Collaboration, Planning and Technology use.

 Joiners March 2023

I am finishing this column, feeling grateful for having a roof over my head, power and internet, despite being in the middle of the weather event in February 2023.  Many people are suffering as a result, yet we are reminded how New Zealanders rally together and help each other in times of need.

As businesses, joiners, fabricators and building industry participant’s I believe we can collaborate more effectively daily, not just when there is a crisis or for industry events.

I do see examples of this, when businesses share parts of a project or outsource work to others when they know they don’t have the capacity or the resources to achieve the desired result themselves.  These examples usually exist as a re-action to a situation, but I believe it can be part of our everyday pro-active decision making.

One of the biggest challenges facing the industry today is the lack of clear timelines and milestones on construction sites, as well as difficulties in managing our own schedules to match. The target dates for site measurements and installations seem to be constantly changing, making it difficult to get a clear picture of when things will be completed. However, there is a significant opportunity for the building industry to use technology to provide real-time communication to all project participants, eliminating the need for constant site visits, texts, emails, and phone calls. This excessive communication is typically carried out by the most valuable people and is not considered a “value-adding activity” according to the “lean” definition – “something that the customer is not willing to paying for”. 

Some building and joinery firms use electronic and online scheduling tools, which are reasonable; however, they still rely on humans to input information and update it in real time, and it’s hard to find examples where this information is reliable; this is a human problem, not a technological one.  The opportunity is to follow a disciplined process, being proactive with communication and pushing out the actual status in real time.  Talk to builders about their frustrations in this area, and you will soon see that we are all in this together, then improve it.

Expect to see massive advances in the use of BIM technology and A.I in the next few years to automate some of this information flow.

I am astonished at the amount of forward work in the pipeline for many Joiners. Sure, new builds may reduce, but the renovation market and in particular the high-end market still seems buoyant.  Most of you are still juggling install dates and have far less capacity than your need to meet demand.

Many of these high-end projects have diverse elements, details, and finishes, it could make sense for different joinery businesses to work on them together.  What I am proposing is that those joinery businesses who hold the relationship with the client or builder, pro-actively assess their own capability to not only “do” the work but “can they do it” as efficiently, to the same quality and in the same timeframe as another business?  Get clear on what you are good at and what you are passionate about and ask yourself this question, given to me by Ken Winter, founder of Danske Mobler Furniture “what is the best use of my time right now?”

All businesses and individuals have their strengths and weaknesses, accept this, and then identify others who may be more capable or may have capacity to deliver elements on time. We only have so many hours to sell, and some jobs have a higher “Gross Margin $ per hour” than others.  If you work out your Gross Margin $ per hour on various elements of a job, you may get some insights into how to lift your profit and to realise the best use of the time you have in your business.

In more mature markets, firms have become specialists and work together to help each other get better, recognising each other’s strengths and building on them.  I challenge the industry to move further in this direction, as it will benefit many firms.

The most valuable relationship is the relationship with the customer, how you deliver the experience and product is secondary.  If you have the relationship, deliver on time, to the quality level, you will be the one receiving the referral and be in control of your destiny.

I’d welcome some debate in the above subjects or to have some helpful conversations about how you can move forward.  Contact Details can be found below.

Ian Featherstone is a cabinetmaker, machinist, business advisor, mentor and leadership coach, and the owner of Glass Half Full. He specialises in the construction industry, particularly the joinery & cabinetry sector. For more information or to find out how you can move your team forward, please visit www.glasshalffull.co.nz