FMI Corp. Presents Improving Construction Productivity

FMI Corp. in Raleigh, N.C., management consultants and investment bankers to the construction industry, will present “Improving Construction Productivity” November 8 - 9, 2007. FMI consultants Scott Kimpland and Michael McLin will present the program at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill., in the Chicagoland area.

According to the company’s 2007 Contractor Productivity Survey Results, less than 30 percent of contractors have a formal plan or strategy to improve productivity. In 2006, the companies surveyed made an average investment of only $54,270 in various initiatives to improve productivity compared to their average investment of $70,035 for safety improvement. FMI says this indicates, while contractors continue to accept significant labor overruns on their projects, they do not appear to be making the necessary investments in people and processes to improve productivity.

The two-day program targets operations teams, such as president, vice president of operations, project managers and estimators, and FMI says it offers the tools to improve productivity and increase company profits.

Scheduled topics include:

1. The impact of industry changes on productivity;
2. How a 5- to 10-percent savings in annual field labor costs can improve bottom line;
3. How top management and project management are critical to productivity improvement;
4. Know what to measure and how to use it;
5. The long-term commitment required to change an organization;
6. Centralizing key project information for easy access; and
7. Implications of poor cost projections by project managers and more.

“We’ve found that companies that keep pace with the industry changes from a process standpoint, are the ones who are experiencing productivity improvement,” Kimpland says. “Another interesting finding is that these same companies had a younger field management group. Maybe they’re more open to learning new company processes. This is extremely important for our industry because we have aging field management and succession issues to deal with. But, whether you’re new in the field or an ‘old dog,’ you can still benefit from learning productivity secrets.”

For more information contact Candace Robertson at FMI Corp. at 919/785-9359 or crobertson@fminet.com

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