Everyone is looking for technicians. But what if the biggest gains don’t come from hiring more people, but from organizing more efficiently? The “Smart Construction” initiative is visiting Bonarius. There, they decided not to look for additional capacity, but to completely rethink their entire workflow.
At the end of June, Techniek Nederland released a report showing that the installation sector continues to grow, while the shortage of skilled workers is increasingly slowing down production. Installation technology accounts for an ever-larger share of total construction costs. In non-residential construction, that share is now over 42 percent. At the same time, labor costs are rising, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find enough skilled workers. The sector faces a difficult challenge: building more homes and making them more sustainable, with virtually the same number of people.
That’s why Bonarius, an installation company, turned the question around. Not: How do we find more technicians? But: How do we schedule our available employees as efficiently as possible?
The answer lies in a completely redesigned maintenance process. Technicians cover one neighborhood at a time, performing maintenance, inspections, and minor repairs in a single visit whenever possible. This is known as the “swarm approach.” All materials are prepared in advance, and unnecessary trips to the warehouse are eliminated from the schedule.
Preparation has also largely shifted from the construction site to the workshop. Heat pumps, boiler frames, and hybrid systems are prefabricated there. On-site, the work is then mainly limited to assembly. Whereas installing a heat pump used to take a full workday, it can now often be done in half a day. Less downtime, lower failure costs, and more homes that can be serviced in a single day.
This approach shows that the solution to the labor shortage lies not only in recruitment or training. It’s just as important to organize processes more efficiently, so that scarce skilled workers can focus on what they do best: installation.
The Bonarius Survival Kit
-
t
- Work as a single team. Technicians work on a neighborhood basis and combine maintenance tasks as much as possible during a single visit.
- Prefabrication wherever possible. Systems are largely assembled in advance, which cuts on-site installation time roughly in half.
- No wasted mileage. Materials and tools are available in advance, ensuring that productive time is maximized.
- More output with the same number of people. By organizing more efficiently, labor productivity increases without the need for additional staff.
- Residents benefit as well. Fewer appointments, less disruption, and issues are often prevented rather than resolved after the fact.
t
t
t
t
Survivaltip
When facing a staffing shortage, the instinct is often to step up the search for new people. But the biggest step forward starts with a different question: where are our skilled workers actually wasting time? Organizations that eliminate that waste from their processes not only build faster but also become more attractive to the people who already work there.
About Expedition Smart Building
Construction is like surviving in a jungle of rules, ambitions, and problems. In “Expedition Smart Building,” Marjet Rutten takes you to a groundbreaking place or location every week where they’ve overcome all the obstacles and hurdles along the way. If you also have a special place you’d like to highlight, please email the editorial team.
Rutten has been working in the industry since 1998 and wants to contribute to a dynamic, successful construction sector. In addition to her work for Building Balance, she is active as a Gideon and serves on numerous government review committees and juries, where her responsibilities include assessing the market potential of planned product and process innovations. You can order her latest book, *From Brick to Blockchain*, about developments in the sector leading up to 2040, here. Looking for more inspiration on developments in our sector? Visit www.debouwin2040.nl
This is an article from Construction and Installation Hub. Want to keep up with all the news from the construction and installation industry? Then take a look at the hub and sign up for the online community.
↗
