Boston Globe Slams Construction Industry
August 12th, 2007 by HalConstruction projects get a bad rep…a very bad rep. And the Boston Globe piles on with today's article The Industry that Time Forgot: Just Another Day at the Office for the Most Wasteful, Least Productive Industry in America
It's tough for me to comment on this article. I live in Boston. We've suffered major delays, overruns, inconveniences, and people lost their lives. It doesn't have to be this way. Companies have learned from the best operators in the world and have avoided these problems. In Massachusetts we have burdensome laws and practices. It's tough to do business with the state government. In my town no major project has finished on time or on budget. However, it can change. It must change. The industry knows what to do to change.
The Globe cites CC Meyers of California pointing to the changes needed:
Under a regime of incentives and real accountability, construction companies would begin to transform. The industry
would spawn a few winners that, as they prospered, would acquire the capacity to research new techniques, retain
skilled employees through down periods, and buy up dozens or even hundreds of small specialized players.
It's a start. There are many firms that get good — great — results. They approach their work differently. They understand that the future is unknowable; their people are real assets in planning and managing their projects; and safety is the result of only doing work that is in a condition to be started and finished without interruption. These companies practice lean approaches to doing their work. Like Toyota, they are doing so much better than their competitors. It's not difficult to learn.
Related Posts
- When Six Sigma Goes Awry With tongue-in-cheek, The Boston Globe writes, Creating Flawless Products No One Wants. Don't miss it....
- OSHA Gives Pro-Tec Coatings ‘Star’ VPP Status The VPP works. The company featured in this short article enjoy a safety performance (injury and illness rates) that i...
- Safety…It’s the System, Stupid We've made so little progress in the safety of construction work. Over 1,200 people die each year and 100s of thousands...
- Succeeding with Projects Requires a New Set of Skills Currently, people seem to not be ready to participate in lean construction environments. Catolica University, Santiag...
- Project Management: Art and Science BUCEC Introduces Project Management Competency Model; Failure To Consider "Art" Called Major Factor In Project Failure...
