Are you experiencing delays on the construction jobsite in areas involving electricians, plumbers, heavy equipment operators, plumbers, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, drywall installers, etc? A unique, nationally recognized project delivery system offered by the Management Assistance Partnership of Nevada (MAP) could dramatically reduce these delays, save you money and possibly avoid costly legal battles. The system is called Lean Construction. It literally shows contractors how to minimize waste, create value and streamline processes without compromising safety or quality. In some instances, contractors who have adopted Lean Construction principles have experienced savings of up to 20 percent.
In Lean Construction, your project management team learns new techniques on how to get every phase of a project done on time by controlling the construction phases. Are you bringing in inventory before you’re ready to use it? Sometimes an architect or owner makes a change that could push back the completion date. Lean Construction methods take this into account and provide a method to track these changes and make adjustments. “You usually see a flurry of activity on a jobsite, and then later on – nothing,” Barry Penzel, MAP Project Manager, said. “Why isn’t the workload balanced? There should be continued work in progress, which will not only get the project done faster but save money.” Gene Lazaroff, MAP project manager, added, “Construction contractors who learn and apply these principles excel and flourish.”
Lazaroff said companies that choose to adopt Lean Construction principles are innovative and not afraid to try new concepts. Lean Construction challenges the traditional project management delivery system and replaces it with a production-based system that practically eliminates re-work, improves productivity, enhances quality, builds teamwork, condenses schedules and eliminates the dreaded adversarial relationships between owner and builder or contractor and subcontractor.
MAP is the industrial extension program of the University and Community College System of Nevada. With offices located throughout the state, it has helped hundreds of companies improve production, reduce waste and inventory and increase profits. Besides Lean Construction, MAP’s other programs include: Lean Manufacturing, Energy Audits, Customized Training, Benchmarking, e-Business, ISO 9000 Certification, Management Assessment, Gateway Online Training, Entrepreneurial Strategies, Website Design and Hosting, Marketing and Public Relations and much more.
MAP has had notable success helping Nevada’s manufacturing companies increase productivity and achieve a healthier bottom line. Tony Ciorciari, Senior Vice President of Operations with International Game Technology (IGT), said, “Working with the MAP organization has been positive and productive. The training that MAP provided was very straightforward and practical. Our organization realized the benefits from the training almost immediately.” MAP has been successful because it focuses on the customer, using construction, manufacturing and mining experts to help solve problems and working with university and community college resources and public and private consultants in addressing clients’ needs. “The MAP staff went out of their way to integrate themselves into our organization, made a logical assessment of our needs and assisted us every step of the way to implement the best ideas in Lean Manufacturing,” says Ron Wardle, Electronics Branch Manager of Young Electric Sign Co. (YESCO) in Las Vegas.
Now, MAP is ready, willing and able to apply these same principles to help Nevada’s construction firms become “lean and mean.” MAP Director Dave Dwulit said, “It is MAP’s mission to help Nevada’s entire industrial community – including construction, manufacturing and mining – compete, grow and prosper.”