Last week 40 Unified Group members from across the country met in Albuquerque, NM for the 2015 Trends and New Technology in Construction Forum. The two day session started with a BIM panel discussion. Colin Cook (Pacific Rim Mechanical), Scott Gaglia (Maxair Mechanical), Justin Polhemus (W.L. Gary), Jarrod Staggs (Nashville Machine), and Paul Marrujo (Yearout Mechanical) were selected to share their challenges, issues, and best practices. The discussion moderated by Unified Group managing partner, Tim Smerz. “There was a good mixture of panelists and mixture of questions from the attendees,” said Heath Allard (Climate Engineers). “Having all the contractors talk about the areas they are struggling with and how they are approaching things was a highlight for me.”
After the BIM panel, members talked about new technology, apps, and software they are using. The attendees discussed the benefits of utilizing iPads/tablets to help improve communication utilizing apps like Google Drive and FaceTime. In the afternoon members broke out into small groups to dive deeper into operations, BIM, sales, financial, and fabrication/installation discussions. “The sharing and interaction was the best part,” said Eric Craddock (W. L. Gary). “I have never seen such openness.”
On the second day of the forum members toured Yearout Mechanical, Unified Group member in Albuquerque. The attendees met as a large group for a Yearout overview and then broke into small groups to see the following departments/areas: service, tool crib, estimating, detailing/BIM, projects, accounting, and prefab shops. “It was a great way to see where we could potentially be with the right pieces in place,” said Mike Garcia (Cooper Oates). “This was my first time at a meeting and am very impressed at the companies here and what each one brought to this session,” said Howard Schad (Dillett Mechanical Service).
Special thanks to Ryan Jorgensen (MSS), Justin Gary (Maxair), Heath Allard (Climate Engineers), and Mike Dent (W.L. Gary) for serving as our task force to help plan this meeting.