The Baker Group recently hosted 200 contractors to their Des Moines, Iowa operations as part of the 2021 MCAA Fabrication Conference, powered by MSUITE. As hosts, they shared with attendees how they perform every aspect of their operations, including BIM, engineering, multi-trade fabrication, safety and transportation.
“While every one of the 18 stations shared great ideas and opportunities for contractors, the aspect that shined through was how much attention Baker has spent focusing on their process and workflow,” said Sean McGuire, MCAA’s Director of Innovative Technologies. “It is a real accomplishment for an organization of their size to go through that process. By documenting each area of their operations’ workflow, they can assess if it can be improved and allow everyone to understand what to do and how to work together. Rob Cross and his team at the Baker Group have an extremely impressive fabrication operation.”
In addition to the shop tour, the conference included education on cutting-edge practices for fabrication. Amanda Comunale shared top management mistakes in fabrication and Jonathan Marsh discussed how contractors can map their workflows using tools like MCAA’s Successful VDC Management application.
Stacy Zerr and Curt Baker of Waldinger also presented at the conference and shared how they recently redesigned their fab shop to incorporate digital workstations. The software allowed for direct digital integration into their fabrication facility.
The program concluded with a panel discussion led by Britton Langdon on Industry 4.0. The panel talked about how fabrication has evolved to greater emulate manufacturing and how contractors are adapting by incorporating tools that allow them to implement new manufacturing processes. Some of these tools include connected equipment to drive productivity in cutting and welding.
MCAA will hold its next fabrication conference in November of 2022 and will be sponsored by McKinstry Company in Seattle. Leading up to the event, MCAA will host a series of fabrication webinars. Details will be posted on MCAA.org as they become available.
