Team -

Innovation and continuous improvement are core to our company. These principles have propelled our organization to where we are today and will fuel our continued growth. In pursuit of innovation, I have been tasked with increasing the implementation of prefabrication and modularization throughout our company. For those new to the concept, prefabrication is building components and modules in a manufacturing facility offsite, and then transporting these subassemblies to a jobsite for use.

While often this concept may feel more “pie in the sky” for many, the benefits and impact of prefabrication are real. This approach makes our jobs safer, helps mitigate onsite labor shortages, provides cost surety for clients, speeds up assembly, and assures a high-quality end product.

Think of it this way – you need a new dishwasher in your home, and you could either buy all the parts to build your own or purchase a dishwasher ready for installation. If you took the DIY approach, imagine the number of parts you would order, receive, and organize in your kitchen; imagine the amount of packaging you would have to dispose of; imagine the disruption to your home. On top of that, you would have to spend the time to assemble the dishwasher, and then consider the quality of the end product. Instead of DIY, I would choose to buy the dishwasher complete and install it in under an hour. Yes, this is a personalized example, but analogous to the opportunity we have to change the way we build. Think of this opportunity on a much larger scale - hundreds of rooms and components for a single project.

Another advantage of this approach is that work can be performed in parallel rather than series. We can be doing structural work at the site while finish work is being performed in a factory without the risks of weather, theft, and vandalism. This not only gives us time to manage potential supply chain delays, but also results in fewer parts being sent to the site, less dunnage, and improvements to the field conditions and site disruption due to less onsite labor. Overall, prefabrication removes both time from our project sites and general conditions cost, while improving our delivery lead times.

The CATCH… utilizing prefabrication requires a shift in our mindset. We need to start asking ourselves from the beginning of every pursuit and preconstruction phase how we can involve either prefabrication or modularization in our projects. Can we buy prefabricated components, like elevators? Can we fabricate our own kitchens, baths, mechanical closets, walls…? Early involvement and integration is critical to the success of this delivery model.

I look forward to embracing this mindset together to grow our business and further position ourselves as innovators and leaders in our industry.

Teddy Appelgate: Field Engineer, Commercial – Healdsburg, CA

Nicholas Johnson: Project Engineer I, Industrial – Des Moines, IA

Riley Leaders: Project Coordinator, Industrial – Des Moines, IA

Olivia Michael: Marketing Coordinator, Commercial – Des Moines, IA

Lane Lucas: Legal/ Claims Administrator, Shared Services – Des Moines, IA

Rene Fernandez: Project Superintendent II, Commercial – West Palm Beach, FL

W. Blake Mosher: Project Engineer II, Industrial – Davenport, IA

Michael Hartman: Field Superintendent, Commercial – Phoenix, AZ

Ryan Shaw: Senior Project Manager, Commercial – Denver, CO

Michael Cooper: Project Superintendent I, Mission Critical – Leesburg, VA

Elliott Ryan: Project Engineer I, Commercial – Denver, CO

Jacob Thorpe-Swihart: Project Engineer I, Industrial – Des Moines, IA

I. Wes Sullivan: Project Superintendent II, Industrial – Des Moines, IA

Magdy Abdelmalak: Senior Preconstruction Manager, Industrial – Des Moines, IA 

Rian Fugier: Project Superintendent I, Commercial – Denver, CO

Louise Leongson: Project Engineer II, Mission Critical – Leesburg, VA

Stay up-to-date on changes like these - from who moved in to who moved on - by visiting the recent personnel changes page on SharePoint.