Construction Brothers

This week we sit down with TestFit CEO, Clifton Harness and discuss the topic of generative design. TestFit designs building diagrams in milliseconds--so architects and developers can process deals more quickly. During our conversation, we dive into what automation in construction will look like in the future and how TestFit can be used today. 
Related Links TestFit WebsiteTestFit LinkedIn PageClifton's LinkedIn
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Discipline or regret. It’s one or the other.    Tyler shares his morning routine and the challenges of consistency, and we discuss how much harder it is to start a new routine than to maintain an existing one.   Life, especially family life, doesn’t lend itself to consistency.   Discipline is uncomfortable for a time, but regret can last a long, long time.   Discipline=freedom.    By the way, if you’re wondering who Blippi and Meekah are (from Tyler’s morning Dad routine), you can check them out here. Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before we go any further, here are three movie scenes that we refer to in today’s discussion. If you haven’t seen these in a while, you might want to refresh your memory:

• Billy Madison milk scene
• Cousin Eddie and his RV
• Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker

  Some hail Trevor Owen as the BIM Guru. Some call him BIM Boy. Whatever term you use, Trevor knows BIM. Specifically, he’s the BIM specialist for Hilti. Today we hear Trevor’s thoughts about the influence of building-information modeling on the construction industry.    We start out with some light Christmas-related banter and an introduction to our guest star, Ralph, Jr. Check out the Youtube version of this episode to see Ralph.   Trevor shares how Hilti aims to cut across business units in order to look at each business’s entire workflow. They want to be a productivity partner and solutions provider. We discuss the need for this increased form of efficiency and consolidation because “you can’t throw people at problems anymore. You can’t find the people.”   Hilti’s BIM efforts are focused on model maturity: “If we’re going to leave it in the building, it should be in the model because we have to buy it.” They want to envision and plan the entire process, from prefab all the way to delivery.   Trevor explains that the goal is not just to include more detail but to include more attributes and then process estimates from that.    As a construction guy, Eddie raises some concerns he has with certain aspects of BIM, and we explore those.    Trevor calls upon Billy Madison to explain that when it comes to means and methods, there’s sometimes a dynamic that asks “Who owns it?” He says we need to move from “What’s in it for me?” to “What’s in it for us?”    Eddie speaks up to express his desire for greater automation in the BIM process and points out that BIM is increasingly functioning as the database that we use with automated construction processes.    We discuss the challenges of finding the right people to fill design positions and then to train and retain them. Trevor says “constructability knowledge” is an important skill. Hilti offers a BIM Masterclass that involves 15 weeks of training, culminating in a closing week in The Netherlands.   Eddie and Tyler compare Hilti’s training timeline to Tyler’s as a detailer. Eddie says it was seven years before he was able to declare Tyler “mature” as a detailer (not necessarily mature as a person.)   Trevor’s Megaphone Message: The construction industry has never been as fun as it is now. Construction is fun and has a lasting effect on our children’s lives and their children’s lives. 

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We use Bluebeam all day every day at ABSI. Today, We talk about some of our favorite features.

Favorite #1 - Tool Chest: On the left side of your screen, you look at the tool chest. Click on that icon and open it up. Inside, you’ll find tool sets.

Favorite #2 - My Tools: If there’s a command you use frequently, you can put that command in my tools. It will be assigned a number and become readily available.

Favorite #3 - Custom-built tool set: You can compile your own collection of tools that you use frequently. These custom sets can then be exported as a .btx file that you can share with other members of your team.

We’re all about sharing tools, so if you’re interested in having our collection of favorite Blubeam tools, email us at [email protected].

Did we go too fast for you? Well here’s the Bluebeam webinar that Eddie mentioned.

For a free trial of Bluebeam, check out this link.

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Today we welcome Fouad Khalil to the show. Fouad calls himself a reformed architect. About three years ago he eased into offsite construction and founded Modly, a modular construction consultancy that provides the building and real estate sector with market research, feasibility analysis and advisory services. His focus is on helping owners and construction companies integrate manufacturing processes in the construction process.

Tyler asks Fouad to unpack the category of industrialized construction programs (IC). He explains that it has to do with looking at the increased rates of productivity in manufacturing and bringing some lessons from that world into the world of construction.

Efficiency and productivity within construction has remained largely stagnant during the last several decades, while those things have improved dramatically within manufacturing. This means that Fouad pursues improvements in quality, speed, and budget. Manufacturing programs are one way to handle that. He looks for areas where implementation of standards and repetition can gain the most traction.

Tyler asks Fouad to talk us through the series of questions that he asks in order to determine which projects are good candidates for industrialized construction. Here’s what he shares:

Volume: Is the juice worth the squeeze? Does it represent enough potential return to justify the effort? Fouad says that IC works best for serial builders–those who are aiming for consistency across a large number of projects. He gives examples including hospitals, data centers, and fast-food restaurants.

Pipeline: Do I have enough of it spread over time? Will the pace of work be steady enough? If I’m going to do it only once and then not do it again for another six months, that pipeline isn’t robust enough to consider. Some owners want to have several dozen units produced as modules, but they want them all done at the very same time. This is unrealistic.

Repeatability: Is every part of this project unique, or are there enough repeatable elements that my workers’ hands will be able to master routines? The construction world is used to sprints–going all out from start to finish. Fouad explains that factories take more of a long-distance running mindset, often aiming to run steadily at 80% efficiency. With a manufacturing mindset, the profitability horizon might be quite distant. You might need to make 150 modular bathrooms before you’ll turn a profit.

Design: How can we ensure that design and production maintain an active feedback loop so that iterative cycles can be continuously active? Fouad describes the routine of morning and afternoon meetings that his team did with Walmart on their health centers. Sometimes you change the design to make it more buildable. Sometimes you need to redesign the production floor to fit the design.

Optimization: At the production level, how can I improve margins on man-hours and other elements of cost. The goal is for unit costs to drop through a continuous flow of improvements in engineering and production. Projects that appear impossible in the early stages become lean and profitable because of a consistent focus on optimization.

Eddie presents the idea of “demonstrable economy” and discusses an example of how optimizing and productizing applies in his world, and we explore the importance of defining the use of the term “optimized” within a team. If you have various silos optimizing in isolation, the overall outcome may be far from optimum.

Fouad describes the IC process as the space program we need in construction. Through the application of these techniques, we’ll be able to see improvements across the industry. Surprise, surprise, Tyler brings us back to Formula 1 racing. We discuss the iterative process and the feedback loop between the race teams and the consumer world as it plays out in that world.

Fouad’s Megaphone Message: Owners, explore the benefits of setting up a recurring IC program. Talk to your VP of construction and see if the commitment might exist to move forward with this approach. It requires everyone to pull together and work really hard, but the rewards are worth it when the situation is right.

Find Fouad Online: LinkedIN

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Today Eddie is sharing more wisdom from the book Never Split the Difference.

When you’re in a confrontational situation and you don’t regulate your anger, your body begins to release stress hormones that will reduce your brain’s ability to process information effectively. You’ll be less able to empathize, less able to assess the situation.

Tyler points out that repeated, continual inability to control anger might be a sign that you’re experiencing anxiety that should possibly address with a professional.

When you lose your cool, you lose control. It’s just useless. 

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Software design as a trade
If you’re in need of custom software, James Cosman is your man. James started out as a software developer and went on to found VeilSun software. Much of the work that James and his crew do involves QuickBase, so Bob Salaj from QuickBase is also in the studio.

Tyler points out that custom software for specific construction companies is still a pretty new thing whose potential has yet to be explored.

Bob explains that he got tired of seeing money fly out the window due to the gaps and the overlaps between various specialized software packages. That’s what drove him to QuickBase.

James says he sees software design as an additional trade within the construction landscape. The people who are customizing software are crucial to the efficient completion of a job. They’re building information infrastructure.

Addressing Disconnect 
James counted 35 different use cases for their software, but one his favorites are the ones that eliminate the need for liaisons that should be unnecessary. There are too many people out there whose entire job is to update P6.

Tyler points out that we seem to be at a point in construction-industry history that is particularly ripe for automation of job tracking and schedule-related communication. Bob discusses how project managers tend to default to Excel when they encounter complications. He and James want to help those people do things more effectively.

Eddie shares a real-life scenario presented to him by a GC friend just last week. He asks Bob and James to share what systems they would put in place in order to address this friend’s problem. James puts on his Matrix glasses and says he’d find the gaps. Then he’d use QuickBase and other solutions to fill those gaps.

Bob discusses the value-add that a contractor can bring to a project when they deliberately address systems in a proactive way.

Connective tissue
Tyler discusses the need for dot-connectors and process-mapping–people who can use data to inform relevant parties seamlessly about the status of project elements. 

Eddie discusses serial builders who work on one project after another that are similar, such as schools. The repetitive nature of this situation may make their projects good candidates for optimizing systems.

The discussion shifts to the differences between small projects and large projects.

James acknowledges that yes, AI is part of the future of technology in construction, but he thinks the real growth in the coming years will be related to connectivity of data. Tyler shares about the time that was spent at a recent shoot hunting for a specific physical clipboard containing safety standards that could have been digitized and readily available to anyone with a QR code.

Bob lays out the benefits of the low-code/no-code customization available in today’s software and how it frees people from the need to operate within off-the-shelf software’s constraints. James points out that packages can be built to operate as stand-alone apps or to receive and properly process data sent as texts or email.

Training
Bob raises the issue of training and how effective onboarding would include encouraging newbies to seek opportunities to customize their systems.

Tyler asks James and Bob to share some other success stories, and James shares a few. He talks about systems adjustments that resulted in an increased culture of safety awareness and accountability. Then the conversation shifts to one-off solutions compared to cluster apps that are reusable in similar projects.

Bob shares about workforce management software that streamlines the scheduling of crew members with the skills and availability for specific jobs. We discuss master dashboards that allow big-picture

Data for the people
James shares the excitement that he experiences when he sees these systems working the way they should–and then when leaders also see that and use it as fuel to improve the systems even further.

Bob talks about spreadsheets full of KPIs that can be made substantially more useful when the data is integrated into user-friendly dashboards.

Megaphone Message
Bob would like to tell everyone not to settle for the status quo. Respect the people who’ve been doing the job. Respect the input from all generations and then embrace the change we’re about to see. James adds the suggestion that people be curious, ask questions, and get excited.

Quickbase - www.quickbase.com

Quickbase Construction Solutions - https://www.quickbase.com/solutions/construction-management-software

Veilsun - www.veilsun.com/

Find Bob on LinkedIn

Find James on LinkedIn 



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Tyler feels important today. He’s been contacted by Hilti to help host a season of their podcast, In This Case. This means that he’ll be hanging out with friends of CBP without Eddie.

Episodes in this season of Hilti’s podcast will include friends of our show and a few new faces. The conversations will explore innovation and a variety of industry topics.

Cue it up and check it out... if you can tolerate just a little more Tyler.  

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This week we're revisiting our 2023 interview with Matt Aston. 

The Founding of GPRS 
Today we welcome Matt Aston. Matt is the founder of GPRS. Although that is an acronym for ground-penetrating radar systems, the company does much more than that these days. Matt started his company in 2001, and now they employ almost 800 people in 54 cities.

We discuss the ground-penetrating radar equipment. Matt walks us through some basics about how this equipment uses magnetic variations to help users create a map of the underground infrastructure. When he was starting GPRS, most of his work involved taking readings in concrete–sensing rebar, anchors, etc. As time passed, they shifted toward working with utility contractors before excavations.

Matt shares about his dad’s drilling and cutting business in Toledo and how a softball injury forced him to restructure his business. This led to substantial growth that led to a business he might have been interested in taking over.

Building a Business on Young Technology, Equipment Overview 
Matt tells us about an early experience with the stress of the ground-penetrating radar business. On his way to the equipment-training session he was a little scared. On the way home, he was really scared.

Eddie asks Matt to talk through ground-penetrating radar tools. He talks through the tools and the process that has enabled his team to reach a 99.87% accuracy record. It involves baby-buggy-like carts and converting screen data to the paint on the ground. A few GPR antennas, a couple for underground and one specifically for concrete. Then there are a few specialized tools, including the handheld wands and sewer cameras. The sewer cameras, along with a few other tools, enable the company to now provide leak-detection services.

Training Programs
Matt shares about his company’s training programs. Matt explains that they now have 3 full-time trainers. These veteran project managers conduct their training in a facility with a custom-built floor full of all kinds of wire, pipes, and conduit. They also have a simulated gas station complete with tanks.

Tyler asks Matt to share about his company’s Trump Tower project in Chicago. This involved a demo and then some code upgrades. This required extensive time-consuming retrofits. He recounts a couple other incredibly ambitious projects.

We discuss the increasing sensitivity and precision of the equipment involved. Matt shares about a time when he had to break some unfortunate news with the owners of a scientific facility where the concrete hadn’t been poured to the proper thickness. 

Unusual Projects and Big-City Projects
Tyler asks Matt to share about some of the unorthodox jobs they’ve been called to do. Matt shares a story about a mysterious old site where the client was looking for a large metal container. GPRS has even located a few murder victims. He’s not confirming that one of them was Jimmy Hoffa, but he’s not denying it either.

Matt tells a few examples of the interesting variety of locations that this work takes his teams. He gives an example of one crew working in DC who was taken by the National Park Service to scan the lawn at the White House.

Entrepreneurship 
Tyler asks Matt to talk about growing his business. Matt shares about early hires and the challenges of ensuring that the income exceeds the outflow. He discusses decisions that were especially influential, and he shares his thoughts about the role of the companies’ CEOs in both successes and failures. As your company grows, Matt says, your potential also grows.   

Matt recounts the stages of growth and the points at which you sense shifts in your perception of the business and your role in it. He set some ambitious goals and has found that they’re achievable. He mentions the role that Toledo’s size played in setting his company on a path for growth.

Eddie and Matt compare notes on business-growth rewards and challenges. Matt shares about an unsettling conversation he had with a contractor who wanted to avoid knowing in advance about underground elements because he made more money when his equipment damaged them and then he needed to repair them. They agree that it’s all about “meeting the need.”

Matt’s Megaphone Message
We are capable of so, so much more than we realize. The world around us makes it really easy to be average. If you just show up and do what you said you were going to, you’re already above average. But if you push yourself, you can move into that elite category. Find your why. You can be an elite performer.

Find Matt on LinkedIn

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Tyler’s not showing much empathy for Eddie and his coffee spillage. Eddie appreciates the setup.

Today he shares some thoughts about tactical empathy. Tactical empathy is another insight Eddie harvested from the book Never Split the Difference.

When you’re trying your best to genuinely, deeply invest in your work with others, you’re practicing tactical empathy. When you make a point to listen carefully with the intent to learn, when you ask clarifying questions, you’re practicing tactical empathy.

Eddie and Tyler’s grandpa has mastered this skill.

If you do this without genuine intent, though–if you only do it mechanically, it’s not likely to improve your connection with the person. Tyler observes that this is a skill crucial to effective therapy.

If you fail to do this, consider leading with a mildly (not overly critical) self-deprecating comment the next time you initiate communication.

Listen. Really, actively listen. Ask good questions.

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