Jim Kollaer's blog

An article by Richard Heap in Correctional News last week discusses ways that the application of the LEAN process to prison construction can save time and money.  He makes his point by saying:

“Architects and construction managers that apply lean thinking to a corrections project for the first time often come away stunned.  Projects that typically require 15 months finish in 11 or 12 months and sometimes even faster.”

That saves time and money in the process.

I have been asked several times to define LEAN principles and I like Richard’s definition in the article:

“The first lean principle is to eliminate waste – not reduce waste but eliminate it [node:read-more:link]

Carrie Stallwitz of Witz!PR, one of our colleagues, passed this list of “100 words that kill your proposals” to me after a discussion about proposals and copywriting.  I thought that every firm in the industry could use this advice.  The list was compiled by Bob Lohfeld, the CEO and general manager of the Lohfeld Consulting Group Inc, and was originally published in Washington Technology.  Lohfeld Consulting Group helps companies respond to all kinds of RFPs (Request For Proposal) and technical bids.  Lohfeld says that the list is comprised of words and phrases that bore, anger and potentially negatively impact your evaluations on major projects.

They are words and phrases that you will recognize since many of us have used them our bids and pre-qual packages.  Some of us have done it for so long that they just roll onto the screen when we are in the middle of a long technical proposal.   [node:read-more:link]

Both sides of the opening line of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities can easily be applied to the construction industry of today.

It is the worst of times:  With unemployment in the country still over 8% and in construction over 13%, it can easily be tagged as the worst of times.  Not so bad as a few years ago when the unemployment in the industry was close to 20%, but still tough.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release the new employment numbers this Friday, and we at Construction Citizen predict that the numbers will remain anemic even in what should be the height of the construction season of 2012.

Now the other view.

It is the best of times:  With employment in the country close to 92% and in construction close to 87%, [node:read-more:link]

An update of the 2010 report on wage theft in the 50 states was released by the Progressive States Network is entitled Where Theft is Legal: Mapping Wage Theft Laws in the 50 States.  It was written by Tim Judson and Cristina Francisco-McGuire under the Progressive States Network with funding from the Ford Foundation and the Public Welfare Foundation.

Building on a series of previous studies that highlighted the current state of wage theft and misclassification throughout the United States, the report asserts that those studies show “states’ wage theft laws are grossly inadequate, contributing to a rising trend in workplace violations that affects millions of people throughout the country.”

The report points out that the enforcement mechanisms, even in states where there are laws, are also inadequate to the scope of the problem and that layoffs in response to economic pressures have crippled the needed enforcement. [node:read-more:link]

My audiences have heard me say many times that they are in for an interesting life.  I have told them that they will likely live to be 120 or older and that their work lives will be really interesting – not ending anywhere near the current 65 years of age.  The experts have said that my son who is in his 20s will have 5-7 careers and that will be the norm.  I have had 5 careers, so I might be a pioneer on this trail.  No question about me living to 120 at this point, but there are changes on the horizon that might possibly extend even my life.

According to Dick Pelletier at the Positive Futurist.com in his recent entry, Nanorobots: radical science in clinical trials by the 2020s; expert says, the nanorobots, (also called nanobots), are already designed and created and will likely be in clinical trials at the major healthcare institutions in the early 20s. [node:read-more:link]

We attended a graduation dinner last week that was unique in its attendees and outstanding for the folks who participated or coached in a year-long workforce development program.  The program is focused on creating the next generation of workforce for the company and for the industry.

One of our sponsors, Marek Brothers Systems, a specialty subcontractor headquartered in Houston, hosted the dinner to recognize the graduates of the Workforce Development Program (WFD) and their spouses.  Marek invited several owners, contractors, specialty subs and AGC Houston to witness the progress that these craftspeople of tomorrow have made [node:read-more:link]

I am an SOB, that is a son of a baker.  When I was a kid, the workforce in our family bakery consisted of a deaf mute, an alcoholic, my grandfather, my uncle and my dad.  Together they produced about 200 loaves of bread for the Amarillo market.

In the 1990s, I was talking with Arthur Baird, one of the family members of Mrs Baird’s bread and he showed me his bakery that was producing 8,000 loaves of bread an hour for the Houston region.  He told me that he could not hire anyone who was not computer proficient on his bakery staff since all of the production line is now run by computers.

This was an enormous change in the workforce which has rippled throughout the manufacturing sector in this country, and it is beginning to happen in the construction industry.  As we face an increased demand and the building materials become more sophisticated and “greener”, the skilled workforce to build those buildings will be more in demand and, if NCCER, AGC, ABC and the unions are correct, there will be a big shortage in the mid-level skilled workforce [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency has released two new self-assessment guides for E-Verify Direct Access Users and for E-Verify Web Services Users.  As stated in the documents, the purpose is to provide a checklist and guide for voluntary users of the system to

• Detect E-verify activities inconsistent with the E-verify Program
• Detect non-compliant activities
• Resolve internally detected non-compliant activities quickly and efficiently
• Promote proper E-verify use by their users

[node:read-more:link]

We have written about the Obama executive order requiring Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for all Government projects in the US.  Critics have labeled this as payback to the labor unions for getting out the vote for Obama in the 2008 elections.  Those construction companies who are unwilling to comply and hire the unions can’t get government jobs.

In Melbourne, the government of Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has just passed a code of conduct for the construction industry just the opposite of the Obama PLA rules. According to Nigel Hadgkiss, the head of the new Construction Code Compliance Unit, the rules are meant to limit union activities, illegal strikes and work slow downs on government projects.  He stated that the rules would create safer and more productive projects leading to more savings for the government. [node:read-more:link]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning released the June Employment figures for the US.  According to the press release, “Nonfarm payroll employment continued to edge up in June (+80,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2%.”  According to the latest data, the construction industry added an anemic 2,000 jobs in June after a loss of 35,000 jobs in May, showing improvement on a month to month basis, but still not the numbers we are looking for to indicate that the industry has regained its footing.

The new numbers indicate that unemployment in the industry is still above 13% and the numbers do not reflect much growth at all during June when construction in the country should be in high gear for the summer. [node:read-more:link]