EDITOR'S NOTE: Scott Sedam is on a relentless mission to eradicate waste from the building process. He will bring his message on the importance of eliminating waste and the LEAN building philosophy to the 2014 Oklahoma Building Summit on Sept. 11 at the Reed Center in Midwest City. This is one of several Q&As we will present from our conversation with Sedam.
Scott Sedam
Q: Can you give us some examples of waste in the building process?
SEDAM: Here are examples of what causes extra trips:
Q: You can put a cost to all these extra trips?
SEDAM: We have data now from nearly 150 of these Lean Building projects. More than 4,000 supplier and trades companies have participated. That's a lot of data. We now know that the absolute number of excess trips borne by the trades per unit is a very conservative 50. We frequently see 100 to 125, but let's just say 50. And a good average, low estimate cost on each of those trips is $200. That will run from $75 to $800, depending upon if it's one guy going out to fix a scratch on a fireplace front or a foundation crew with six guys, two trucks and trailer with a Bobcat. That can be $850. You take 50, which is a very conservative number, multiplied times $200, that's $10,000 in costs in trips in the average home, and virtually no one acknowledges it or tries to fix it.