Page 24 - Rosendin Corporate Newsletter_Q1 2020

10 years from now and to enable innovation and
improvement at Rosendin. Innovation and change is
a reaction to one of three typical situations:
▶ React to something that went wrong and needs
fixing or occurs outside of our control, such as
COVID-19.
▶ Optimize what we’re doing to make life easier/
safer or make a little more money.
▶ A profound change where we can be a leader or
to get well ahead of a trend or the pack.
Motivation often comes from outside forces
– COVID-19, a poor safety record, a business or
project losing money, business processes that are
inefficient or good people leaving for a better place.
Those are reactions. Reaction is not invention – it’s
an emotional flee-or-fight response. When you’re
under duress, it’s too late to realize the full benefit
of your actions versus seeing it early and acting
sooner.
We have all faced that unenviable situation of
sitting your office, trailer, or kitchen table early in
the morning or late at night trying to catch up on
crucial work. Who hasn’t been dragged into a low-
quality meeting, been forced to follow a process
that doesn’t map to ours, or have been forced to
work in a business process that has no real value to
you or the business? It’s not LEAN and never fun.
We’re going to do something about it. Where we can
and to our fullest capacity, we will refuse to live in
this uninspiring and mediocre space. This negatively
impacts you and our customers and has direct
effects on our execution and job satisfaction.
"ANYONE CAN BE
MEDIOCRE. LET’S NOT BE
ANYBODY."
People often say that small companies and groups
can move faster and innovate better than a
larger organization. They contend that large
firms have entrenched habits and prejudice for
inaction, especially if they are making money.
Nonsense. Nothing is more dangerous than a
large, motivated, strongly-resourced, smart,
goal-dedicated outfit.
Innovation will not always succeed. We’ll admit our
failures as loudly as we trumpet our successes.
Some of our goals are “reach” goals, nothing is
undertaken without some certainty of the outcome.
The business case and its expected results are
vetted before we commit time or money to any
24 The Feeder | Issue 1, 2020
and mapped against our manufacturers,
distributors, and rep firms by Purchasing (a
ROSENDIN INNOVATION. NOT IF, BUT WHEN massive and complex undertaking). This is
the follow-on work from the iProcurement
rollout.
CAPITALIZING ON OUR SIZE –
What’s making all of this work together are
the InterOp and the new Job Cost Reports
teams. Think of this as working to a common
GODZILLA IS OUR SPIRIT ANIMAL, goal by two cooperating groups coming at
it from opposite ends of a global process.
ACCORDING TO ONE CUSTOMER Paolo, the Oracle Team, Matt Lamb, and
Finance are on the Job Cost/Project Controls
backside while Estimating, Engineering,
invention. We may not know how we’re going to getting there, but we absolutely BIM, R&D, and Purchasing working on the
know where we want to end up. front end. This new process results in a
very sharp Construction Estimate with
An excellent example of this is the arc flash, and the subsequent solar module
information taken directly from the Design
install robot. While the arc flash robot idea didn’t pan out as we had envisioned,
and Construction models. We’re now able
it did show that a tracked solution and a common movement platform was
to Estimate directly from what’s actually in
the correct approach for larger robotics. Think of it as a 5-ton drill motor - you
those models. Was the first effort perfect?
simply change the bits. We often find great solutions in the rubble of failure.
Rosendin has a lot of things over most - bench depth, money, a solid expertise No, but that’s part of the invention journey,
base in all areas of the company, selfless execution, and, most importantly, a and it’ll be continually improved after
strong motivation to improve, lead and win. This runs from Tom, Larry and the the rollout. Couple this with Kit-of-Part
Board, to Mike, Paolo and the EC, to the VPs and DMs, to the folks on the line. Look standardization, and you get a better, less
at what Safety, Training, and Quality have done for us. They are leaders in what cost-to-produce Construction Estimate.
they do. It’s in our bones to improve and excel together. Once the Construction Estimate is
completed, it is run through an Accubid-
Unsurprisingly, I have a funny story about Rosendin’s dedication when we Oracle translator called the Budget
choose a direction. A competitor at a conference happy hour rolled up to
Workbook, aka "The Budgetnator." The
Justin Tinoco and me. He told us that his outfit could move faster and ARE
Budgetnator is the brainchild of Vu Le and
better than us. A funny thing happened. One of our owners who was with us,
Charles Zhou. It translates the Estimate in
laughed at the guy and told him that Rosendin was Godzilla. Our client went
Accubid to a format that can be directly
on to compare Rosendin to the fictional monster, saying that when Rosendin
translated into Oracle, based on how the
is moving and focused there is nothing you can do to stand in their way. And job will be built. It’s a brilliant bit of work
he’s right. Rosendin possesses substantial financial and expertise resources that’s in rollout right now. No more massive
coupled with a yearning desire to get better every day. That moves the needle. data entry by the PM at the project’s launch.
These inventions streamline existing
Godzilla still roams the countryside. I sense a t-shirt logo in there somewhere.
processes, with a strong focus on upfront
WHAT ARE WE INVENTING TODAY
planning and eliminating double work. It’s
Right now, we have several irons in the fire. The Modular Electrical Power Panel in not a new process, just far improved on,
physical prototype development. Everything is either the first of its kind or has with less translational error with perfect
never been tried. All of these products and systems will be covered by either reconciliation between the estimate and
provisional patents or confidential know-how. We have several ideas at the JCR.
patent lawyers, so we can’t show them to you just yet. In the next edition, we’ll Last and certainly not least is the installation
have something to show you all. automation we’re looking at for in our
Our first mission is the Kit-of-Parts. The project seeks to standardize what Renewables business. This addresses
we estimate/sell, then define our work either in the model or in the BOMs, buy several areas – robotic panel installation,
it, and finally deliver it efficiently. When you install hundreds of thousands, autonomous excavation, compaction and
if not millions of the same assembly or activity every year, small gains lead backfill, robotic pier placement and driving,
to tremendous results. By the end of 2020, we will have cataloged and robotic site staking/feathering, UAV quantity
standardized assemblies for supports (OSHPD, critical facility, and non-seismic), and geo surveying, and changes to panel
in-wall and in-ceiling rough-in, and commodity/back-of-house lighting fixtures. attachment and electrification means and
All of these new standards are being reviewed and approved by the Field methods.
Issue 1, 2020 | The Feeder 25