2019Case13Alucraft

51 L EAN C ONSTRUCTION I RELAND A NNUAL B OOK OF C ASES 2019 the team to work really well collaboratively, and like many other teams they went through the stages of team development, Forming, Storming, Norming to reach an incredible Performing stage. This visual tracking system not only allowed the team to communicate more, understand each other’s roles and support one another, but it also allowed the team to meet, and in some cases, exceed their delivery timeframes and meet their invoice target each month. The team have adopted this approach so much that they decided to extend this methodology to all their projects going forward. Figure 2. Streamlining Flow of Information and Processes CI Team Implementing a Graduate Programme As a specialist sub-contractor, we face challenges in attracting young emerging talent to our company with stiff competition from main contractors and leading consulting firms. Due to the recession, many potential employees emigrated or left construction related careers. This left a void and affected our ability to recruit new and emerging talent, in particular for our Design Office. To tackle this problem, we initially set up a team to brainstorm how we would attract graduates to our company. From our brainstorm we developed an action plan. The project involved relationship building with specific colleges in Ireland where prospective employees are currently in education. We reached out to specific departments and organised presentations with second- and third-year students with the aim of recruiting two summer interns for 2018 and two graduates for September 2019. We also attended career days and graduate fairs to expand the recruitment net and to build brand recognition within the third level sphere. A key measure of success was the number of applicants we received which grew from 9 for our 2018 Summer Internship to 90 for our 2019 Graduate Programme, an increase of 900%. Figure 3. Alucraft Stand at Grad Ireland 2018 Investment in 3D Software We commenced this project when we recognised the potential value-add for our clients. In this ever-evolving market, our clients were focusing more and more on 3D modelling and visualisation, and we wanted to deliver a seamless mechanism to bring our clients through our façade design. The project commenced with a design capabilities analysis where our current software was reviewed, and a cost and capabilities comparison was carried out for potential 3D software. We had to determine if the 3D software could be integrated across the three des ign stages wi thin the department – Design for Architecture (DFA), Design for Production (DFP), and Design for Pressings (DFPP) – and therefore trialled it on complex parts of the façade on a project. We ran this trial in conjunction with the lead architects on a specific project, and on the back of its success we rolled out our 3D modelling to other ongoing projects. The project had dual benefits: • internally it meant we invested heavily in our employees; and • externally we are meeting and exceeding the expectations of our clients. We now have over 50% of our des ign of f ice ful ly operational on BIM 3D software. Our strategy is to have a ‘cradle to grave’ suite of 3D software that will satisfy the needs of our clients. Review of Annual Leave Historically, all Alucraft employees followed the holiday schedule set out by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) which meant that the company shut down for the two set weeks during summer. Listening to the voices of our employees, a request was submitted to review this practice and a CI committee was set up. The committee comprised of individuals from each department across the Figure 1. Master CIP Tracker