Issue link: https://construction.trimble.com/en/resources/i/1297960
PATH TO PREFAB: Strategies for Scaling and Optimizing Your Prefabrication Services Consolis: All-in-one BIM Consolis: Strategies Driving Success Forward Clark Pacific: from Project to Product Clark Pacific: Strategies Driving Success PT Blink: Making Time PT Blink: Strategies Driving Success 05 PT Blink: Making Time PT Blink: Making Time Ask PT Blink CEO Richard Thomas what his company sells and he won't talk about prefabrication or industrialized construction (at first, at least). He'll talk about selling up to 40 percent of a project schedule back to building owners and developers. While that's certainly the most compelling sales pitch behind PT Blink's growth, it isn't the only unique benefit they offer. Founded by long-time structural legend Murray Ellen, PT Blink's core technology is composed of only four components: column, beam, blade (shear wall), and tray. It is this innovative tech that enables them to do things differently from anyone else in the prefabricated building market. Unlike many platforms, PT Blink can be used to build any size of building, with round curves, and longer spans because they use a post-tension tray that imparts the strength and stability needed to go longer distances. "We can actually be quite clever. It's not like a lot of modular design which requires you to fit a certain design and put a lot of boxes on top of each other," explains Tim Courtright, Business Growth Strategist. "We say, 'Let us see what your architecture is and we can design a building that has a backbone that is designed correctly from the beginning.'" Using PT Blink technology also means that once a building is built, it is dimensionally controlled. There is no need to go out to verify as-built conditions with scanning. The structure is automatically accurate and contractors can get a jump start on prefabricating other building components such as bathroom pods, plumbing manifolds, and facades. That translates to even more time savings downstream. Another unique aspect of PT Blink is their business model. By franchising their technology, their process, and their network of hand-picked manufacturers that can actually create the components needed, PT Blink offers owners and contractors flexibility, scalability, and portability that the Katerras of the world cannot. "The market is already going to industrialized construction. What we are doing is providing a platform. A lot of people offer point solutions, something on design or shipping or logistics, but they don't actually have the end-to-end platform. PT Blink is a tool for everybody, from designers right down to builders and facility managers," says Thomas. "That doesn't exist in the market right now." We sell time Patent-protected post-tensioned tray technology lies at the heart of the PT Blink backbone. Company: PT Blink Website: ptblink.com Selected Building Projects: Tray technology, 3D Tekla modeling, PT Blink Ecosystem, PT Cube, methodology designed and implemented around safety, integrated building services, materials handling, code compliance, seismic performance Founder: Murray Ellen is a leading expert in post-tension steel technology and has conceived design and completed projects in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Dubai. He is highly regarded for his innovative steel design technology and construction methodology for large spanned structures, which he has developed and refined over many years. These designs have received multiple awards and are singularly unique in the global steel spectrum. What else is PT Blink doing to stand out from the crowd? Read the interview