Masonry Magazine April 1997 Page. 24
Lets start with the basics
As a practical matter, we all know material costs for a given job are essentially set, and everyone pays pretty much the same, but labor can be as much as 50% of the bid price. The only way to make more profit is to cut labor costs. Conventional wisdom says that you must somehow cut back your crew size and still get the same amount of work done. However, if you keep doing everything else the same old way, you simply end up working short handed. Actually, the most profitable contractors know a better way: Use the same size crew, but work faster and smarter.
You don't have to double your production to double your profits
Here's the sentence that all successful masonry contractors live by: In any bid, the labor number is usually about ten times more than the profit number. Therefore, reducing labor by only 10% saves an amount of money that is about equal to the profit dollars. Profit just doubled! Instantly!
Let's look at this idea from different perspectives to see if the concept really checks out:
A) In an 8-hour day, your bricklayers probably lay your profit in the last half hour. If they increase production by 10%, they will lay your profit for a full hour. Twice the time, twice the profit.
B) Let's say you figure $4.00 per square foot for 8" block. If you're lucky, about 30e is profit. Increase your production by 10% and your in-wall cost just dropped to $3.36 ($3.70/1.1). Your profit has about doubled to 644 ($4.00-$3.36).
C) You estimated 10 weeks to build a job. Increase your production by 10% and your actual time on the job is cut to 9 weeks and 3 hours. Since you get paid the bid price no matter how long it takes, you put the other 4 days and 5 hours worth of payroll money in your pocket. The general contractor loves you for finishing early and you move on to another job sooner.
My dad proved this concept in his own masonry business. He was a masonry contractor for 25 years. He lives by a saying that goes like this: "Romance the bricklayer 'cause he's the one bringing in your money." In other words, a masonry contractor gets paid based on material in place, and for no other reason. In an average day, if you put more units in the wall than you figured, they all go to profit.
Using this concept, my father eliminated every minute of his bricklayers' down time those moments they were not putting units in the wall and converted it to profitable time. He found when they got a wall scaffold-high and moved they stopped for 20 minutes, 15 minutes when it was time to raise boards on the scaffold (which was several times per day), and 5 to 10 minutes here and there when they ran out of materials because the laborers were off somewhere building or tearing down scaffolding.
The cause of the bottle-neck turned
Romance the Bricklayer... 'cause he's the one bringing in your money
out to be his frame scaffolding and its demands on the bricklayers' backs and the laborers' time. He imagined that if the wall can stay waist high to the bricklayers all day, and the laborers can stay with them and feed them materials, they can lay up to 40% more units and be less tired at the end of the day simply because they don't stop-start, stop start, and stoop and bend all day. Certainly, in theory, elevating scaffolding held the potential for a smart masonry contractor to earn "a bundle of money."
Does it work in the real world?
My dad's first experience on the job with elevating scaffolding proved that it does make a lot of extra money. He gained an average 20% more production on walls with corners and openings. And 35% was not uncommon for blank walls like warehouses. And profits did double. The only problem with the new system was his men they hated it and refused to use it past the second job. The transition from frames to elevating scaffolding had created new problems while solving others. To keep profits at the new higher level, his solution was to discard the new system he had purchased and design and build his own scaffolding system with all the features he wanted, and none of the problems designed into the other systems on the market. It took my dad a long time to design the perfect system, but it was worth it! His men loved loved his new creation. His new company, Non-Stop Scaffolding, is now a major supplier of elevating scaffolding nationwide.
The bottom line
What are you waiting for? Elevating scaffolding will increase the overall efficiency of your crews and improve job site safety. Many contractors who use it say it has become their most valuable production tool, more important than forklifts. There are several companies making different types of elevating scaffolding with different features. All of them will increase your profits, but which one will best mesh with your operation? Take your time and really study your decision because when you buy, you will essentially be marrying a new scaffold system and its manufacturer. You and your men deserve to be happy with both from now on.
Here are some important features and factors to compare when deciding which system to buy. It is written as a practical guide to give you a good understanding of how the different features will work for you. Since the best elevating scaffolding will pay for itself within the first few months, it makes more sense to choose the system that will work best in your operation, and last the longest. Of course price is important, but when selecting quality elevating scaffolding, price isn't nearly as important since the best systems will pay for itself a couple of times during your first year.