Construction Brothers

Introduction
Our guest today is Noah Pritchett. Noah is a field engineer who shares a homeschool background with Tyler. He ended up getting his GED and meeting a chick at Chick Fil A. They also both had to be corralled by a dad into their work in construction. Then it just clicked. 

His first job in field-engineering world was as a helper. Then the engineer he was helping was called away to another job. The rest is construction history. All of his training took place on the job.

The Hyundai plant
Part of the reason Eddie invited Noah to the show was because Noah had a hand in the gargantuan Hyundai plant near Savannah, Georgia.

Noah shares that this particular project was just go-go-go. He was laying out something new every 15 minutes, working with contact points that were up to 4,000 feet apart. He recognized that he needed some help, and he gave his helper a tossed-in-the-deep-end experience similar to his own. 

Now everything seems small to him–except the son he had to leave at home when he left for the long stretches of work. Tyler points out that not many people understand about this travel component and how it affects workers and their families.

Eddie points out that the pay is what draws people in. Noah agrees. The pay and the per diems enable people to really rake it in.

Great Wolf Lodge
Eddie isn’t necessarily excited about everything he might see at indoor water parks, but the structures impress him. Noah shares that it was on his first Great Wolf project that he realized he was truly the responsible party for the layout of this thing.

It was on this job that Noah realized it’s not always best to use the robots. Layout out lazy-river curves sometimes requires an old-school tape. It was truly tedious–no laziness involved. Tyler asks about the reference points for this kind of project.

Tyler tees Noah up to dish on the frustrations that come with lackluster drawings. He said there are still times he feels dumb asking the questions, but when there’s a wall hanging out in the middle of nowhere, you have to ask.

Eddie recalls the first time he witnessed his dad notice that an engineer had screwed up, despite the fact that Eddie thought engineers were too smart to do that sort of thing. On every job, Tyler s

What we miss
Tyler asks Noah about the most common mess-ups, and Noah goes for the elevator. He said he checks those out right away and immediately sends the drawings back if they’re off. He recounts the communication challenges and the emphasis of pictures over words.

Eddie talks about the virtual certainty that there’ll be complications and confusion on multi-rise buildings. Throw in some operable partitions way up there? There’s going to be confusion.

The worst drawings Noah gets? Multi-family dwellings. Eddie shares his thoughts on why that’s the case. They often have surprisingly elaborate systems.

AutoCAD and finding help
Tyler asks Noah to share about his experience with AutoCAD. Noah explains that when the workflow puts design work in the hands of people earlier in the process, he sees greater quality. Eddie asks and Noah answers about integration of layout points in his models. Noah shares how integration of these elements have provided him with the opportunity to do some experimenting.

Noah shares about a job near Savannah where he was hoping to be impressive but ran quickly into screwy drawings. He thought the complications that resulted from this would lead to him getting targeted by some other members of the crew. Luckily the situation took a turn that directed blame away from him.

Many communication problems, Noah points out, can be avoided by being sure that you introduce yourself to as many people as possible. Simply meeting you gives them a level of confidence that you wouldn’t do stupid stuff.

Eddie asks Noah to share about the challenges of finding good help. It’s really hard, he says. He thinks the industry just needs to find people and train them.

Megaphone Message 
Noah directs his megaphone message to young guys: Don’t stop learning. Be curious and inquisitive.

Find Noah on LinkedIn

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening

Today Eddie once again shares his impressive vocabulary. Today’s word of the day is isopraxism. In essence, it means mirroring. When you repeat back to someone their own words or behavior, you’re engaging in isopraxism.

Eddie mentions that this kind of mirroring can increase as your sense of connection to people. It’s not about awkwardly mimicking them. It’s about falling into their patterns of speech in order to make them feel comfortable.

Eddie credits this insight to the book Never Split the Difference, a hostage-negotiation book, Don’t let that lead you to dismiss the idea. He has found the practice to be helpful in navigating his kids’ bedtimes. You’re welcome to use the strategy there too. We’re a full-service self-help podcast. 

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - 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!

Introduction
Today we revisit a conversation from last year with two members of the team at DPR Construction. We dive in today with some multi-generational hard hat chat. If you’re interested, check out the helmet conversation we mention with Dr. Bottlang.

DPR and Recruiting 
We ask Chris and Will to talk about how DPR is recruiting and training young workers. They talk us through the variations between states in regard to union training resources and the amount of on-the-job training that needs to be coordinated by construction companies.

Eddie asks Chris and Will to discuss specific trades where the gaps are the greatest. Chris moves on from to explain how DPR has needed to make the case to prospective workers about how a job in the trades can be a great fit for them.

Catching Their Attention
Tyler asks what employment factors have the biggest attention-getting factor with prospective employees. Chris explains that DPR pays 7 holidays and 2 or 3 weeks of PTO depending on the employee’s tenure. Eddie mentions that he didn’t see this sort of information as part of a path of career progression when he was working in the field. Tyler refers to this earlier episode with Lee Causey.

Chris explains that DPR is different from many construction companies in the sense that it handles a broad number of trades. This enables them to offer opportunities for workers to step from one trade to another as they get a sense of what might be a better fit. Tyler discusses the value of transferability that he’s experienced in his life.

The Big Picture
We discuss how rare it is that we show new employees the plans that enable them to understand the big picture of which they are a small part. Unfortunately, technology has made this a bit more difficult in some respects. Tyler and Eddie discuss their dad’s and grandpa’s experiences in that respect.

Mentorships and Open Arms
Chris explains how central mentorships have become to DPR’s recruiting efforts. “Who we build is as important as what we build.” Will chimes in with some examples of how classroom learning relate to hands-on application of knowledge.

Eddie shares some memories of the mentors that showed him how to tie, frame, and plumb. He explains that these mentorships can extend beyond construction skills to broader employability skills and life skills.

What if…
Tyler asks Chris and Will to share about what they might have been interested in doing if they could go back and do their career over again. Chris hearkens back to his work with concrete. Will echoes that idea. They both found concrete work to be enjoyable and not as stressful as some other work. Will also mentions electrical work because of the fascination with electrical theory.

Advice about Apprenticeships
Tyler asks Chris to share advice with other contractors, and Chris makes the strong business case for the ways that strong apprenticeship programs are good for the whole organization. Will mentions NCCR curriculum as a helpful resource for contractors in non-union areas. Chris mentions that these resources are available in Spanish as well as English.

Chris and Will talk through the nuts and bolts of the DPR program, including book-learning components and on-the-job training. They share a bit about the ways that quality training programs lead to word-of-mouth recruiting.

Megaphone Message
We ask Chris and Will what they want to say to the construction industry.

Will says he’d like to see the industry change the way it looks at mistakes. If we can look at mistakes as learning opportunities, people will come to work knowing that they can learn from mistakes.

Chris says that he would like the workers to be proud. The things you do make a difference to people’s everyday lives.

Find Chris on LinkedIn

Find Will on LinkedIn

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening

Tyler’s sharing this week.  

It was in a conversation not terribly long ago that he realized just how profoundly his ADHD affected his daily work. Over time, he’s come to learn how beneficial this condition can be if managed properly. 

Here are a few tips Tyler shares:

-Use Pomodoro Timers to keep yourself on track: https://pomofocus.io/-Work out. 

-Research shows that exercise can mitigate some of the cognitive issues related to ADHD.-Develop systems. 

-Drink coffee–or some other moderate form of caffeine-delivery system–in moderation. Doctors believe the stimulation can help with focus. 

-Set up accountability systems for getting stuff done. Find people who will check in with you and be willing to confront you if you're falling behind.

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - 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!

Introduction
Is Tyler Irrelevant? That’s where we start out today.

From there, we conclusively demonstrate our shared lack of connection with today’s youth. We zone in on the term skibidi. Here’s the Urban Dictionary definition. 

Then we move on to Ohio, rizz, and sigma. Aren’t you glad you joined us?

A new generation in construction
The reason we’re discussing this linguistic nonsense is that construction is changing. We asked the LinkedIn community to share what they feel has been lost as things have changed. Specifically, we asked about how automation has affected things.

Before we dig into everyone else’s submissions, we share some of our own thoughts.

Eddie explores the paradox that in some ways, quality has gone up. On the other hand, there are pockets where automation hasn’t yet been optimized and quality has gone down. He also thinks that there’s been a reduction in pride in one’s work.

Tyler talks about certain tasks for which certain people are deliberately avoiding automation because the result is a lack of meaningful connection with the process. We discuss the difference between thoughtful choices to automate and automation for automation’s sake.

What do you know about cubits?
One listener said that knowledge and experience are often lost in the process when things are automated. Eddie and Tyler discuss when this feels like a loss of something meaningful and when you might be able to make the argument that nothing significant was lost. For instance, is the loss of the ability to use a traditional tape measure a meaningful loss?

Tyler mentions that we’ve set aside countless old methods of measurement. Then Eddie discusses the way that AI is affecting education these days.

We discuss the homework Poppy (our grandfather) had to do when he was in school. In order to pass, he simply had to buckle down and learn the tough processes. 

Remote sites
Eddie shares about the experience of visiting data-center construction sites and how the lack of standard power sources and wifi make him feel disoriented. He suggests that young people who are looking for job security should look into robot repair.

Tyler gets meta and discusses the AI plugin that switches video feed that saves our editor an hour or more every week. We’d be able to cope if that broke down, but we’d lose some time. There are plenty of similar situations in construction that would leave some crews rather lost.

Communication
Eddie discusses the level of communication that is required when an automated process can’t be executed without human communication between humans that may not really understand what happened in that automated process.

This can lead to tensions and delays. Eddie recalls a recent example of this.

Tyler speculates about how automation and the RFI process has likely increased the number of projects the average contractor (and designer, and subcontractor, and so on) works on at a time. Pop said his crew often consisted of as few as 3 people. Perhaps the more people you have, the more personalities and anxieties you have. 

Training and proficiency
We discuss the fact that it’s essential that we train people properly as automation increases. If people are being thrown into positions where they execute automated tasks that accomplish outcomes those people don’t really understand, we’re going to have problems.

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening

Tyler’s been hiring. In the process, he’s had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people. One guy in particular checked in toward the end of the scheduled interview time slot and asked thoughtfully whether Tyler had a few more minutes. 

Proactively consider the needs, desires, and circumstances of the people you work with on a daily basis.

Doing this on a consistent basis will help them know they can trust you.

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - 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!

Introduction
Today we welcome Joe Purtle, who is here to talk to us about concrete forms. Joe has been in construction for well over two decades, and he’s currently the COO of Doka, which specializes in forming and shoring.

Eddie shares a bit about his experience in construction back in the 2x4 and plywood days. He shares how cool it’s been to see the complexity of forms increase over time and to see how those forms have become woven into BIM software.

We discuss how designers and other stakeholders view concrete forms. Joe explains that the placement of concrete drives the schedule on many large projects. And the placement of concrete is largely dependent on the completion of formwork.

Cycling of formwork and big dadgum messes
Eddie asks Joe to explain the cycling (reuse) of forms on large projects. Doka’s job is to understand the complicated aspects of forming and pouring and how these complexities can affect a schedule. We discuss the benefits of modular approaches and cycling of forms.

Joe discusses the importance of knowledgeable planning and the unfortunate results when things to wrong and a form gets trapped. It’s what the bros and their Georgia buddies would call a “dadgum mess.”

Joe shares about how he has seen companies process decisions related to renting vs. buying. He also discusses sustainability issues and equipment that measures temperature and pressure to optimize the curing process. We get into the optimization of pouring and the incorporation of reusable sensors that give designers and project managers the ability to know things they would have previously not known without expensive, messy tests.

Prefab of formwork
Eddie asks Joe to share about prefab work such as cast-in-place parking garages. Joe explains that Doka can build and ship complete beam forms that are pretty much ready to plug and play when they arrive at the job site. They have CNC machines that can put curves into forms with highly detailed specs when the customer wants it.  

Tyler connects these abilities to the overall increase in complexity of structures. Joe shares about the pride we’ve discussed in previous episodes that comes with seeing a really cool building and being able to say you had something to do with that. 

BIM Modeling
Eddie asks Joe to explain how Doka’s work integrates with the BIM process. He explains that they’re already working within Revit and Tekla but that they are quickly extending their integration even further. We discuss how AI is streamline design. Then there are the AI features that simply increase the team’s everyday operations.

Joe shares some thoughts about “real BIM” vs. “Hollywood BIM” and how these differences affect scheduling. Eddie shares some thoughts from a designer’s perspective as well as thoughts about storing huge form components that are not easy to move.

We spend some time discussing the design rules being used to form AI and how significantly this process will likely change design work in the future. Then we discuss the role that human insight and finesse play in this process.

Megaphone Message 
Joe’s message to the industry is this: The industry needs to come together and stop working in silos. The sooner we can create true collaboration through the available technologies, the sooner we’ll progress to a future we can’t even imagine at this point. 

Find Joe on LinkedIn

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening

We’re always trying to help.

This week we have a memory Tyler shares about the invisible tattoo he mentally cut into his arm–the message (in its family-show iteration): “Don’t be a jerk.” He reads this tattoo to himself at work and at home. 

Frustration awaits you at every turn in this industry and in life. Establish the neural pathways needed to avoid falling into bad, adrenaline-fueled habits. 

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - 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!

00:00 - Intro
We start out today reflecting on Lee Evey, an interesting guest from a couple former episodes (part one, part two). Then we get going on the conversation with today’s guest, Matthew Byrd, who started the Reality Capture Network. 

Matthew gives us a run-down of his career preceding RCN and what drove him to start this conference. He talks about the lack of equipment knowledge he saw among reality-capture practitioners.

Matthew already had a podcast and an active LinkedIn presence, so in 2020, he decided to be part of the solution. He and his team wasted no time. They set a date three months out and starting organizing.

It went amazingly well. The vendor booths were full. Presenters came onboard. Clearly there was substantial interest.   

12:02 - One of his favorite things to do
That was all four years ago. Since then, RCN has become one of Matthew’s favorite things to do. It’s not because of the cool tech, it’s because of the satisfaction he feels in seeing people’s problems being solved.

Eddie asks Matthew to share about a cool airport project he’d worked on recently. This one was incredibly complex. The logistical complications (TSA, air-traffic control, etc.). Matthew’s team used a wide range of tactics, all of which needed to be handled in new ways due to airport regulations.   

We discuss mobile-mapping drift issues, survey control points, deviation, and cross-referencing techniques. 

21:23 - How scale affects reality-capture decisions
Tyler asks about when reality capture is truly needed. Matthew discusses circumstances when accuracy matters. If he’s forced to give a number, he said that a project of 10,000 square feet or more should involve reality capture. 

We discuss issues of liability and expertise–who should be handling this equipment and for which parts of the scan process should a true expert be called in. 

Eddie asks about mobile scanning devices and their accuracy. Matthew discusses big drones for survey-mapping solutions. He lists a number of other solutions for specific use cases. Matthew shares about some failed equipment designs from the past.

He says that when people excitedly ask him what’s next, he says he’s really more interested in what’s most reliable. 

38:00 - Dealing with data–lots and lots of data
Eddie asks for some insights for those who have gotten in over their head. One of the main suggestions Matthew shares has to do with buying the proper equipment for processing the massive amounts of data produced by scans.

Scanning is about 20% of the job, he says. The other 80% requires hefty processing power. Matthew talks about the point when his team started building their own computers and eventually worked toward solutions provided by Dell. 

He also discusses the challenges of finding the right people to optimize these computers to handle the data. It’s all about creative ways to employ the data, Matthew says. Almost every industry is finding ways to apply this technology. This means that some of the work is going to be outsourced. Matthew shares some insights about that.

1:02:10 - How to keep them from staring
Eddie asks how to keep people on the jobsite from staring into the laser while it’s doing its work. Matthew shares the history and humor of that challenge.

We discuss software and the data-cleaning process. Matthew says that if the scan is done properly, filters can handle most of that.  

1:08:35 - Megaphone message
Matthew’s message: Don’t be afraid of change. Pursue innovation. Try new things. Be the learner.

Check out the Reality Capture Network and the RCN Podcast


Find Matthew on LinkedIn

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening

Yes, it’s another quote. This week, Maggie Thatcher speaks to us through Eddie. She says, “Keep Fighting the Good Fight.”

Tyler adds to that. Learn to love the “no” he says. Great things can come if you are willing to fail more.

Eddie shares about RFIs that you know are a sign of something that’s going to become a bigger deal. Sometimes you need to set aside your own interests and do something for the good of the project.

Do the right thing. If it doesn’t work, keep on trying.

Check out the partners that make our show possible.

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - 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!