A culture of innovation leads to creative solutions and improved performance across jobsites. Sharing ideas, the big and small, make us all better, safer builders.

At Sundt, innovation can look like winning the Associated General Contractors of America’s Grand Award for the best safety program in the country, three times. It can look like a conveyor bridge over the I-20 freeway to move materials across a highway instead of sending trucks miles down the road just to turn around and dump material on the other side. Creative solutions and programs like these and dozens more happening on Sundt projects across the country save time, save costs, and save lives.

But a culture of innovation goes beyond the new platform, tool, or companywide initiative. It’s about curious people working together to find the best way to get a job done.

“These ideas, sometimes small, are proof of us working to be the most skilled builder in America. It’s the attitude and encouragement to think of new ways to do things,” said Sundt Director of Innovation Eric Cylwik.

It takes more than just having a good idea. Sundt employee-owners share these sparks of creative problem solving with other employee-owners, even if the idea seems irrelevant for another jobsite. Because good ideas can always inspire other good ideas.

Here are some of the jobsite innovations our teams have recently created.

 

Solar powered fans bring relief at the Phoenix Zoo

While the team working on the new Veterinary Medical Center at the Phoenix Zoo use tactics to mitigate the heat for workers on the jobsite, the restroom facilities on would get uncomfortably hot. The team could have just held their breath and dealt with the high temperatures when using the porta-johns, but instead they saw an easy fix to make everyone more comfortable. They installed low-cost, solar-powered vent fans directly into the restroom vents. The fans run on sunlight, improve airflow, reduce odor, and make the interior temperature more comfortable for our skilled craft professionals.

 

Thinking ahead and protecting neighbors

 

On a transportation project in Central Texas, the team was working near private homes. Major highway projects like this can kick up dust and small rock fragments. Rather than wait for a problem to happen, the team took the initiative and made a plan to reduce any damage to nearby houses. Using filter fabric, lumber, tie wire and nails, the crew built a temporary perimeter barrier to help shield neighboring properties from airborne debris and dust. It’s not a fancy app or breakthrough technology, but it’s a simple and effective way to be a good neighbor while work gets done.
 

Turning a six-hour fill into 45-minutes

 
On a project in Nevada, the Sundt team had a water tower that took about six hours to fill. The process worked, but it took time, required attention, and slowed work. The team could have accepted the process as part of the job. Instead, they found a better way. By installing a booster pump and automatic pressure switch, the inlet pressure feeding the tower increased and reduced fill time from six hours to 45 minutes.

 

Putting clear signals in every pocket

 

Sundt celebrates any idea that makes the job safer and helps our employee-owners get home at the end of the day. Sometimes that means communicating more clearly with each other. After noticing the use of multiple and different hand signals to communicate with forklift operators, an employee-owner saw an opportunity to standardize the communication system. The team printed durable, pocket-sized laminated cards with images of the hand signals that could be carried by workers in the field. The card gives crews quick access to common signals for lifting, lowering, tilting, stopping and other movements. It is a simple, portable, and direct way to ensure our teams communicate effectively and stay safer.

 

Turning a remote-controlled car into an inspection tool

 

Inspections and quality control in confined and small spaces like reinforced concrete pipes can create difficulties on the job. Rather than rely on traditional inspection methods, our team upgraded a remote-control car with a camera and sensors connected to a smartphone above ground. The setup allows crews to inspect the pipe and assess conditions without needing to send a person in the confined space. Adding the Sundt colors and stickers to the car, a nice creative touch.

Big innovations help move the industry forward. Small innovations help the work move forward today. Across Sundt, employee-owners continue to find practical ways to improve safety, support craft professionals, protect quality, reduce rework, respect neighbors, and keep projects moving.

Good ideas inspire new ideas and small improvement compound over 135 years to create a construction company with the most skilled and innovative builders in America.