Handbook for Trades: Resources for Continuous Improvement
We were thrilled to speak with Henry Nutt, III, Preconstruction Executive/Business Development Manager, Southland Industries, about his actionable 2024 Congress session, Handbook for Trades: Resources for Continuous Improvement.
Henry and his colleagues Robert Leicht, an associate professor at Penn State, and Matt Kitzmiller of Rosendin Electric Inc. will lead this trade-centered session. The presentation will cover research derived from trade contractors that are advanced in adopting Lean, along with first-hand examples and lessons learned. The sessions will focus on three themes vital for trade success—people, process, and continuous improvement.
Join us at the 2024 LCI Congress, October 22-25, in San Diego for this session and many more! Register today for the best available rates.
Henry’s background is in the trades.
Henry is a preconstruction executive and business development manager with Southland. For 12 of his 17 years at the firm, he served as the sheet metal general superintendent . He applies his field execution experience to his current role, helping Southland win work with strategies that “help us be more competitive, safer, and bring in prefabrication ideas and things like that.”
This session features research data that informs practical execution—focused on the trades.
Henry has been holding this popular Congress session with his colleagues Rob and Matt for almost three years. He noted the Handbook of Production Improvement Methods is “the perfect intersection of where academia crosses with the construction field. It’s a balance of both worlds. We come together with someone who does research and gives us insight, and we bring in the practical aspect of what we are executing on that research.”
He continued, “We share some case studies on different companies doing cool things in the industry. We talk about their lessons learned, provide insights, and answer questions. It centers around the trades. We want more trade partners involved at Congress and as LCI members, and we want them to see the value of these offerings.
The handbook covered in this session is one of the resources we offer. It’s practical, based on proven data . We’re not just guessing. This session showcases what we’ve done and highlights some tools and ideas. It’s designed to help trade contractors and we want them to know that the handbook exists,” he continued.
Trade contractors can use Lean processes to be best in class and work better.
Henry offered, “You can’t be the best in class without Lean. Being the best requires more than a good effort. You need people who can understand the methodologies and behaviors. To get better at what we are doing, we need to get people involved in networking opportunities and training to learn from others. That’s where Congress and the LCI Community of Practices (CoPs) come into play.
I want the trades to know this will be practical. I come from the trades and know some of these things can feel like they go over your head. But if you want to be more competitive with winning business, you’ve got to be exposed to something new and get past what you’ve always done. We want to challenge people to think differently. It’s about approaching work in a way that leads to better delivery.
The trades make up the largest part of the risk pool when delivering work. If we can adopt better behaviors, collaborative ways to increase profit margins and have better experiences out in the field, it will make these jobs more attractive and safer. We are trying to raise the bar. To be a progressive trade partner, you need to change the way you work.”
The three themes for success are people, process, and continuous improvement.
Henry gave us a sneak peek of the themes for success that will be covered in the session:
“People—I can’t emphasize this enough. Teamwork, support, and leadership are things people bring to the table. How we are communicating on our projects requires people. These are skill sets that are essential for success. We recognize how valuable and essential they really are, whether it is in the design phase or the field. Leadership is important, and it doesn’t mean you have a title. It’s about stepping up the way others won’t because you want to see change.”
“Process—These are the tools, methodologies, mindsets, and things you see at trainings. We need to make sure the process isn’t broken and understand what it should look like for our specific, unique scenarios. If there’s something we need to tweak, leadership and communication comes to play. It all ties together.”
“Continuous Improvement—We want this to become part of the DNA of approaching work—to always want to get better. We should celebrate wins and things we’re doing well too, but also always look at how to get better. We can’t be stuck in a place of thinking we’ve done it like this for x number of times and it’s fine. It may be fine now, but it won’t be five years from now.
It’s like a river. The water is always moving. Change is already happening, and we need to get better to stay relevant. That mindset is important.”
Key takeaways include Adopting Lean sets you apart from the competition.
Henry noted some of the key takeaways he hopes attendees take away from the session:
- The trades are vital to our industry: “Anyone in the field and the shops, folks making things, doing the heavy lifting, we want you to feel pride in your industry. It’s important for us to talk about and get your ideas.”
- Actionable insights are available from the case studies presented: “We want you to understand the results from case studies across the country—what they’re sharing, lessons learned, and the struggles they have.”
- Trade contractors can be more competitive with Lean: “We want to highlight how it sets you apart when you adopt Lean as a company.”
- Adoption of Lean by trades decreases risk: “My prime reason to do this was to spur the adoption of Lean by the trades. It’s that higher risk pool of people who take that plan and execute it—and they need to be aligned. This is a way to highlight what great companies are doing across the country. We have data, research, and a handout. We want people to be familiar with the resources on the LCI website.”
- We can make projects better together: “We want to showcase what others are doing. We can make projects better and motivate people. It’s a blend of academia and field, and it can help you be more productive.”
Trade contractors, and anyone who works with the trades, should be in this room.
Henry shared, “Along with trade contractors, anyone who has a connection with the trades, including project managers and project executives who interact with the field, and engineers who need to make sure what’s designed is constructable, should attend. Sometimes the person with the hammer in the field isn’t part of these conversations, so if you have a connection with that person, you should be in the room. All the folks who have a connection to trades and shops and the field should be in the room. There’s great dialog too, for the question-and-answer portion of the presentation.”
Trade partners are essential to advance the conversation and our industry at Congress.
“This is near and dear to my heart. I’ve been attending LCI Congress since 2008. When I first attended, I was a fly on the wall navigating it, wondering if I should even be there. Congress has been a complete eye-opener. The first couple years, I didn’t see many trade contractors there. A lot of content wasn’t designed for me. I thought, if we don’t have stuff to draw people in, we will have one-time attendees. I wanted to put something together for the trades,” noted Henry.
He continued, “We make this an experience not just for the design world but also the construction people in the field and shops that put it all in place. We have more people here who work in the fields and communicate as leaders. There is something for everyone here.
Trade attendees can walk away with something to take back to their company that’s practical, and tips and tricks to do their job better. It’s also a great place to network and build relationships for future opportunities. And there are scenarios to learn, pass on ideas, and gain insights on how you can work through your issues. You’ll meet allies. All of us are together trying to make it work.”
Henry looks forward to reconnecting every year at Congress.
Henry noted, “For me it’s always about this reunion with people you see once a year and an experience that happens only once a year. Even if I see them regularly, it’s not in this kind of space. Congress is about learning, growing, networking—engaging with people, celebrating what’s going on in others’ Lean journeys. It makes it more personal. One of the big takeaways for me is that it is a big family. We are all trying to figure this out and all at different stages of our Lean journeys. We are all trying to make this industry better.
We are doing it one project and one person at a time. It’s a big nut to crack but we are all committed to doing it. At Congress, it’s really people who care about each other and the industry. LCI Congress has changed the industry and continues to impact how we engage and what’s important. We walk away feeling like we got a shot in the arm to continue until next year.”
Don’t miss this session and many others at Congress! Explore the interactive agenda and choose the track Navigating the Flow for Excellence: Field Execution for more trade-focused content. Register today.
Check out these top trade partner resources from LCI—
The Top 10 Best Lean Guides | Lean Construction Institute (scroll down for Trade Partners Handbook of Production Improvement Methods)