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the wellness testing results are the starting point for personal support from Nabholz’s wellness team. Almost all eligible employees take part in wellness testing: 99 percent completed testing each year between 2010 and 2017. Nabholz employees’ health also has improved. In 2011, 34 percent of employees who completed testing had biometric outcomes that met Nabholz targets in four or more categories. By 2017, this increased to 82 percent of employees. And, since 2010, Nabholz saw its annual health insurance premiums increase an average of 1.6 percent, lower than the national average of 3.7 percent annual increases from 2010 to 2017. “We work hard to have a strong balance sheet to make it through tough times. We expect periodic downturns in our industry and we plan accordingly.” TZL: What measures are you taking to protect your employees during the COVID-19 crisis? GW: Disinfecting offices and taking additional hygiene precautions on job sites. All group meetings are postponed or conducted online. We’ve also limited travel. TZL: How far into the future are you able to reliably predict your workload and cashflow? GW: About two months on average. TZL: Your company focuses on implementing the Lean principles. Can you give me a specific example of how this has been implemented on a recent project? GW: Recently, the Nabholz team at the Ozark Mill project applied Lean principles to drive waste out of their project. In preparation for the busy phase ahead, Superintendent James McElhaney challenged his team to anticipate bottlenecks and devise creative solutions to maintain workflow. “Nothing Hits the Floor” is a Lean practice that keeps materials and debris off the floor. Using palettes or wheeled carts for material staging promotes better housekeeping and improves traffic flow. It makes moving materials easier, quicker, and safer. Using wheeled containers for cutoffs
prevents debris piles from accumulating in work areas. It saves cleanup time and helps get debris to the trash containers quicker. “Nothing Hits the Floor” eliminates wasted transportation and wasted motion, spoiled inventory, extra processing, and the deadly waste of waiting. The Ozark Mill team combined “Nothing Hits the Floor” with the some of the “5S” principles – sort, straighten, shine, standardize, and sustain. Josh Johnson, a Nabholz carpenter, created temporary battery charging stations to promote standard common spaces on the jobsite to recharge cordless tools, creating a tidier jobsite and eliminating the time it takes for other workers to locate charging cords and outlets. Josh also created a temporary lift charging station to promote a standard common space on the jobsite for recharging man lifts, making it easier for workers to locate this vital piece of machinery and eliminating wait time while the lift would need to charge. Josh also put what he calls his “spider box” on wheels so workers can quickly move the cluster of electrical receptacles to wherever work tasks require it. Though not one of the 5S principles, safety stays top of mind with any activity on the jobsite, and these innovations all improved safety conditions. The tool charging stations will eliminate the trip hazard from cords being scattered across work areas. The charging and “parking lot” for lifts keeps these bulky pieces of equipment from creating tight points on the jobsite that could cause workers to hurt themselves. “We invest in education and training every year. We strive to maintain our culture of caring about our team members.” TZL: What, if anything, are you doing to protect your firm from a potential economic slowdown in the future? GW: We work hard to have a strong balance sheet to make it through tough times. We expect periodic downturns in our industry and we plan accordingly. TZL: It is often said that people leave managers, not companies. What are you doing to ensure that your line leadership are great people managers?
HEADQUARTERS: Conway, AR NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 1,200 YEAR FOUNDED: 1949 NUMBER OF OFFICE LOCATIONS: 17 SERVICES: ❚ ❚ Construction ❚ ❚ Industrial ❚ ❚ Civil ❚ ❚ Environmental ❚ ❚ Specialty services ❚ ❚ Concrete ❚ ❚ Crane and equipment rental and operation ❚ ❚ Custom millwork and cabinetry ❚ ❚ Machinery moving and installation ❚ ❚ Mission critical ❚ ❚ Energy savings performance contracting ❚ ❚ Fleet equipment and services ❚ ❚ Railroad services ❚ ❚ Safe rooms and storm shelters ❚ ❚ Virtual design and construction ❚ ❚ Specialty services SECTORS: ❚ ❚ Automotive ❚ ❚ Civil ❚ ❚ Commercial office and retail ❚ ❚ Community and nonprofit ❚ ❚ Government ❚ ❚ Healthcare ❚ ❚ Higher education ❚ ❚ Industrial and manufacturing, ❚ ❚ K-12 education ❚ ❚ Museum ❚ ❚ Culture and entertainment ❚ ❚ Religious and senior living
See INTEGRITY, page 8
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OBER 19, 2020, ISSUE 1364
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