What and where do I start to improve? This is a common question and while we need to balance the cost and impact to identify the real bang for the buck let’s start with the basics. Here are some things to be aware of that are indicators that you can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your business. You may hear people saying this indeed you may say it yourself, well these are the places to start and you don’t need to do an organizational self-assessment to uncover them....
Blogs
1 year 26 weeks ago
By: Scott Sedam
The Lean Perspective is by no means limited to sticks and bricks issues on the construction site. When we talk Lean building we are really talking Lean operations: providing value & eliminating waste in product and process wherever it is found. Many seemingly mundane issues can have significant implications in both cost and value. A great example came up last week while having dinner with builders from several companies at the Bob Schultz “Serious Management Workshop,” a twice-annual...
1 year 26 weeks ago
By: Todd Hallett
Do you remember David Copperfield making the statue of liberty disappear? It was pretty cool, but I felt certain the green lady was not going to be gone for long. I'm a sucker for a good magic trick though. Here's a chance for you to play magician and make waste disappear for keeps.
I have witnessed, many times, builders successfully removing the foundation under the garage door area and...
1 year 26 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
A UK study of those using the ISO9001 Quality Management System in the construction industry had a number of interesting findings that provide key lessons.
The top reason for implementation was increased profits and performance and 20% have shown that they actually achieved significant improvements. The interesting thing is that 50% of the respondents didn’t monitor any data during or after implementation and so they have no performance data on the impact of quality on their...
1 year 27 weeks ago
By: Charlie Scott
To home builders, speed is a highly valued commodity. It is not unusual to hear home builders boast about fast build cycles, lightening fast product development, near real-time custom pricing quotes, etc., right? Yes, it seems we are laser focused on, and maybe even addicted to speed in developing land, designing plans, and quoting homes, but is this speed really important to the customer? That is a tough question that I can't answer, but here's a speed...
1 year 27 weeks ago
By: Todd Hallett
Have you ever looked at a detail on a plan and scratched your head wondering how that was going to work? Sometimes the details that show up on plans leave us all wondering what the architect was thinking? I have talked to countless trades that have had to deal with details that "look good on paper but do not work in the field". Why is this happening?
A few months back I was involved in a Lean Plan Workout with an excellent builder on the West coast. As I met with Joe, their incredibly...
1 year 27 weeks ago
By: Scott Sedam
Last year PB received an official complaint letter from a high level staffer at the AIA, basically saying that I was being unfair to Architects. I confessed to being guilty of describing the reality of continuing problems in the field that result from Architects taking a rather limited view of their job responsibilities.
If it’s any consolation, I’m equally unkind to Engineers, for the same reasons. During my research for the series of 3 articles I wrote for Professional Builder on...
1 year 27 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
Often the main block to creativity is actually a mental block. Thoughts or comments such as these can stop creativity in its tracks.
- Im not creative
- That is not my area
- We must be practical
- There must be a single right answer
- That is not logical
- We must follow the rules
- We must avoid ambiguity
- To err is wrong and unforgiveable
- Play is frivolous
- Don't be foolish
Creativity...
1 year 28 weeks ago
By: Denis Leonard
When was the last time you did some walk arounds in your business, asked your customer service or construction teams some basic questions, spoke to some of your customers face to face? This simple approach can really give you down to earth insights into your business, allowing you to see how it functions on a daily basis, from your customers perspective.
I have found over the years that by asking the same question to three different people in the same department results in three...
1 year 28 weeks ago
By: Jonathan Sweet
One of the most depressing/astounding/frustrating things about the current race for president has been the complete lack of attention to housing.
The candidates aren’t talking about it. Visit their websites and you’d be hard pressed to find any prominent mention of the topic of housing, mortgage finance or residential investment.
This is despite the fact that a...
