Process Improvement and Cycle Times

When contractors grow inefficient processes usually get substantially more inefficient dramatically changing the Return on Investment (ROI) model.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

Saving 5 minutes per cycle for something done 100 times per month is only worth $6,000 over a couple years. At 1,000 cycles per month it’s worth investing up to $60,000 to make the process more efficient.  

Management Tools: Graph representing Saving Seconds Adds Up with Increased Cycle Times.

Where are your opportunities?

Too many times as contractors scale they look primarily at the technology tools and get poor results. One factor often underestimated is the investment in rolling out the new standards versus just the cost of the technology

Corbins Electric and NOX Innovations are really good at is looking at the whole workflow, talent, culture and technology. They give a great example of this with their purchasing process improvement.  

Everything stated here seems easy enough but is VERY difficult to execute consistently.  The team at Corbins has done an amazing job balancing high-level strategic direction, culture and process streamlining.  They are also great about sharing with their peers in the industry.




6 Progressive Levels of Standards Development
Standards progress through six basic levels as a contractor grows based on impact, frequency, and quantity of different people doing them. Optimum outcomes including scalability are based on choosing the right level - higher is not always better.
Capital Constraints to Growth (The Basic Formula)
Capital is one of the three primary growth constraints for construction contractors. Use this simple formula to determine how much of your pre-tax net profits need to be retained in the company to support growth and to establish your safe growth limits.
Construction Benchmarks, Trends, Forecasts, and Predictions
Two of the most highly leveraged choices that leaders of contractors make are about market strategy and major resource allocations. Robust information systems about the external market are a critical part of this decision-making process.