Over the past 20 years, Trimble’s David Keane has helped electrical contractors and other tradespeople utilize construction technology to operate their businesses more profitably and efficiently. In his NECA 2022 seminar, “Three Ways to Implement DfMA on Electrical Construction Projects,” David Keane, Trimble’s Americas sales director, MEP VDC and Project Management, said contractors can use design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) processes to streamline their production process by preassembling many different electrical products. Manufacturing these preassembled systems off-site can help get crews off jobsites as quickly as possible and on to the next job. Keane said that contractors are building not only common preassemblies like fixture whips and prewired receptacle boxes off-site, but also conduit racks, load centers, wall assemblies, temporary power systems on skids, and even modular electric rooms.
While preassemblies are a big part of DfMA, Keane said electrical contractors should also consider integrating their estimating, engineering and procurement processes to maximize savings and efficiency. For at least one electrical contractor, that has meant utilizing BIM in his preassembly manufacturing shop. Keane said in a 2021 article posted in the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) magazine that one electrical contractor he knows moved 60% of his field labor hours to his shop, and that the move has been “a recipe for profitability, given the more controlled, lower-cost manufacturing made possible in the shop.”
Keane is also a big believer in the importance of digitizing as much of a contractor’s internal processes as possible because “The minute something hits paper there is a good chance it will become obsolete.”
He also urges contractors to explore the potential savings and efficiencies of linking their business system to a supplier’s business. “Not many people are making that digital connection to the supply chain right now,” he says.
Keane offered seminar attendees four tips to help them in their DfMA journey:
- Standardize on assemblies, prefabrication methods and “productize” complex projects into “truck-size jobs.”
- Add true connections to your supply chain to control costs, make transactions less expensive and reinforce the manufacturing mindset in your organization.
- Master plan your company’s tech stack so that workflows are highly visible to all the stakeholders in the enterprise
- Allow information to enter your systems not just from models, but departments like estimating, the shop floor, job site and procurement.
With the current labor shortage in the electrical construction market expected to become an even bigger issue in the near future, Keane said the efficiencies they can gain through DfMA can help them accomplish more with fewer employees.
