This past week, I heard the term “lean”
quite a bit. We are putting together the features for our December issue, and both
of the features I worked on had a lot to say about “lean” strategies. For
contractors to be successful, especially in these hard economic times, they
need to find ways to keep their shops and their projects in the field running
as efficiently as possible.
There are several ways to
accomplish a lean strategy. It can mean changing your shop operations so that
fabrication projects are handled in the most efficient way possible. (Just as a
side not, efficient doesn’t always mean the fastest. Lean isn’t about just
getting something done quickly, it’s about getting it done right to reduce redundancies
and having to do a job all over again.)
Contractors are also
adopting new technologies in order to become more lean. There are field
software solutions that are cutting down on installation times and making sure
that these installations are done correctly the first time.
I’d
like to know what you are doing to stay lean. I’m sure every contractor has
their own plan. Perhaps you have a strategy that some contractors have never
even thought of. Share your success stories with us. Perhaps we’ll feature you
in the pages of Snips.
