There is no i in team
I’ve been watching a lot of Rick Beato videos lately. He’s the guitar guru who breaks down the coolest songs on the planet lick by lick. His enthusiasm is priceless. Even if you don’t understand the music theory it’s just fun to watch his facial expressions.
Like a great song, it’s the collective entirety of the band that collaborates to make one cohesive, emotional, awesome piece. And our scaffold team is no different. I shot the photos of this job and thought about the different elements that came together to make it work. The first thing that came to mind is that this job is in Allentown, PA, not down the street. So that took extra effort on everyone’s part from the estimator to the delivery drivers to the scaffold builders as well.
This job at 504 Hamilton St., Allentown, PA isn’t that different from any job we erect so I thought I’d take a blog and detail the anatomy of how the team works together to complete the task and make a beautiful, safe and functional scaffold for a client. In this case, the client is JD Bravo Inc., someone we have worked with in the past. They got hired as the GC to do the parapet restoration and roof replacement for this building. But before that – the first thing they did was reach out to one of our estimators or salesmen to get a price when they bid the job. They called, Bob Sarkisian, our resident swing stage expert.
Most of the jobs we do are out for bid and the bidding company needs a number long before they even get the work. Bob drove up to Allentown and met with Michael A. Wolf, Robert M. Dettore and Robert Dettore, Jr. from JD Bravo and did what we call a “Job Walk” to assess the client’s needs. He then comes back to the shop and meets with superintendent, Ken, an experienced scaffold builder himself, to discuss Bob’s plans on how he’d like to do this job. Ken helps determine the details to safely and efficiently complete this job (including a material list). Bob then calculates what the rental and installation (labor) costs will be and sends that over to the perspective client.
JD Bravo then takes our number and submits it along with all of their other costs in hopes they are awarded the job. In this case, they got it. They then call Bob and say, we are ready to roll. Bob sends his plans to the engineer to verify that our design is sound and provides a safe means for the customer to access the work areas. Drawings are certified so the scaffold builders can follow the build and meet all of the correct standards.
(Warning, this next part can be triggering) Now it’s time for the for legalese, aka: the contract. Lourdes, our bid manager/accounts payable wizard, enters all of the details of the scope of work and hours its expected take and the rental cost and labor into the system. While she is entering the details of the job into the contract, Steph, our credit manager, is doing a credit check to make sure they are financially okay to rent. At the same time, Shawn, Safety Director, produces the necessary safety documents (job hazard analysis, safety and rescue plan) for the client.
Usually, there are contracts from both companies – that’s when the tango for terms and conditions begins between our CEO, Guy Bianchini, and their CEO. Amy, office manager, works with Guy on the final contract. All billing, contracts, worker’s time sheets and data will go through her.
Dave, counter sales/dispatch, checks the material lists and sends them to the supported side and the powered access side of the company. That preliminary material list goes out to Richie “Moose”, the warehouse manager in supported scaffold, to check to make sure that we will have enough of the thousands of components to construct the scaffold. He may hand it off to Andre, Bruce, Greg, Bob F or Joe in the warehouse to verify the computer inventory count, in case we have to order something. Let’s face it, if we are short just 1 screw jack, we can’t even get off the ground.
Eddie, service manager, at our powered access department, also gets the list to make sure he has the motorized equipment necessary to supply the job. Eddie goes to the technicians in the shop, Bobby B and Duane to be sure the transport platforms and any motorized equipment is ready to rent. And then Jason, yard supervisor, makes sure the rest of the components are in stock and ready to roll.
That’s just the pre-rental to get ready to get ready. Now that we’re ready to go – we pick an actual date.
Once all of the contractual elements are in place and a deposit has been placed on the job – we are ready to move equipment. Dave creates the pick tickets (lists of equipment) and distributes them to be pulled, palatized and wrapped and then loaded onto the truck by the warehousemen. (Making sure that the stuff that goes on the ground is the first thing that goes onto the truck) Think of it as a giant erector set. We start at the bottom first.
At the same time, Kenny has to pick the foreman that’s right for the job, in this case, Rich D is the King of the transport platform so he’s on. Ken then books the correct scaffold builders for this job and works with Dave to schedule the men, days, loads and trucks needed for the job. Once all of the equipment is loaded onto the truck, one of our truck drivers Al, Tony, or Joe drives that equipment up to the job in Allentown.
PHEW… Now – we’re ready to get STARTED…
Crews of four typically get a few days to assemble all of the components of this job. There will be a crew for the scaffold and one for the transport platform. All of these critical components work together to get a job like this off the ground. There can be as many as 25-30 people involved. And then it happens all over again when the job ends and the scaffold comes down.
When it’s all over – the customer says, “Thanks Bob, for all of your hard work.” But this is to everyone involved in the work we do at Superior who may not get thanked. Thanks! We really appreciate all that you do!
Here is a little on this job now that you see what’s involved on our end. It’s got just about everything. We built a canopy (overhead protection system) using system scaffold out front and down the entire length of the building, to protect pedestrians as restoration crews work overhead. They will be repointing, replacing, refinishing the facade and parapet stones as well as replacing the roof.
There is a special scaffold at the rear of the building just for the transport platform. The scaffold is anchored to the structure itself for stability and rises 5 stories.
We built a very cool two level or dual roof access deck off of the transport platform in the back of the building. Crews will be able to access both levels of the job as well as run equipment up and trash down without interfering with pedestrian traffic around the building. (Imagine the time savings over having workers climb 5 sets of steps). We also have various smaller scaffolds on the roof to access other areas needing repair or restoration.
We are proud to have been a part of this renovation with JD Bravo and the city of Allentown. If you need scaffolding, access, elevators, transport platforms call Bob Sarkisian today at 215 743-2200 or visit www.superiorscaffold.com.
And for our musical interlude, let’s show you what started the entire post.
Here’s a secondary a piece of music that shows, how when you all work together, there is no i in team. Groove it, baby.
#scaffold #scaffolding #rental #rent #superiorscaffold #restoration #inspection #construction #facade #masonry #canopy #protection #howto #erection #install #emergencyservices #masonry #suspendedscaffold #mastclimber #canopy #philly #philadelphia #pa #electrical #pa #de #nj #ny #md #hoist #buckhoist #lift #saia #excellenceisbuilding #transportplatform #allentown #elevator