Engineer your project to a better 'you'

Yes, it's a horrible title. Sorry 'bout that...

But think about it: Multi-million, multi-billion dollar construction projects. 

How often have you been on a project where the entire process was engineered around your needs, your conditions, your value proposition?

Usually architects and GC's cringe from the term 'engineer'. Very formal, sounds too efficient. But as your dollar stretches less these days from shrinking income and credit, are you operating around a process that is custom designed to maximize your return?

Manufacturing has realized this a few years ago. Project process engineers are leaning down inefficiencies, errors, and improving overall QC. This is resulting in lessened assembly times, reduced waste, and overall higher operating profits.

But design and construction processes are slightly different. You are not designing for mass replication, where you can allow your Black Belts to slowly filter up to 99.7% efficiency. This is a one-off application, typically in which your response, design priorities, procurements, sequencing, labor rate balances, communication streams, and cash flows all merge into complex jungle that equates to your dollars at risk, er, work.

Process engineers are not traditionally involved in architecture or construction, hence a huge barrier in adoption. No schools are teaching this, the FAIA is fearful of this, and this would be a huge turf war with the GC's. 

But............................

...what if?

Own IT.

Ok, you're a major landowner. You have lots of properties. You like to develop them. 

We've all played Monopoly, WE GET IT.

Let me ask you this -  

1. Is the same architect designing each property? 
   
2. Is the same general contractor managing the project? 
   
3. Are the same builders on each project?
   

If you've answered 'No' to any of these questions,  proceed to the next question:

     4.  How do you maintain consistency from project to project and evolve your building process while not being restrained by the lowest common denominator?

Answer well.

Hints:

• Information Flow - what data are you consistently supplying your design team? How can you streamline anything that might be replicated by multiple project teams?
• Standards - what is your process for ensuring that each project maintains standards as defined by your definition of efficiency and productivity? Where can you evolve and put your design time vs. non-critical or highly repetitive units that need to be standard from building to building?
• Data Management - as the owner in a 3-party contract, you will be called on for an acceleration of decision-making as well as information supply. How can that information be made easily accessible, quickly modifiable, standardized, and easily updateable?
• Lifespan - you are developing digital data models of your facilities, how can you use this information on the back-end? Are you facilities looking to this level of information? How are your renovation teams geared?
• Reuse - what are you getting back from one project team that can be shared with the next, reducing design fees while still maintaining liability from architect to architect?
• Shared Learning - when you test something on one project, how can you get that information back from the execution and share what you learned with the next project team, allowing for design evolution across multiple firms? How are prototypes utilized?
• Management - Architects vary with their understanding of IPD and VDC. GC's vary. Your own project managers vary. How do you staff and manage your consultants, reducing the bottom of the learning curve from project to project team while still learning from the top of the curve?

Disappointingly, this is a zen-like journey for many owners, and many that do not know that they will be setting out on this. Universities, healthcare institutions, developers.  Any multiple-building owners will experience this dilemma in the coming years, and not just in the US.  Process engineering can alleviate and flush out many of these issues, and seeking out the leaders in IPD and BIM/VDC today will begin the education process and lessen your learning curve. 

Thank you for your time, I need go now and develop my hotels on Boardwalk. FTW!

IPD - Just do it.

Note to Meatheads: Using the word, "Value" doesn't necessarily make you, or make you appear, smarter.

- Hugh Macleod, February 15th, 2009

That's great, but there are times if every industry to re-evaluate and understand the value that you bring to your clients, and more importantly, the value that they actually want and need. 

Starting to hear the word, "value" a lot these days. it's now one of those "formerly useful words" like "enterprise" or "conversations" etc

- Hugh Macleod, February 15th, 2009

Unfortunately, in times of recessions and economic turmoil, everyone's value statements change. In the case of the construction industry, this is the compounding reaction to years of bloat and waste driven by a siloing of insurance risk and responsibilities.

So what's the value in architecture in this market? With declining credit and bonding, there is significantly less global capital for construction. China is post-olympic recession. Everyone is pulling out of Russia. Europe. Japan. Taiwan. And the US. The value of facilities needs to extend further, and that begins with the start of construction.

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is trying to redefine this.

Sure, commodities are dropping as a natural side effect of the decline in manufacturing and construction. But there is still room for 5, 10, 30% waste reduction and pre-coordination for a reduction of construction costs. Design-bid-build was about risk isolation, not necessarily in the best interest of the owner. We (the contracting and design community) need to lead this change as we analyze the values of our clients.

Why? Business as usual hasn't been bad. Now we're seeing fee reductions. Ridiculously high labor rates. And now manufacturing owners are realizing that they've been able to increase their efficiency in process, and that the construction industry needs to do the same - Reduction in E&O's. Prefabrication. Shortened construction schedules. Less change orders. 

What's wrong with DBB? It's served us well for 30, 40 years, hasn't it? Architects design and document it once. Then we hand it over to the GC and subcontractors, they evaluate it, propose changes, we redocument. Then we get out in the field, recoordinate and deal with additional changes in the form of RFI's, E&O's, and Change Orders (translation: $$$$$)

We can carry forward, business as usual, or we can look at Change (sorry, didn't mean to be so offensive by using the 'C' word, FAIA members). We can move out of starchitecture mode, and really try to get to the heart of bringing value to our clients. Great design, great execution, and as efficient as possible in the process. Architects and builders working together, with our clients. Savings back to the owner.

What's involved?

• Architect and General Contractor onboard day 1, together.
• Early Design Assist - Major trades (SMEP/FP/Framing/Cladding) between DD and CD's
• Let 2D die - 2D CAD is antiquated and a large part of our coordination nightmares. Buildings aren't flat,  so our drawing and coordination shouldn't be either.
• Project core team - Owner, Architect, Contractor. We all have a stake, and need to work at a team because decisions drive timelines, and we can't get there without each other.
• Plan the plan, work the plan - Pull Schedule. Process Calendar. LEAN. Critical Path Value Stream mapping. It all goes together, and, to repeat, decision-making drives design.
• Be a team - Look at everyone's strengths, and leverage them. Lose the attitudes. Work together. Romeo and Juliet figured it out, so can we (ok, that's a weird one but let's go with it...)
• Contractual language. The AIA is working on it....