Masonry Magazine August 1997 Page. 28
The overwhelming amount of information necessary to complete a project and the need for timely information is driving the need for more effective communication tools. Solutions such as project intranets on the internet, project e-mail systems, video teleconferencing, and digital photography are only the beginning. Organizations that can effectively utilize these tools have the competitive advantage.
Technology advancements, such as utilizing the Global Positioning System for project surveying, will continue to challenge an organization's ability to keep up in technical training needs.
The collaborative project delivery project is becoming the norm in both the public and private sectors. Whether we label it partnering or high-performing teams, the need for speed and quality will demand that we approach a project as a team and not as adversaries.
Alliance-type approaches allow the contractor to be involved early in design decisions and collaborate on constructability issues continues.
Quality Programs
TQM is not dead, just as it was not truly new ten years ago. It is about an ongoing philosophy of business of doing the right thing the first time. It is about continually pushing to do things better, because if you aren't, someone else is.
Highway contractors in some areas are now performing their own QA/QC with audits, putting the trust back in contracting.
ISO 9000 continues to be explored by the construction community, and its philosophies touted for driving control and process into project delivery.
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PHONE:
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FAX:
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(please include convenient call back time and date.)
Vendor and supplier certification is helping purchasers procure with less resources, and forcing more attention to quality programs.
Safety
The industry focus on providing a safe work environment continues to intensify.
More owners are requiring a safe work history as a selection criteria in awarding work.
Many industry firms have reached a plateau after several years of continuous safety improvements.
While significant improvement in safety procedures and conditions have been realized, unsafe behavior results in 85% of all job-site accidents.
Some firms are implementing behavior-based safety processes to move closer, and in many cases, attain the zero injury goal.
The zero injury goal is being adopted by more firms as the cost of accidents continues to escalate.
Workmans' compensation rates have doubled over the past ten years.
While construction accounts for 10% of the GDP and 5% of the work force: we experience 20% of all traumatic occupational fatalities and 12% of all disabling injuries.
Some companies are reaching the zero injury plateau through employee involvement, increased awareness, and a focus on safe behaviors.
Field Productivity Improvement
Formalized field productivity improvement efforts will become commonplace for labor-intensive contractors. Like safety, continuous improvement efforts will focus heavily on the operations side of the business, where 85%-95% of the dollars are spent.