Partners in process

GEM Industrial's processes work with trades and suppliers to finish jobs on time and under budget

Spend ten minutes with any GEM Industrial employee, and you’ll hear the words partner and process.

GEM Industrial, a Toledo, Ohio, specialty contracting firm, has taken on a variety of ambitious industrial projects over its 20-year history. From nuclear power plant work to automotive, processing and other commercial projects, the $100 million company, a division of Rudolph/Libbe companies, is one of the leading contractors in the region.

A single-source approach
“We are a union shop and complete mechanical, electrical, boilermaker and machinery installation and structural steel work,” says Tim Finch, tool room purchasing agent at GEM Industrial. Customers find that they can go to GEM Industrial and have one source for any question, need or problem they may have.

“We hire our own electricians, pipefitters, instrument technicians, ironworkers, boilermakers, millwrights, carpenters, laborers and operating engineers. Since we are one source, we can better plan a job, then execute it,” he says.

Finch has worked for GEM for 13 years. “The company’s processes attract and keep good employees. Thirteen years with one company in the construction industry is almost unheard of,” he says.

A plan for success
The planning process kicks in gear when the company is awarded a job over $50,000 or involves several trades.

“It begins with a pre-job meeting,” says Steve Johnson, field operations manager. “We sit down with the project leader, site managers and foremen of the trades who will be on the site. We list the steps in the project and put them on a timeline.”

“When we get together, we find that trades can share equipment better and we can identify bottlenecks that can be worked out,” says Finch.

Once the pre-job group finishes its meeting, the minutes of the session are put into a three-ring binder that also covers how paperwork and other processes must be completed. It goes to the jobsite as a valuable reference.

Post-job meetings matter
Once the job is completed, a post-job meeting quantifies how the project progressed. “We learn the most from these meetings. We find out how the job performed against estimates and what worked well, what didn’t and why. We discuss man-hours, tools, deadlines and budget. It’s part of our ongoing process to improve how we do things,” he says.

Tools for the trades
Keeping track of tools on jobsites haunts GEM Industrial just as it haunts any contractor. To get control of tool inventory, GEM Industrial instituted a tool tracking system.

All tools over $300 in value or specialty tools get a nine-digit number. In the past, that number was assigned and tracked manually. A bar-coding system makes the tools easier to track and, in turn, accurately assigned to a job’s cost.

“When we used the manual system, we had problems tracking tools because of human error. Getting just one digit wrong out of the nine-digit number would cause problems. We ended up with many tools we thought were misplaced, but were just recorded wrong,” Finch says. The bar-code reader eliminates the chance of incorrectly identifying a tool.

Assigning tools to the job
Once tools are assigned to a job, they are placed in job boxes for delivery. Additional tools are assigned to the job as requested by work crews. Finch estimates that 85 percent of GEM Industrial’s tool inventory is on jobsites. “We usually have 100 jobs underway. That’s quite a few tools to track and maintain,” he says.

Once a job is completed, the tools are brought back to the warehouse. “Workers scan the tools coming back into inventory and separate them into groups for testing before they are put back out on a jobsite,” says Finch.

“All tools are tested before going on the shelf. All welding hose is checked for leaks. All extension cords are inspected for nicks, cuts or wear. Power tools are checked over and any preventive maintenance is performed. We even repaint the tools before they go back on the shelves,” he says.

If a tool breaks down on the jobsite, it’s shipped back to the warehouse where two tool specialists repair them. “We have over 10,000 tools in our inventory so it makes sense to us to do the repairs,” says Finch. “We can handle most repairs and can turn the tool around in two hours. If we sent it into a repair center, it could take two weeks.” Difficult repairs or specialty tools are sent to repair centers.

The information recorded by the bar-code scanner is downloaded to the accounting system daily. “Once we started using the bar-code system, our ability to accurately track tools improved by at least 30 percent,” says Finch.

GEM Industrial takes pride in providing its workers with top-quality tools. “We test any new tool in our fabrication shop before we send it out on the jobsite,” says Finch. “It gives us a good idea what our true cost is before we send them.”

Rent vs. buy
GEM Industrial rents tools and equipment if they are only needed for a short time on the job. It also rents new types of tools to try them out. “We rented magnetic drills, but as workers used them and liked them, we started buying them because they were proven and would get used,” says Marshall Whitehurst, tool buyer.

The company continues to streamline its jobsite delivery process. It aims to develop a regimented delivery schedule. That means jobsite managers must be organized.

“One of the early markers a jobsite is running behind is getting one- and two-line requisitions a day for tools and supplies. When that happens, it means the jobsite needs some help,” says Johnson.

To streamline the delivery process, GEM Industrial requires its vendors, if appropriate, to mark the job name on all delivered supplies. Then, warehouse workers stage the goods for delivery.

“We aim for next-day delivery for orders that come in before noon,” says Whitehurst. “When a requisition comes in, we separate it into the departments that pick it and stage it in the warehouse for shipment,” he says.

GEM Industrial has a wide variety of distributors and suppliers in its service area, says Finch, but instead of working with all of them, it prefers to establish partnerships with a select few.

“We build these relationships on trust and continuous improvement. We develop processes that improve both companies,” he says.

For example, Finch works closely with a few companies for heavy equipment rentals. With one vendor, he shares his maintenance records on engine-powered equipment, and together, they put together a plan where the rental company helps complete planned maintenance.

“We get our equipment maintained in a timely manner. That’s very hard to do when it’s out on a jobsite. Plus, it helps our maintenance people be more efficient. We find that nearly 50 percent of the time in a mechanic’s day is spent driving. This helps cut our maintenance cost “ he says.

Enhancing the partnership
The partnership goes steps farther. Finch works closely with rental companies on delivery schedules. Together, they plan equipment pick-ups and drop-offs throughout the area.

“We will pick up some of their equipment from other jobsites if we are making a delivery there and they will do the same for us. It’s one of the many ways we work together to keep our costs down. If I can help keep a supplier company’s costs down, it will help keep my costs down, too,” he says.

GEM Industrial works hard to train jobsite supply orderers and the inside people who fill them.

“We work across so many trades, it takes about three years for someone to truly understand the tools, the jobsite needs and the process in the tool area,” says Finch.

Jobsite managers go through an extensive training program. All department heads share how their department works and how actions in the field affect other parts of the company.

Meetings and training
Meetings play a key role in GEM Industrial’s ongoing, ever-improving construction process. Many relate to employee training, while others are set up to share information, learn what works best, then adapt to be even more efficient.

Every employee goes through a four-hour safety training exercise, says Johnson. Once trained, every employee gets an annual refresher course.

Although workers are union tradesmen, GEM Industrial works with a variety of agencies to assure they are certified for the type of work they are doing.

“We recently needed welders for an X-ray quality weld-certified job, so we ran a certification program through our fabrication shop. We had almost 130 welders meet the State Welding Bureau and the Mechanical Contractor Association of Ohio requirements,” says Mike Lewandowski, welding foreman fabrication shop.

Published in the July/August 2003 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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