Service in the Industrial Construction Environment: What's missing?

By: Matthew Paulin, PMP

Many companies perform construction activities at industrial sites. In many instances, the end result of the activities are the same regardless of company- whether it is an improvement in process, upgrade in structural components or increasing capacity to manufacture additional product. The standard metrics for measuring company performance are items such as safety, schedule and budget. What is typically overlooked is the service that accompanies the work.

"The most important factor in service is communication"

The service component can range from willingness to stand by one's work to ability to meet expectations, but the most important factor in service is communication. This encompasses numerous aspects and is the most critical function regarding client satisfaction- from setting the initial expectation regarding work scope and arrival timeframe to updates throughout the course of the project to performing a closeout meeting to ensure quality standards have been met.

"Open lines of communication have the customer feel that they know the contractor's project team and the corresponding organizational chart"

By fostering open lines of communication, customers take from this that they are an integral part of the team and the resulting project success. The open lines of communication have the customer feel that they know the contractor's project team and the corresponding organizational chart. This can expedite answers on the client's end and reduces lost time from the contractor's perspective. For example: if a customer has a specific question regarding an approach to safety, the customer knows who the contractor safety rep is and has a direct way to contact the individual. This saves time on both companies behalves in that, the client has a quicker answer to the question, and the incorrect contractor's group does not have to field a call in which they are not the subject matter expert. By continuing the open lines of communication, the client gains an understanding of what to expect from given contractors and encourages a long term relationship.

How Cooling Tower Depot Fosters Communication:

We at CTD are equipped with staff that understands the importance of communication and ensuring that this is being provided not only externally to customers but the information is relayed internally as well. Our internal communication benefits us by the project teams knowing our company policies and expectations which leads into the teamwork aspect of our company. With this teamwork philosophy, we have benefits that extend beyond our own walls. This includes partnering with clients to proceed along the lines of a team approach in which both client and contractor are working together and understanding that each is there to gain a benefit to the other. With this understanding, we have been able to form long term relationships with our customers.

We also have seen that our effective communication results in increased productivity. This can be recognized through the clear direction that our field crews receive to gain the understanding of not only what is in the job scope, but more specifically what is excluded from job scopes. This reduces customer resources when our field crews arrive on jobsites and do not need additional explanation to begin the project. By our internal training and communication, we are ensuring that our field crews are trained in job specifics and safety policies resulting in less need for customer oversight and resulting resources.

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