Trimble Construction

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 04 Clark Pacific: Strategies Driving Success Clark Pacific: from Project to Product Strategies Driving Success Nail the Apples-to-Apples Conversation There is a trap that estimators can fall into easily when communicating project costs to owners, namely offering first cost analyses and evaluations that don't take into account the offsite construction savings that the owner can realize from prefabrication. At one point, it was almost impossible to accurately compare their prefabricated systems with conventional construction methods for estimating purposes. So, Clark Pacific commissioned construction consultants Faithful+Gould to perform a cost study on a complete prefabricated student residence hall. The results go beyond what Clark Pacific knew anecdotally and broke out specific numbers they now use to inform estimates and sales discussions, as well as quantify the value prefabrication brings to the full life cost of a project. Simplify with a Single Source Solution "With our single-solution approach, we are the single point of contact for the design team which simplifies the design process and for the general contractor it simplifies jobsite management. explains Jackson. "And from an owner's perspective, they now only have one point of contact for the warranty." Tell the Story with Technology For a recent project, a 10-story building in downtown Sacramento, Clark Pacific was able to take a model created in SketchUp, then convert it into a structural model within Tekla and look for opportunities for improvement such as panel breakup. "We used that one model to tell our story to the owner. We brought them out to our plant and demonstrated how we could help solve schedule and safety concerns with prefabrication, in a sort of design assist role," says Grant Guerrieri, PE, Senior Project Engineer. "Nobody wants to do rework. This is the way we work now and it's translating into time and money savings for our clients." Palmer adds, "Ten years ago, it probably wasn't possible to do the quick iterations we are doing now. The ability to sketch something up and say, 'This is what is going to happen if we do that.' Or, walk someone down a path visually has helped us tremendously." A Winning Market Entry Move One of the benefits of moving from a project-based approach to a product-centric one is the ability to offer more complete solutions and services to the market. Clark Pacific built its success on the West Coast, but a recent partnership now allows them to offer nationwide availability for its Infinite Facade ™ . Clark Pacific's Infinite Facade ™ technology is a standardized frame and connection system, with factory-installed fire safing and insulation. It allows designers and owners to take advantage of prefabrication and still have complete design flexibility. Constant Integration "As we've made this transition to focus on products, we are constantly looking at how we can integrate more systems into our solution," reveals Jackson. For a recent project at Stanford, panels were erected that were both the structural and cladding systems and included the windows. By taking most of the building construction offsite, it allowed Clark Pacific to integrate these systems and manufacture them in a quality controlled environment. Guerrieri continues, "Prefabrication is going to continue to grow, especially as more in the AEC industry becomes familiar with how to design and procure for prefabrication." "One area we are focusing on right now is adding the radiant tubing to our floor systems. By integrating the systems off site, we are finding the cost and schedule savings to be substantially below doing the work in the field. In addition smaller mechanical units are needed, saving money not only on the construction of the building but also in its operating costs." explains Guerrieri. It's okay to take baby steps, the time to start your prefabrication strategy is before you have a project. Once you define your strategy, all projects going forward can be viewed with a new level of understanding to take advantage of prefabrication. Angela Jackson, Marketing Manager, Clark Pacific

• Cover