Innovation Nation

A Message from The Hagerman Group

Everyone can innovate. Incorporating innovation can help us save time and money, and give us the competitive advantage to grow and adapt our business in the marketplace. While statistics show that the construction industry is one of the least innovative (they say we still construct buildings today the way we built them 50 years ago), Hagerman constantly looks at ways we can differentiate ourselves from the “norm.”

What is innovation? Innovation generally refers to changing or creating more effective processes, products and ideas, and can increase the likelihood of a business succeeding. Businesses that innovate create more efficient work processes and have better productivity and performance.

But being innovative does not mean inventing; innovation can mean changing our business model and adapting to changes in our environment to deliver better products or services. Successful innovation is built into our business strategy and the strategic vision, where we create an environment and lead in innovative thinking and creative problem solving.

Three categories of innovation have been implemented at Hagerman over the past few years. They are:

INCREMENTAL

·         Upgrading software for improved productivity

·         Revised approach to strategic plan

·         Different approach to business development/closing the deal

·         Implementing lean processes

RADICAL

·         Video conferencing to make better use of time

·         Hiring a president with no construction experience

·         Implementing Building Information Modeling (BIM)

·         Placing tower crane on Hagerman job for visibility

BUSINESS MODEL

·         Focus on smaller, private, negotiated projects vs. huge educational projects

·         Focus on masonry work in Ohio

·         Addition of site selection/negotiation talent

·         Geographic growth plan

Remember, innovation is the key to competitive advantage.