construction (CRC) specifically concerns embodied, autonomous, multirobot systems that modify a shared environment according to high-level, user-specified goals.

A Science Robotics study published this March states that ‘the increasing need for safe, inexpensive, and sustainable construction, combined with novel technological enablers, has made large-scale construction by robot teams an active research area.’

The study notes that 54% of the human population currently live in cities and that number is expected to grow to 66% by 2050. The researchers feel that collective robotics can help meet the construction demand in the midst of an ongoing labor shortage. CRC could also make construction safer for workers, with the Department of Labor citing that 20% of all worker injuries occur in construction.

The researchers were inspired by the extensive use of collective construction in nature for building nests, protection barriers, traps and mobility scaffolds. Where animal construction relies on reactive behaviors and ‘low-bandwidth communication,’ robots can rely on high-resolution sensors, high-speed communication and GPS to communicate their exact location for completing specific tasks.

Construction materials used in CRC are divided into two categories – discrete and continuous. Discrete materials would be square, rectangular or homogenous bricks, struts and sandbags. Continuous materials would be things like two-component foam, concrete and fibers.

The study says that “challenges pertain to CRC hardware, especially in relation to coordination, communication, and multimodal sensing.” The robots need to be able to adequately communicate and coordinate with nearby robots for success. “As more advanced sensors such as radar, depth cameras, laser imaging and ranging systems, and GPS become cheaper and more readily accessible, they may play a bigger role in the field. ”

The researchers reference two published systems, UAVs and climbing robots,  that can be used to develop a metric that measures constructed volume relative to time, the number of robots used and the volumetric size of each robot. “A flying robot [UAV] has higher energy expenditure and lower payload than a climbing robot but may fly directly between material cache and deposition sites. Reversely, climbing robots can carry more but have to traverse through previous construction.”

The study is the first step in really determining how robotics can make an impact in construction. Further study is needed to develop performance metrics, evaluate the reliability of CRC and it’s ability to adapt to changes in movement, or expected behaviors of the other robots. There also needs to be more research in order to determine where humans fit into the CRC picture to oversee work, make adjustments and corrections when there is an error and in the support and maintenance of the robots.

Read the full study here. 

From leads to estimates to project management, this roofing company has a tech solution every step of the way

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By RoofersCoffeeShop®

RCS Influencer Drew Smith says that technology is used every day and on every job from start to finish at Brad Smith Roofing. At Brad Smith Roofing, we have found success using several different programs that all work together to help us run the business. Those programs are:

  • JobNimbus
  • EagleView
  • CompanyCam
  • Clock Shark
  • QuickBooks
  • GPS TrackIt

We researched and worked with several different CRM programs in the past, but JobNimbus has proven to be the most compatible with its operation. The JobNimbus program is open on every computer and the app open on every company iPhone all day operating its client’s complete account information and sales calendar.

JobNimbus also has the ability to formulate estimates, send, receive and track all lines of communication with the client throughout their customer history whether it originates in the office or out in the field. We are able to open all saved contracts, documents, emails, invoices, and estimates wherever we are. It is a cloud-based system, so internet service and a device is all we need to access the vital information necessary quickly.

When I have JobNimbus open working on a proposal for a client, I simultaneously have EagleView and CompanyCam open in order to connect all the dots. EagleView gives us the satellite blueprint with which to estimate a project while CompanyCam quickly opens the field photos gathered during the initial inspection. The field photos saved on CompanyCam allow verification that the findings and notes match the EagleView report before putting the final touches on an estimate.

CompanyCam also allows multiple people from the office staff, to the foreman on site or the project manager to see the same photo in real time, despite being in separate places to quickly communicate with each other and make important decisions. CompanyCam has revolutionized our operations at Brad Smith Roofing and reduced important time downloading photos and has eliminated the need to print project photos because they are so easily accessible from anywhere, anytime, with a date and photographer (user) stamped notation.

We can visually identify the problem areas in the photos using text and shapes superimposed over the photo in the edit feature of the app and it makes for a very professional and visually informative presentation for the customer, as well as, simple processing for the crew members when setting out to perform the work. Every department of our business relies on the project documenting capability of this application to fulfill tasks. Newly added features to this app also include the ability to read the actual slope degree of the roofline and accurately measure the roof, line by line. These features are just another way to make the diligence of the estimator that much more efficient and accurate.

Clock Shark has done very well for us integrating with QuickBooks and allowing quick tracking and documenting of individual crew member labor time, travel time and location. Each crew member can clock in and out of projects throughout every day with the user-friendly app on their mobile device. The time that the Brad Smith Roofing team spends verifying payroll has dramatically decreased since implementing Clock Shark. We are also able to take the information that Clock Shark provides in real time and then use it to cross check with GPS TrackIt that is installed on each service vehicle to ensure there is accurate documentation to report back to a customer or insurance company for labor time verification and invoicing.

QuickBooks organizes all purchase orders, vendor invoices and everything financial and makes it easily viewed at the click of a mouse. Job costing should not be considered complete without the use of Clock Shark, GPS TrackIt and QuickBooks.

Drew smith is Vice President at Brad Smith Roofing.  Learn more about him here.

Source: RoofersCoffeeShop.

Why focusing on technology will help increase construction productivity

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By Trent Cotney, RT3 Board Member.

The productivity problem in the construction industry is undeniable. Although the industry has only just begun to scratch the surface with technology, it is a key to improving how efficiently things are done. Our construction lawyers believe the construction industry can benefit significantly from the leveraging of technology as a means to increase productivity.

The industry needs a technological transformation for several reasons: the industry is plagued with overly complex and bureaucratic processes, slow document control and distribution, and a lack of access to needed information. Technology will help close the performance gap, reduce manpower in critical areas, and attract new talent to fight the labor shortage.

Close the Performance Gap
According to a recent construction survey, most construction executives believe that construction performance levels are subpar, yet, they believe technology is one of the keys to bridging the performance gap. Building smarter will increase performance. Those that participated in the survey believe that integrating project management information systems, building information modeling, and advanced data analytics will deliver the greatest return on investment.

Reduce Manpower
Although the industry is experiencing a labor shortage, introducing technology in certain areas will help workers work more efficiently in other areas. Machines such as the Tybot, for example, are capable of doing what humans can do and free up available people to work on other tasks. This is especially valuable during the construction industry’s labor shortage. The Tybot can tie rebar on bridges. It is estimated that the use of technology such as this can cut labor hours in half as well as reduce rebar-related injuries, which will also reduce your need for a Sarasota construction attorney.

Attract New Talent
On the other side of the manpower coin, is the technology’s ability to attract the next generation to the construction industry to combat the labor shortage. Progressive construction companies are those that embrace digitization and utilize new technologies like IoT-based wearables, analytics solutions, building information modeling, smart tools, and project management software. These technologies help to optimize the workforce which is an attractive incentive for millennials.

Source: Cotney Construction Law.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.

Roofing Technology Think Tank Goes to Microsoft HQ

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By Jill Bloom, RT3 Member and Publisher, Roofing Contractor.

 

The Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3) met Monday at the headquarters of Microsoft Corp. to talk tech and how roofing contractors can embrace the exciting opportunities it offers today and in the future.
The day consisted, in part, of a series of “Tech Talks” starting with Ken Kelly, president of Naples, Fla.-based Kelly Roofing, RT3 board member and winner of the Microsoft Modern Small or Medium Business category of the 2015 Visionary Award.

Kelly presented an overview of Microsoft’s Dynamics platform — how it’s changed his business by streamlining operations while growing, and has the potential to do even more. Microsoft Dynamics is a line of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software applications.

He used elevators made by Thyssenkrupp by example. Kelly said some of the elevators made by the company are equipped with technology that can run a test, create a service ticket, find a tech with the best credentials for fixing the problem and automatically schedules a service call – all without a human involved until the problem is actually being fixed.

Kelly said, “we can let our minds run wild on how we could use this technology in the roofing world.”
Kelly wasn’t the only one presenting at the RT3 meeting. Others included Scott Dwyer, business development director at Microsoft Power Objects, and Bill Kramer director of product marketing for Microsoft Business Center. They, too, addressed the potential of technology on various industries. At one point, a video demonstrated how a service technician could guide another person on how to perform a repair (in this case on a four-wheeler ATV) with both parties wearing virtual reality goggles.

The day also included a tour of Microsoft’s Internet of Things lab, where attendees of the RT3 event were able to see some of the amazing technology in the works — many aimed at addressing health and health care needs.

In the second part of the day, participants broke off into groups to develop a task list of how to promote RT3 and what members are learning about, along with ways to inform others in the industry about new technology for the industry.

RT3 was formed to act as a conduit for curating knowledge on technologies that can help contractors and the roofing industry overall. Formed in July of 2017, the group has grown from 20 founding members to more than 60 and incorporated as a 501c6 in 2018.

Source: Roofing Contractor

The ROI of Roofing Reports: How Understanding Your Data Can Impact Your Bottom Line

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By Michelle Mittelman, Acculynx.

CRM platforms have evolved into a critical tool for roofers and exterior contractors when it comes to managing and organizing the processes associated with owning and running a service-based contracting business. Expanded features have given roofers the ability to create estimates and contracts, manage production calendars, order measurements and materials, and communicate more effectively across teams.

All of this functionality yields an overwhelming amount of job data that is collected and stored within a CRM. However, most roofing CRM’s offer little to no customization of reporting features, making it difficult to garner insight, visualize and disseminate this information to their teams. As a result, in an effort to combat this lack of data accessibility, roofers often run multiple reports across several platforms in order to see the information they need.

The ability to structure, customize and analyze data within a CRM is the most important tool that a roofer can leverage to make actionable decisions, strategize future production and gain a competitive edge.

Every company is different; roofers service different markets, use different materials and offer various additional exterior trades. The data that is important to one business may not have as great an impact on another when it comes to making decisions that affect the bottom line.

The ideal format of data output and the way that information is analyzed and applied to overall business strategy is so varied, that roofers cannot always rely on static reports to see viable results.

Reporting solutions for roofers need to be flexible.

The ability to create detailed reports, as well as the ability to manipulate the way that the data is grouped, calculated, displayed and shared needs to be customizable.

For example, a company may need to create a sales report for different material lines, or even get as granular as shingles sold by color. Other companies may need to report on the ROI of shingle recycling programs, or rebate offers year over year in order to better understand their overall performance.

Roofers need to be able to see their data to understand it.

The ability for roofers to easily visualize their data is another critical function of reporting. Dashboards can help roofers quickly see and understand high level key performance indicators. The ability to customize dashboards for specific teams or set permissions allows everyone to understand and measure their own success in correlation to the company.

Data should not live in a silo.

The data compiled in your CRM is only useful if it’s being shared with the people who need to see and understand the information. The ability to automatically share detailed reports, dashboards and analytics with your project managers, team leads and sales are critical when it comes to providing transparency and aligning department goals with those of your business. When key employees have access to these reports, they are better able to make adjustments to their strategies, analyze employee performance metrics, and identify existing issues and opportunities.

Successful roofers see the value that comes from understanding business performance. The ongoing ability to monitor reports drives meaningful changes, and ultimately contributes to revenue growth.

Benefits of Digital Documents – Part 2

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On jobsites across this country, construction professionals are drowning in paperwork.

This industry requires a great deal of documentation from contracts to site plans to change orders and for many years, this documentation was put in print. Needless to say, print documentation comes with a myriad of issues. Documentation gets misplaced or is not available when you need it. Also, for many years, construction professionals dealt with the time and money lost by using paper documents.

One best practice that is emerging to alleviate time lost is the use of digital documentation. Digital documentation is allowing teams to collaborate better and is making documents available at any time and in any place.

In the first part of this series, we discussed a number of benefits digital documents are bringing to construction companies. The cost and time savings can’t be ignored. That’s why we have created a second part to discuss additional benefits.

The benefits of digital documentation include:

Preventing lost documents

The construction industry is a fast-moving one. Most contractors have to move frequently from jobsite to office. It’s only natural that items may get lost along the way. When they do, the outcome is costly. Rather than carrying important files everywhere, use the digital documents in the cloud to access your files from any location. Not having to search through paper files for important information can save you a great deal of time.

Continuous updates and collaboration

A document that’s printed out can only be changed if the file is adjusted and the document is printed out again. Digital documents can change as information or data is gathered. It can also be changed by multiple parties. Documents can exist among contractors, subcontractors, and architects to ensure that there’s always a clear picture of what’s happening on a jobsite. It also helps avoid the disputes that require the help of a Lakeland construction lawyer.

It’s good for the environment

It’s important to remember the impact printing has on our environment. Using digital documentation allows your company to consume less paper, toner, and ink, which can also save you money.

This blog first appeared on Cotney Construction Law’s website and can be viewed here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.

Benefits of a Digital Document Control System – Part 1

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For an industry that is as physical as the construction industry, there is a ton of paperwork.

Historically, paperwork has been a part of doing business. Whether it’s a contract, design plans, change orders, or bank draws, it’s not official unless it’s in writing. This can create a myriad of issues. Items get lost. It takes a long time to correct documents. Collaboration is cumbersome. To generate the efficiency needed to keep projects moving, new solutions were needed.

Document control systems are not a new concept; however, digitizing documents and the system as a whole is relatively new. Much of the paper world is going digital and paperwork-heavy industries such as construction are being transformed. Contracts, financial documents, daily reports, and a host of other work-related documents are going digital.

If you are still on a paper system, consider the following benefits of going to a digital document control system:

Speed up approval by speeding up access

Digital document control systems allow for collaboration on design documents, project plans, and contracts, among other items. Since the documents can be accessed in real time, discussion and changes can happen at a much faster pace. Also, you are now able to see who accessed documents at any given time, which holds members of a group accountable for any changes. This can come in handy if a dispute arises and you need the help of a construction lawyer.

Reduce storage space

Let’s face it, paperwork takes up a lot of space. As a company grows, this paper has to go somewhere. It’s not uncommon for companies to rent storage facilities to maintain archival paperwork. However, years of information can be housed digitally at a fraction of the cost. All of this information can be accessed using keywords, which makes the search for documents faster as well.

Save money on printing

In tandem with reducing storage space, a digital document control system can save money on printing. Contracts are extensive and require a great deal of printing. Project plans are also long. When you are printing these and other documents over and over, the price begins to add up. Digital documents completely eliminate this cost. Also, it’s easier to employ a system for organizing documents because they exist on cloud or hard drive storage and can be accessed via the device of your choice.

This blog first appeared on Cotney Construction Law’s website and can be viewed here.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.