Find Your Path to Productivity
Date Posted: July 23, 2020
Posted In: Ideas, Workforce,
From Electrical Contractor: Perhaps it is incremental. Maybe it is all in. Either way, making one’s operations more productive can equate to profit and growth. Practices such as Lean Design and Construction, Agile Methodology and Continuous Improvement are popular paths. A clear eight-point action plan that borrows elements from each might be the ticket to productive productivity.
Headquartered in Clayton, Mo., Graybar is a leading North American distributor of components, equipment and materials serving the construction industry. Its “Eight Practical Steps to Improved Productivity” are based on successful methodologies and valuable input from electrical contractors and others.
“A lot of contractors have been on a productivity journey for decades and continue to innovate over time,” said David Moeller, director of customer markets, Graybar. “But we also find many others who continue to struggle. We think these eight steps can help.”
Graybar’s steps are:
- Recognizing efficiency must improve
- Top-down buy-in
- Choosing your productivity approach
- A review of existing processes
- Redesigning processes
- Making supply chain improvements
- Introducing digitization
- Measuring productivity/ongoing improvement
These steps dovetail with the National Electrical Contractors Association’s NECA-1025 initiative, which challenges members to increase their market share 10% by 2025 through labor productivity, innovation, technology and other actions.
Practicing collaboration
If adding efficiencies, better processes and tighter run operations are goals, collaboration is essential. Once acknowledging a need to improve efficiency (No. 1), the road to success typically begins with a champion in the organization (No. 2). A champion inspires employees and fosters change that builds over time. Typically, that person is an owner or other committed executive.
“Workers such as project managers and journeymen are typically laser-focused on what they do in their specific areas,” said Quintinus Henry, director of quality and service for Graybar. “Everyone has their way of doing things, be it the front office, warehouse, staging and handling. Bigger-picture concerns need to come from further up in the organization. The leadership of the company is what drives this.”
ERMCO Inc., based in Indianapolis, serves commercial, industrial and residential markets. James Potts, senior vice president of operations, started his career with the company as a college intern. From the beginning, he saw a company committed to efficiency.
“A successful commitment to productivity does start at the top,” Potts said. “Our CEO, Greg Gossett, and others really set the tone for years, so much so that we see productivity now driven from the bottom up. For instance, crews out in the field often suggest fabrications (assemblies) that will make for a better install. We have built a culture of ‘give it a try’ if we think a tool, process or approach will allow us to do something better.”
Alan Creel, vice president of preconstruction, Miller Electric Co., has found the same.
“A culture of better, faster and more efficient has to be a mindset. I think Miller has thought this way since its inception in 1928. I did some field work for Miller in high school and joined the firm right out of college. I have seen productivity practiced on a continuous basis and built through a sharing of ideas at every level of the organization.
“Safety is one example of bottom-up productivity. Installer suggestions have often led to better practices and a strong safety culture. Their feedback has given us a lot of gold in many areas,” he said.
Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Miller Electric serves multiple markets from institutional and civil to healthcare and manufacturing.
Deciding on productivity processes is the next step (No. 3) in Graybar’s plan. While Miller Electric is a member of the Lean Institute, Creel said his company views productivity as a philosophy more than a rigid protocol. The same is true for ERMCO. Lean-like practices might be most evident in each firm’s just-in-time approach to fabrication, manufacturing and distribution.