Business of
Tomorrow
Capano
sees streamlined industry
By
Jeremy Harrell
The
business of construction has changed dramatically in the last
20 years, what with the development of construction management,
design/build and other hybrid delivery techniques. But is the
landscape going to change even more in the next two decades?
Craig
Capano, engineering and support services manager for general contractor
CG Schmidt Inc., Milwaukee, offered a sneak preview. Capano, who's
finishing up a Ph.D. in civil engineering at Marquette University,
is the former director of the Milwaukee School of Engineering's
construction-management program.
At
CG Schmidt, he's involved in the ongoing training of the company's
work force, and with the charge of teaching the construction employees
of tomorrow, he tends to direct his gaze to the future.
Wisconsin
Builder: Will the business of construction look dramatically different
in 20 years? For instance, will projects still rely on a separate
architect, engineer and general contractor?
Craig
Capano: It's the evolution of the traditional system. The
triad — as I like to call it — will change. We've started
seeing it now with design/build.
The
Design-Build Institute of America is the fastest growing organization
within the industry. I don't foresee the need for the structure
of the company we see today. It comes down to collaboration. With
the Internet and some of the tools we have today, we're not going
to see the walls of the office. Relationships with companies won't
be so regional. Maybe our main vendor will be out of — I
don't know — Idaho. We're starting to see this now. Major
companies have bought up many of the regional companies.
WB:
What is the driving force behind this change?
CC:
I used to tell my students a story. We've been constructing with
sticks, stones and animal hides since the dawn of time. Basically,
we're still doing it that way today. Instead of sticks, we have
lumber. Instead of stones, we have masonry. Instead of animal
hides, we have materials made with fossil fuels, which are really
animal hides. We're looking at better and faster ways of putting
that stuff together. It's not that we won't continue to build
buildings, it's that we're becoming more refined in how we do
it.
WB:
Do you think it will be hard for companies to adapt? And how can
firms begin to position themselves, if they haven't already done
so?
CC:
Traditionally, construction companies are slow to adapt to change.
They're usually family owned and family directed. I think there
is a resistance. A lot of what we're doing in education is breaking
down that resistance. You want to get the best and the brightest.
That goes without saying. I think you need to challenge people,
wanting them to learn more. To what degree they do it — that's
another issue.
WB:
What are the potential disadvantages to changing this fundamental
way of doing business?
CC:
It doesn't happen overnight. Construction companies are traditionally
bottom-line driven. 'What's going to save me a buck now, not five
or 10 years down the road?' There's a lot of investment that goes
into it, even when the payoff isn't immediately apparent. There's
also still some resistance from the outside — from the owners'
approach.
WB:
Are we seeing these changes already?
CC:
We've been able to plan better. The biggest change I've seen is
in the planning stages. The owners are saying, 'Look, I'm putting
X number of millions of dollars into this, and I want to make
money on it.' You might pay a little extra, but you get the best.
And even in research, we're coming around a little bit. About
0.3 percent of the billions of dollars in annual construction
volume is devoted to research. That's much less than you see in
other industries. You are seeing a lot of (research) happening
at the university, but a lot of companies dissociate themselves
from the university.
There's
a disconnect. The feeling is that they don't understand business.
WB:
How will these changes play out when it comes to constructing
building X?
CC:
First, it will have to go through the regulatory and permitting
process. I don't see that changing. In fact, it will probably
get more cumbersome and lengthy. There will be more just-in-time
deliveries. There will be more off-site prefabrication because
of the shortage of labor. You'll see a marked changed in some
of the materials. Who's to say we won't have plastic floor joists
or something? There will be a lot more collaboration. You won't
necessarily have to be there in that town where the project is.
We'll be able to build a simulation of the building before we
go out to build it, to see how it does in rain or wind or whatever
else. Buildings themselves will be more complex. Tradespeople
will be a concern. Other countries import their labor pool, and
maybe that's what we'll have to do. We'll have to become more
efficient and use fewer people, or we'll have to find a way to
bring in more people.
