Credit: Original article published here.

When we share our knowledge and ability with our internal customers (our co-workers) first, we cannot lose when it comes to our external customers.  We are constantly building and improving our internal teams, sharing our collective precast knowledge, construction experience, and skills accumulated along the way. Because of this, we are better equipped to help our customers  succeed, preparing everyone for the best possible precast experience.  Here at Wells we all enjoy working outside the company with anyone interested in broadening their precast knowledge.  Helping to strengthen the construction community knowledge base allows the best suited construction approach and solution to be made for each unique project.  While precast knowledge expands outside our company, there is important growth happening inside the company that I want to turn my focus toward and share my perspective on.

As the sales teams pursue leads, they are continuously sharing what they learn with all department leads across the company.  They lean on the engineering teams for design input, ensuring the customer gets the best value possible.  They reach out for critical input from the erection department and in turn convey important feedback to the project team.

After the project is awarded to Wells, the real internal collaboration starts.  All departments come together, learning what makes the project unique and strategizing the best management plan to move forward successfully.  Educating each other internally benefits our customers, whether it’s sharing what we learned about staining precast from industry professionals or the limitless potential of formliners.  The right project will come along for these new techniques and technologies, and when they do we will be prepared to share what we have learned with our customers.

The collaborative communication that began with the sales and estimating teams moves into and through the dynamic problem-solving phase of engineering, concluding with the erection phase of our scope of work.  Throughout these next steps of the project the internal sharing of knowledge and educating each other continues, ramping up a bit as we begin to strategize everything necessary to deliver a successful project.

Prior to mobilizing the erection team to the job site, the level of preparation that Wells Concrete takes specific to the field team is second to none and some of the best I have seen in the industry.  This process details the safe erection of each piece of precast on the job, in what order the pieces will be erected, and how and when they will be braced and grouted for stability.  It also includes when, if expected, the erection crew will reach a stopping point due to a grout hold, and how to plan the work efficiently and safely to avoid the delay.  Pre-construction meetings, both internal and external, are scheduled so that everyone is exposed to our process and erection plan, setting expectations, allowing our field teams to execute their plan efficiently, safely and productively.  The benefits of a well-planned, well-executed erection phase are often initially overlooked by some, but eventually appreciated by all, as it is often an underestimated element of the overall project schedule.

I am grateful to everyone at Wells who is helping me, their internal customer, learn everything I can about the precast we engineer, design, manufacture, transport and erect for our external customers.

Lisa Quaranta
Project Manager