b'assurance from a necessary evil to a nonnegotiable foundational standard for project excellence. Even Taking Control of Qualitymore importantly, we must change the belief that achieving quality comes at the expense of Control productivity. 2024 is slated to be a record year for manufacturingThe solution involves changes to technology, process construction, with Dodge Construction Networkand culture. Industry leaders should look to the forecasting $112 billion in project starts. Demand isInternational Organization for Standardizations ISO skyrocketing for both new facilities and updates to9000the gold standard for effective quality existing infrastructure for semiconductors, energy,management. The standard can be summarized by data centers and other sectors.the ISO 9000 early adopters motto: Amid this surge in large capital projects, a pressing challenge looms large: the industrys 30% rework1. Write down what you do. rate. Having to redo manual work costs construction companies and their customers a staggering $6252. Do what you write down. billion every year. In addition to being an albatross on project margins and schedules, rework is3. Make sure you are doing it. responsible for nearly 40% of all workplace injuries in construction. Given the magnitude of this challenge, why arentFor construction, that means contractors should (1) more companies and organizations focused on fixinghave written procedures for all critical work processes, poor work quality?(2) train their crews on these procedures, (3) have systems in place to confirm the correct procedure was FALLING BY THE WAYSIDEfollowed for each work activity and (4) conduct regular Imagine a new, state-of-the-art semiconductoraudits to confirm the procedures are being followed. fabrication facility, designed with all of the latest cutting-edge technologies. However, not everythingTechnology can help make implementing a quality-is as it seems. Just weeks after the project ismanagement system relatively painless. Through completed, a critical energy supply line develops aplatforms that guide field workers and prioritize field leak. The facility is shut down, losing hundreds ofquality, you have the ability to train a new generation thousands of dollars in a matter of hours, fallingof workers with the skills they need to perform work victim to the consequences of compromised quality.correctly every time. Its a scenario that plays out far too often in the construction industry.Even better, technology can shed light on the areas in Boeings recent Alaska Airlines incident, in which amanual work processes that are most ripe for panel on a 737 Max airliner blew out mid-flight, is aimprovement. Imagine knowing exactly which field powerful reminder of whats at stake. The massiveworker is completing the most high-quality work, that quality lapses that subsequent investigationscertain tasks are consistently plagued by delays or uncovered underscore the fact that inadequatethat specific workers exhibit higher rates of rework. quality control is plaguing many of our most critical industries. In an era defined by a relentless focus onWhen accurately tracked and used to inform future revenue and demands for efficiency, the importanceperformance and decisions, this type of data can of quality seems to have fallen by the wayside.change everything. Armed with this knowledge, project managers can take proactive measures to This is evidenced by the staggering rework rate thataddress underlying issues and improve performance has persisted even in the wake of significantgoing forward. technology innovation. Rework drains limited human resources during a global worker shortage andPRIORITIZING QUALITY erodes confidence in the industrys ability to deliverBy fostering a culture of accountability when it comes projects on time and within budget. Even worse, itto work quality, we can empower our next-generation risks the safety and lives of the workers who areworkforce to take ownership of their role in the doing their best to ensure that everything runsprocess. To change your internal culture, look to the smoothly.steps taken to improve jobsite safety. Think about the last time someone brought a quality issue to your NONNEGOTIABLE STANDARDattention. Did you react positively, thanking the Luckily, its not all doom and gloom. As an industry,person? Or did you express frustration, perhaps we have a massive opportunity to redefine how weinadvertently discouraging them from bringing think about quality. We can choose to elevate qualityproblems to your attention in the future?(continued to page16) 11'