Category: Features
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Managing Complex Construction Processes with Sablono – Interview with Lukas Olbrich
In this interview, Lukas Olbrich, Co-Founder and CEO at Sablono, tells about his company and the unique product they’ve developed for managing complex construction processes. Can you say a few words about the background of your team? We are three main founders of Sablono – Sven, Florian and me. Sven and I have been working together in…
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Selling Your Idea: Understand What You Are Selling and Set Goals
Despite that the construction industry is often considered conservative, there is always plenty of room for fresh ideas. Original ideas are the reason businesses can innovate their offerings much more quickly, continue providing better services to the customers, and grow profitably. The challenge is to sell your idea to your peers or to your customers.…
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Adopting a Culture of Experimentation in Construction
I’ve attended numerous seminars and workshops that came to the same conclusion: construction must become more customer-focused and, at the same time, productivity must go up. In spite of even substantial investments in development projects and change programs, very little has changed. Could a culture of experimentation come to the rescue? The challenge Recently, I’ve…
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Growth from Trends and Technologies
RYM, the Finnish innovation center for built environment, commissioned my company to identify changes in the customers’ world and discover business opportunities that arise from the changing business environment. I asked Janne Saarikko, a marketing strategist and expert on future living, to help with the research. We scoured relevant Internet sites and social media outlets and interviewed experts to form a picture of the…
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Growth from Trends and Technologies
RYM, the Finnish innovation center for built environment, commissioned my company to identify changes in the customers’ world and discover business opportunities that arise from the changing business environment. I asked Janne Saarikko, a marketing strategist and expert on future living, to help with the research. We scoured relevant Internet sites and social media outlets and interviewed experts to form a picture of the…
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Mobile Construction Estimating – Interview with Kim Phillipi of JobFLEX
This is my interview is with the president of JobFLEX, Kim Phillipi. We discuss the possibilities and benefits of using mobile tools for generating construction estimates out in the field. Can you say a few words about you, your company and its background? JobFLEX is a mobile sales and estimating tool for the residential and light commercial construction…
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How Scrum Entered Sweco Structures and Forever Changed the Way They Manage Projects
What happened when an enthusiastic engineer brought scrum – an agile IT project-management framework – to Sweco Finland? A lot of good things, as my interview reveals. Sweco Finland is part of the international Sweco Group, Europe’s leading architecture and engineering consultancy. They have over 14,500 employees, 2,000 of whom live in Finland. I had…
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How Scrum Entered Sweco Structures and Forever Changed the Way They Manage Projects
What happened when an enthusiastic engineer brought scrum – an agile IT project-management framework – to Sweco Finland? A lot of good things, as my interview reveals. Sweco Finland is part of the international Sweco Group, Europe’s leading architecture and engineering consultancy. They have over 14,500 employees, 2,000 of whom live in Finland. I had…
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Mobile Collaboration in Construction – Interview with Yves Frinault, CEO of Fieldwire
This is my interview with Yves Frinault, Co-founder and CEO of Fieldwire. We discuss how mobile computing is helping construction, especially on the construction site. Can you tell a little about your company, Fieldwire. Why and how did you come about, who are your customers, and where are you now, business-wise? Fieldwire is a mobile collaboration platform for…
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How to Start Service Productization in Your Design Company
If you’re running a small design firm and would like to increase your productivity, consider productizing your services. I just gave a presentation at the Business of Architecture Summit on service productization. I quoted Jorma Sipilä, a Finnish consultant, who wrote: “A service is productized when it can be licensed or its ownership can be…