A Drywall Contractor Speaks
Dan Wies is president of Wies Drywall and Construction, a St. Louis company that has been in his family for three generations. He also enjoys contributing to the community–by providing quality service customers as well as training and growth opportunities to employees.
Dan sees it as his job to make the general contractor the hero. He tells them, “My name should never be in your mouth in a bad way.”
The key to staying effective, profitable, and safe, Dan says, is having a really solid team that can execute consistently. This is the key to owners and contractors who are not frustrated.
We ask Dan to discuss some of the pain points of drywall work. He touches on these things:
Ensuring that you aren’t just treated like another bidder on bid day - This means being clear about the scope of bids.
Standing out in an increasingly complex construction landscape - This means being clear and consistent about their focus. It also means innovating–creating systems that are more efficient.
Timing production runs to ensure that storage space doesn’t overflow before a site is ready for the parts.
We discuss panelization and modularization. Dan explains that these approaches help him help general contractors move projects along at a faster pace. Having a Revit specialist on the team enables him to respond quickly when a contractor needs to plan a change.
Dan explains his company’s use of FRAMECAD, a roll-forming machine (See a video here). Dan compares it to the equipment used to form eavestroughs–but with substantially greater capabilities. Their machine can form anything from a 2” stud to a 50-footer. And it can do this while operating at an almost zero-waste level.
Eddie points out that the average person–even someone who works in the construction industry–doesn’t have a clue how complex the work is that is done by larger drywall operators like Wies’s company. Our perceptions are seriously outdated and simplistic.
Dan shares a bit about how they’ve recruited and trained designers and computer operators. Then we move on to discuss the challenges of sourcing roll-forming equipment from New Zealand in the middle of the pandemic. Surprisingly, Dan said it didn’t take them as long as it’s taking some people now.
Fitting that cool new machine into the workspace, though… Well, Dan just decided to buy a whole new facility. That facility is now so busy that it’s just busting at the seams. That creates a storage issue, since this material can’t sit outdoors for long periods of time. This means their space is totally overloaded–and then it’s suddenly empty.
We discuss the advantages and challenges of new technologies such as laser scanning. It’s important to weigh the huge number of pros and cons before integrating a new system. It’s also important to keep quality and consistency at the forefront of the decision-making process.
Dan’s Megaphone Message: If we, as an industry, don’t start adopting digital processes, we’re doing ourselves an extreme disservice.
Find Dan Online: LinkedIn - Wies Drywall and Construction
Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn
If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening!
