THE CHASE

• Read about how MCA, Inc. worked with the Northern New Jersey chapter of NECA to determine their market share.

• Read about how MCA, Inc. is joining ELECTRI International council at the Founder Level, in their latest newsletter.

• While electrical companies wait for the housing market to make a full comeback, many owners are diversifying their businesses to incorporate other related services. Though diversification potentially can lead to more streams of revenue, owners must be wary of spreading their businesses too thin.

• ASTM International's new E2691 standard shows promise for helping to boost, significantly, productivity in the construction industry.

• Large Contractors are putting a new standard for productivity measurement to the test in the hope of producing better process controls. The new standard, which was adopted last fall as ASTM E2691, focuses on methods for continously measuring productivity losses to allow for corrective actions during a project.

• Understanding prefabrication and its effect on job pricing and profits for electrical estimating.

• Highlights of the convention "Gateway to Innovation" held by IEC.

• Customer positioning and control (CPAC) method helps electrical contractors examine the quality of production by identifying the demands placed on an organization’s resources relative to the value produced.

• Agile Contruction™ is profitable construction. A construction jobsite is a very fluid work environment, in a state of constant change, both planned and unplanned.

• In his groundbreaking new book, Dr. Daneshgari applies proven managerial techniques from other industries to electrical construction through the introduction of Agile construction - a new scientifically-based tracking system based on jobsite dynamics and the bottom-line impact of the three sources of cost drivers: money, materials, and manpower.

• Advancing the Competitiveness and Efficiency of the U.S. Construction Industry identifies five interrelated activities that could significantly improve the quality, timeliness, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of construction projects.

• A book by Dr. Perry Daneshgari and Michelle Wilson, published by the Nation Association of Wholsesalers (NAW), about lean warehousing and distribution principles. >

• Wholesale-distributors are searching far and wide for ways to cut costs without cutting people. Here is a look at how some distributors have approached the process.

• Recently, Lean Construction has been celebrated as the new fad among construction-management gurus. In reality, it is not the leanness of the construction that matters but rather its agility and responsiveness to change.

• Most of the attention in the office product industry is focused on the sales, marketing and margins. This is rightfully so, as sales and market share are the essential nutrition needed for the survival of the company. Profitability, however, is not just driven by top margins. Operational expenses drive the bottom-line.

• Most of the attention in the office product industry is focused on the sales, marketing and margins. This is rightfully so, as sales and market share are the essential nutrition needed for the survival of the company. Profitability, however, is not just driven by top margins. Operational expenses drive the bottom-line.

• Survey explores how electrical ditributors impact contractor profitability.

• Long associated with manufacturing, lean business strategies can help industrial distributors improve operations by reducing errors and eliminating waste .

• The only way a distributor can increase its profitability without requiring its customers to support higher prices is to reduce its internal operational costs. But what many distributors don't realize is that they can actually increase their capacity to service their customers by reducing waste and becoming more lean.

• Why would the best workers spend so much time moving and handling material? Because the correct material (in the correct quantity) is not where they need it, when they need it. Sure, it may be easy to blame the labor for being unproductive; however, the labor is simply doing the job to the best of their ability with what they have been given. The solution to material handling problems lies with management — procurement management and logistics management.

• Accuracy of estimation in construction can be viewed from two different angles - one from an accounting or “exactness accuracy” standpoint and the other from a “job performance-based accuracy” perspective. While exactness accuracy is basically just a matter of taking the time to review the drawings and come up with a correct count of material, job performance-based accuracy is an area where an estimator's skills can shine.

• The million-dollar question from contractors is "How do I get the guys to be more productive?" The fact is no one - not unions, the contractors, or colleges and universities - teaches the labor anything about system productivity. This article highlights a sample of questions that can be used to evaluate the production skils of technicians.

• The dilemma contractors face in income, cash flow, billings and expenditures requires a constant balancing act. Unfortunately, neither the accounting nor the estimation data can help create a visible and responsive process to see these.

• You may not like looking into the future beyond jobs you already have secured, but someone has to do the planning for your business. A strategic plan will help you achieve your goals and prepare you for industry changes

• With the current and continuing expansion of commercial and residential construction markets, the needs of contractors are dramatically changing.

• Accounting´s contribution to operations has been repeatedly validated in many industries. However, in construction, the importance of accounting has yet to receive the recognition it deserves... even though the techniques have been part of American industry since World War II.

• Recognizing the significant differences in the key market segments noted throughout this article should be a core part of the strategic plan for any electrical contracting firm.

• Agility, not leanness, is what construction jobsite management needs. In spite of schedule changes, the plan needs to proceed.

• Market Share alone does not explain the health and wealth of any industry or organization. Profitability, productivity and market share need to be evaluated simultaneously, in order to regain market share and/or expand the overall market size.

• Agile Construction™ will allow the contractor to react to daily schedule changes and stay ahead of the curve.

• Lower overhead. Increased flexibility. Higher margins. More satisfied customers. These are the promises of Agile Construction™

• An investigation of factors impacting the growth or decline of Union market share in large cities.

• Making accurate predictions requires a new model based on project planning and productivity measurement, instead of the traditional accounting measurements of production.

• By using the Supply Chain Horizontal Integration (SCHI) model, a contractor and distributor form a close relationship to identify each other's needs. This model allows the distributors to manage the materials and distribution and contractors to focus on installation.

• Supply chain horizontal integration (SCHI): An alternative low-cost approach to supply chain management.

• Distributors can improve their bottom line by better than 30% by following the waste reduction methodology suggested in this paper. Improving the first time pass yeild, inventory turns, and customer order entry point will be the key to increased productivity.

• Horizontal Integration of the Supply Chain: An Alternative, Low-Cost Approach to Supply Chain Management.

• Customer Positiong and Control and Job Productivity Assurance and Control models provide a practical and reliable approach for General Contractors and Subcontractors to examine production quality relative to their fixed and variable costs, and to measure the value produced.

• A study to develop a format for calculating the market share of electrical contractors that is agreed upon and implementable by NECA chapters, IBEW locals, ABC Chapters, and the U.S. Government.

• Electrical Distributors can improve their bottom line by better than 30% by following the waste reduction methodology we suggest in this paper. Improving the first-time pass yield, inventory turns, and customer order entry point will be the key to increased profitability.

• A study on the ideal maximum and minimum inventory levels for increased contractor profitability.

• Through horizontal integration of the procurement chain, the project owner and each member of the procurement chain will be able to complete a construction project at lower cost for everyone.

• Industry specific research which will reveal the direction electrical distributors need to take in order to perserve and expand their position in the electrical material supply chain.

• The purpose of this project is to examine the lessons learned in other industries that have proven to increase their profitability and to determine how the lessons can be applied to electrical distribution.

• A study on the effect of general contractros and owners attempting to vertically integrate the supply chain by buying directly from manufacturers.
  You can view a presentation on this subject here.

• A study on the contributing factors of variation that will impact the profitability of the electrical contractor.
  An online presentation of this research with recorded voice-over can be found here.

• A study on the cost impact and differences between union vs. non-union contract workers.

• Learning Based Product Develop and Planning.

• A new approach to Vehicle Development relying heavily on zero based learning, risk prioritization and sequencing, mathematical models and problem solving, rapid learning cycles and rapid engineering prototyping.

• A study to identify a profitable strategy for electrical contractors that creates win-win relationships within the electrical industry. 2002

• Wireless will not only expand the electrical contracting market, but create new markets, such as smart buildings, smart factories, control units (fire alarm systems, control panels) and on-site material orderding and tracking.

• A study to investigate the productivity improvements principles used in various industries and to suggest models that can be implemented for use in the electrical construction industry.

• A case study about product development redesigning in a major automobile manufacturer.