Driving Waste Out of Your Industry: A New Approach from McKinstry
AEC firms can use the principles of product management to implement the right new tools
After years lagging behind other industries in adoption of new technologies, construction companies are now digitizing rapidly. But what technologies should they implement, and in what order? At McKinstry, Dace Campbell and his team prioritize new initiatives using a product management methodology more commonly found in software development and manufacturing. It starts by analyzing the problems that matter most and getting to root causes—a process they refer to as “diagnose before you prescribe.” For example, as with most construction companies, a key problem for McKinstry is wasted time and materials, which impacts budgets and the environment. Next, solutions are mapped based on potential business value versus feasibility. This approach allows them to break high-value/difficult projects into achievable phases. Low-value/easy initiatives, on the other hand, can be launched first as pilot projects to prove their value. Once value is established, the initiative is rolled out across the company. Ultimately, Campbell says, even if you don’t stand up a formal product management division in your organization, you can borrow product management principles to make sure you implement the right new tools at the right time to optimize your processes.
About the speaker
Dace Campbell is the director of Project Management in Construction at McKinstry. He brings more than two decades of experience in design, construction, and visualization. Dace’s projects have won four AIA BIM awards, and his work and writing about BIM, lean, and IPD have been published internationally. He is a winner of the 2011 Building Design + Construction 40 under 40 award.
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