The construction industry as a whole is plagued with three core issues in today’s market: long lead times, increased commodity pricing and staffing shortages. While many of these issues are out of our control, what we can control is our customer relationships. We are committed to maintaining strong customer relationships through this challenging market and as a result, we have been able to minimize the impact of these issues on our current projects. Here’s what we’re doing to combat these challenges:
Lead Times
It’s no secret that materials are not only expensive, but also harder to secure in today’s market. Longer lead times require more planning and more communication to ensure that the project is completed efficiently for both you and your client/owner.
We can’t control how long it takes to secure a product in most cases, but we can control how we communicate on both sides of the project. Our team is in constant, direct communication with our suppliers to get real-time updates on lead times and availability of items.
On the other side of the coin, we strive for steadfast communication by updating our customers on these changes as well–even going as far as sending over a copy of the direct exchange of communication between us and our suppliers. We know that this extra step will give our customers the peace of mind in knowing that their project is progressing as quickly and efficiently as it can in today’s construction environment.
Increased Commodity Pricing
Aluminum, copper, PVC and more…these items are all fluctuating in price on a daily basis. Whether we are working on a robotic distribution warehouse project or a cold storage facility, all industries are affected and all jobs are impacted by these commodity price increases.
Our 30 year reputation of adaptability, fairness and integrity has allowed us to develop long term relationships with many of our clients. It is because of this mutual trust that we are able to navigate these challenging times together.
We realize that difficult times require creative solutions and that every project has its own set of challenges. With that in mind, our team works with our clients to develop a plan that achieves the goals of the project for all parties, while doing so fairly and efficiently, despite today’s fluctuating market. This means that we may ask for a contract in order to begin pricing a job and that price is only good for 30 days; however, what we are able to turn around is a bid that keeps your project on budget and on time. It is this two-way communication that is helping everyone stay on top of this ever-changing market.
Staffing Shortages
JBI has always had a family culture within our company. This still rings true today, despite the challenges in attracting and retaining manpower that has been impacting every industry across the country.
We strive to only use our own employees on our jobs. We do this because we know that we are able to invest in our team’s growth at JBI to produce an innovative and effective product for our customers.
Many of us have come up through the ranks. We take a lot of pride in this and we are grateful for the mentors who pushed us to persevere through the best and worst times in our industry. This season in our industry is no different. We respect the determination needed to get the job done and constantly pour into our staff and field workers to help them not only produce quality work but also remember the roots of our trade.
It is through communication, creative solutions and investing in our people that JBI has been able to mitigate the impact of these current challenges. Our customers trust us and know that we will take care of them to the best of our ability in this market just as we have for over 30 years.
