In case you missed it, watch Michael Dubreuil’s panel discussion along with his RT 394 colleagues about Improving Capital Effectiveness and Efficiency to Deliver Excellent Business Results from the 2023 Construction Industry Institute‘s Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
On May 11, PTAG’s Collaborative Contracting subject matter experts, Michael Dubreuil and Bruce Burwell, hosted a highly informative and engaging webinar on Collaborative Contracting for SMRs.
They presented an update on how Collaborative Contracting is supporting early first-mover SMR projects in both the United States and Canada.
The world will increasingly rely on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to meet its emission targets as it transitions its sources of energy generation. Compared to other alternatives, SMRs provide a safer, more reliable, economical, and environmentally responsible alternative for industry and society.
The event brought together industry experts, thought leaders, and professionals from various industries, all eager to explore the latest trends and insights in Collaborative Contracting for SMRs.
In this webinar, Michael and Bruce discussed the key features and benefits of collaborative contracting and how it can address SMR development and deployment challenges and opportunities.
For those who missed the live event or wished to revisit the valuable discussions, we have uploaded the full webinar recap video. If you would like to learn more about how Collaborative Contracting can help your projects, or learn more about PTAG’s work supporting SMR first movers, please get in touch with us!
This is the recap video recording of the webinar, which was originally recorded on May 11, 2023.
Stay tuned for future webinars and industry updates from PTAG!
Modularization entails the large-scale transfer of stick-build construction effort from the jobsite to one or more local or distant fabrication shops/yards to exploit one or more strategic advantages. However, the construction industry has been slow to achieve high levels of modularization. It has reached a ceiling regarding the percentage of stick-built work hours being exported offsite. The research effort led to the development of five distinct solution elements:
PTAG has industry-specific teams ready to address the question of what changes or adaptations in traditional project work processes are required to create an optimal environment for broader and more effective use of modularization. For successful modularization to occur, substantial owner involvement must occur early. The scope of research limited this team’s work to the industrial sector; however, its research findings may apply equally well to the commercial and infrastructure project sectors.
The following figure shows the lessons learned for Front End Planning, Engineering, Contracts and Procurement, Fabrication, Transportation, Site installation, and Staffing.
Planning for modularization is the evaluation and determination of offsite construction in the front end planning phase to achieve specific strategic objectives and improve the project outcomes. The process includes developing a business case and execution strategy for large-scale transfer of stick-built construction effort from the job site to fabrication shops or yards.
In order to achieve higher, more successful levels of modularization, industry and project
leaders should be attentive to the five different elements of the solution, as illustrated in the following picture:
The modularization business case process should be applied at the earliest opportunity. Project teams should consider the modular approach the “default” approach in order to
allow the advancement of modularization in the industry
Industry-wide barriers continue to challenge the broad-based achievement of high levels of modularization. There are ten maximization enablers to act as counter-measures to these challenges and to accelerate modularization across the industry.
At PTAG, our industry-specific teams are ready to implement modularization on your project to enhance various aspects of project management, including time, cost, safety, quality, and productivity.
Within the construction industry, partnering – an optimal relationship between a customer and supplier – offers many opportunities to improve construction projects’ total quality and cost-effectiveness while developing an atmosphere conducive to innovation, teamwork, trust, and commitment. Partnering can be used to attain total quality management (TQM).
a. Long-Term Relationship
b. Commitment
c. Continuous Improvement
d. Trust
e. Investment
f. Alignment
g. Synergism
h. Shared Risks
i. Mutual Rewards
j. Equity
k. Systemic Relationship
l. Competitive Edge
a. Continuous improvement of the quality of services and products
b. More effective utilization of resources
c. Improved profits (value) for all parties
d. Encourages innovation on projects
e. Develops long-term teamwork, trust, and commitment
f. Allows for continuous planned development of new skills and processes
a. Protecting proprietary information
b. Evaluation/assurance of value received
c. Fair sharing of risks by all parties
d. Obtaining/maintaining total commitment
e. Creates strong dependency on partner
f. Limits competitive market strategy
g. Integration of differing company cultures
To assess the true benefits of partnering, track and measure performance in a partnering relationship, then compare those results with the same data from before the adoption of partnering. Research suggests using the following measures:
The partnership triangle shows the criticality of the integration or links of the measures with each other and the business drivers.
PTAG helps you to benefit from partnering by:
a. Continuous improvement of the quality of services and products
b. More effective utilization of resources
c. Improved profits (value) for all parties
d. Encourages innovation on projects
e. Develops long-term teamwork, trust, and commitment
f. Allows for continuous planned development of new skills and processes
PTAG has industry-specific teams ready to help you build a united team
with a common objective, improving quality,
reducing costs, and increasing efficiency.
Partnering is a long-term commitment between two or more organizations as in an alliance or it may be applied to a shorter period of time such as the duration of a project. The purpose of partnering is to achieve specific business objectives by maximizing the effectiveness of each participant’s resources.
Partnering’s bottom line: a construction industry process that strengthens both projects and partners, tightens schedules, safeguards quality, and enhances each partner’s competitive edge.
Partnering requires changing traditional relationships to ones that exist within a shared culture without regard to organizational boundaries. These relationships are based on
trust, dedication to common goals, and mutual understanding of individual expectations and values.
Successful partnering involves selecting a qualified partner, establishing a rapport between the two major players in the project, and then expanding the commitment to other key players in the project.
Six key factors in implementing and managing successful partnering relationships are:
Managing an Effective Partnering Relationship is a Five Phase Process:
Phase 1 – Owner’s Internal Alignment
Phase 2 – Partner Selection
Phase 3 – Partnering Relationship
Phase 4 – Project Alignment
Phase 5 – Work Process Alignment
Lessons Learned (LL) is knowledge gained from experience, successful or otherwise, to improve future performance. Each company should develop a Lessons Learned Program (LLP) to promote success and achievement. The Lessons Learned Program involves the people, processes, and tools that support an organization’s collection, analysis, and implementation of validated lessons learned. People possess organizational knowledge. The procedures must be structured to allow people to collect, analyze, and share knowledge easily.
Overall, Lessons Learned Programs are essential to the construction industry. The key to achieving an effective and sustainable Lessons Learned Program is the degree of continuing commitment and leadership from the organization’s top management. Lessons Learned will become even more critical as employees age and retire and turnover increases. Additionally, globalization also increases the need for LLPs to ensure that an organization is able to address critical issues such as culture, language, distance, and diversity.
There are three main components to the Lessons Learned Program (LLP):
PTAG has industry-specific teams ready to manage and organize this knowledge to benefit your organization in the form of a reduction of total project cost and/or reduction of project schedule.
Once a new opportunity is identified, and an implementation path is laid out, the implementation process will result in the need for change. The implementation of new or improved practices is the driver for change management. Organizations face many challenges in overcoming barriers that come up during the implementation of new practices. An Implementation Champion will drive the implementation process with support and resources from upper management. Organizations face many challenges in overcoming barriers when implementing new procedures.
PTAG helps you to have a clear perspective on the overall stages required for the entire implementation process. A well-designed implementation plan will guide an organization to a successful outcome.
Follow steps that begin with needs analysis and end with implementation and benchmarking.
Do you want to keep on top of your projects? Are you thinking about having greater influence over your projects?
At PTAG, we focus on creating a strong and early link between the business or mission, project strategy, scope, cost, and schedule, and maintaining that link unbroken throughout the project life. A well-performed front-end planning process can reduce costs, lead to less project variability in cost, schedule, and operating characteristics, and increase the chance of meeting a project’s environmental and social goals.
Successful projects execute front end planning (FEP) differently than less successful projects — specifically concerning information flow activities. These differences include more time spent and more resources utilized while planning projects.
How much time do you spend managing conflicts in your projects?
In the construction industry, disputes are common. Identifying the aspects of a project that can lead to disputes early on and the steps required to resolve them is crucial for successful projects.
PTAG has industry specific teams ready to review the causes and administrative costs of such claims, recommend procedures for avoiding claims and investigate alternatives for the early, equitable settlement of claims. Dispute Review Boards (DRB) can be an effective way to facilitate timely on-site resolution of disputes, preventing matters from escalating costs and timelines.
To create a comprehensive system for dispute prevention and resolution, a project must:
Within the bounds of feasibility, PTAG provides the solutions for your project’s requirements.
