Barnhart’s success in these complex
projects is due in large part to communication and collaboration, both with their clients and within the company. Tis focus on communication starts long before the job, and even before the client relationship is established. Each employee, including sales staff, goes through a “boot camp” that gives them a broad and thorough knowledge of the industry. Tis means that all of Barnhart’s employees are ready to understand and respond to customers’ needs.
Barnhart’s emphasis on collaboration
extends beyond the clear communication that they maintain with their clients. It goes into the planning process, and into the everyday work of the teams themselves. With over forty years of project experience behind them, Barnhart has developed a culture that leads them to expect the unexpected during any project. Barnhart emphasizes communication between branches and teams, which allows them to respond quickly whenever snags or obstacles arise in the job. Operations
“The biggest challenge to the work is that there is no cookie cutter answer. The work requires you to be creative everytime. You
have to think outside of the box.” – Chris Teague, Director of Marketing at Barnhart
cold, wet, and crowded conditions, the job got done safely and efficiently.
Tis emphasis on collaboration is a main
driving force behind the company’s creativity. It builds what VP of Sales Tim Heldman calls “a culture of optimization.” Rather than focus on the traditional or obvious solution, Barnhart teams ask “what if?” and “what else?” As a result, they are able to solve problems efficiently, respond well when the unexpected occurs, and plan projects that are safe, high quality, on time, and on budget. In order to respond to the challenges of
their work, Barnhart makes clever use of its large inventory of tools. Its equipment list is one of the nation’s biggest, and includes Goldhofer trailers, cranes up to 1,760 tons, strand-jacks, slide systems, and Barnhart’s Modular Lift Tower. Given this extensive array of heavy equipment and the complex or demanding projects that Barnhart often takes on, one might expect the company to see its fair share of accidents. Te opposite, however, is true. Te company maintains an intense focus
Aerial View of Cofferdam Lift
At the start of each new project, Barnhart engineering and operations staff, as well as the salesperson on the project, begin the planning process in collaboration with the client. Engineering and operations teams are custom- made for each project: Barnhart draws from its 27 branch offices to select not only the best equipment for the job, but the best qualified staff members. Tese teams hold a series of virtual or in-person meetings with the customer and amongst themselves. Te goal is a process that will be the most logical, cost-efficient, and timely way of accomplishing what the client wants. Barnhart strives to stay focused first and foremost on their client’s needs, throughout the planning and execution of the project.
teams communicate clearly and quickly with engineering teams, and engineering teams are able to jump in with a creative solution. One example of how Barnhart’s collaboration allows them to overcome challenges comes from a recent job in a power plant. Barnhart teams needed to use a preexisting slider system to move an 800,000-pound steam turbine generator 60’ and set it on a pedestal. Workers on the site found that the track was five feet short. Engineering staff quickly responded by designing a special adaptor plate, allowing staff on site to take track off one end of the slider system and attach it where it needed to go. Despite all these challenges, and also
on safety. When the recent OSHA rule 29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC was implemented, outlining specific training requirements for different staff positions in their industry, Barnhart only had to make a few changes to its training program. In 2010, Barnhart opened a 10,000 square foot training center at its Memphis branch. Operated in collaboration with Industrial Training International (ITI), the center trains Barnhart employees and also runs open-enrollment courses for employees of other companies. Given Barnhart’s position as an industry
leader, opening the training center was a logical next step. For a company that has long been a technological innovator, it made sense that they would also strive to improve employee training in order to assure quality and safety. Tis is especially important, since, despite the recession, many heavy industry sectors are either remaining steady or evolving and growing to meet the nation’s needs. In this landscape, Barnhart, as a company that emphasizes communication and creative problem solving, is positioned to proactively look for problems that may arise for current and potential clients, now and in the future. After all, they’ve earned their reputation based on making difficult and unconventional projects seem routine. y
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2011 29
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