When it comes to reducing the amount of time spent on materials, the key step is starting on labor- and time-saving solutions before work on the job site even begins. On the first day of NECA 2021, several industry leaders from both electrical contracting firms and distributors discussed this concept in a presentation titled, “Quantifying and Reducing Time Spent on Materials ‘Outside of the Gate.’” Moderated by Dave Moeller, director of customer markets for electrical distributor Graybar (No. 3 on Electrical Wholesaling’s 2021 Top 150 Electrical Distributor ranking), the panel included Larry Sokolowski, senior account manager, Graybar Electric; James MacDonald, senior vice president of service and branch operations, Miller Electric Co. (No. 21 on EC&M’s 2021 Top 50 Electrical Contractor’s ranking); Ryan Hildebrandt, director of supply chain and logistics, ArchKey Solutions (No. 9 on EC&M’s 2021 Top 50); and Alan Creel, who oversees Miller Electric Co.’s preconstruction services.
First, the panel broke down some of the main challenges regarding efficiency and work when it comes to materials management before a project begins. On the electrical contractor’s side, some challenges include productivity and lack of experience within the workforce. From a supplier side, Sokolowski, who manages the corporate relationship between Graybar Electric and the ArchKey family of companies, said one of the largest challenges he sees is the process of following a project from procurement to project management.
The panel then went on to discuss the big-picture solution to these challenges: collaboration from start-to-finish and between the EC and supplier/vendor. Buy-in from all parties will allow problems to be identified early on and make for easier procurement of materials, the panelists agree.
MacDonald says early engagement of vendor partners is most effective. “If they’re truly a partner, the earlier you engage them, then it helps your schedule all the way through the process,” he says. “That’s that part about ‘outside of the gate.’” He adds that this can help make the process a lot easier for everyone because, “If you win, they win.”
Hildebrant adds that in his experience, suppliers will be upfront from the start if they can’t deliver on what the EC wants or needs, reiterating why early engagement with vendor partners (before even getting onto the job site) is key. But he adds that the contractor must be the driver behind these early, crucial conversations.
Distributors, too, have a role in shifting their perspective and becoming part of the project schedule early on. Sokolowski says that that begins with vendors understanding how their electrical contractor customers’ roles work. Typically, Sokolowski says he may start the conversation with someone in the business development role, then move onto procurement, followed by project management.
“At that point,” he warns,” it may be too late to have a plan in place.” He suggests understanding the customer’s organizational structure and looking for the person within the organization who has ownership of all three of those segments (business development, procurement, and project management) to help streamline the collaboration process.
The conversations then must continue through the project timeline: pricing and securing the project, coordinating the project, fabricating the project, and then installing and closing out the project. All the speakers on the panel reiterated that mistakes throughout this process cannot fully be avoided, so it’s good for all parties to use them as learning tools. Recognizing both successes and mistakes throughout this continuous collaboration needs to be on-going, from start to finish.
“We leverage mistakes and make sure we learn from them,” says Creel. “Those mistakes become a secret sauce. So, don’t be scared to make the mistake, and don’t be scared to learn from the mistake. That’s how we all become really good at what we do.”
