Experts Say Metal Construction Industry Will Emerge Stronger

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

Embracing digital, evaluating and improving operations will all contribute to a strong comeback.

METALCON’s weekly webinar, “Reigniting Sales and Operations Amidst a World Health Crisis” shared interesting insight into how the industry is responding to the crisis and why we will emerge even stronger on the other side.

METALCON Co-Founder and CEO, Frank A. Stasiowski, FAIA, and Rob Haddock, CEO and Founder of S-5! Metal Roof Innovations welcomed guest panelists Heidi J. Ellsworth, RCS Partner and owner of HJE Consulting Group, and Scott Hutchings, Sales Director, US Construction with SFS, a worldwide leading supplier of mechanical fastening systems and precision components to talk about the pulse of the industry.

Embracing digital as the new way

Heidi shared that she is seeing more contractors embracing digital tools to help them continue to sell in a no contact way. “One of the things that the industry as a whole is talking about is that contractors who are using this new way of virtual selling will come out of this way ahead of their competition,” Heidi explained. “If you aren’t doing whatever you can to up your game, you will be left behind.”

She told listeners that RoofersCoffeeShop is seeing continued growth on its website with the number of visitors tracking even higher in April than in March as visitors are hungry for information and tools that will help their businesses. A poll during the webinar indicated that many attendees are already using the virtual selling tools and most indicated they are planning to implement.

As far as which tools are available and how you can find them, Heidi suggested starting with your manufacturers and distributors as many have recently rolled out tech solutions and apps that allow for not only virtual selling but no contact ordering and delivery of materials.

Improving operations

Scott Hutchings says that on the other side of this, contractors should expect to be doing 12 months of business in 10 months’ time. He said that the virus has not had much of an impact on their manufacturing capabilities. “All of our products are manufactured in the U.S.,” Scott explained. “Sixty to seventy percent of our core products’ raw materials come from overseas, but very few from China.” Scott credits his purchasing team with working hard on balancing out where their raw materials are sourced.

Frank said that he expects new businesses will be started as a result of the pandemic and we will see existing companies investing even more as they look for new, more efficient ways to do things. Scott agrees, saying that his company “has been examining their productivity, their efficiency of producing products and how they can get those products to the end user in the most efficient manner.”

Rob shared that at S-5! Metal Roof Innovations they are using the time to improve. “We have reexamined every area of our business, every department and how we communicate. We are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were, going into this crisis, and when we come out, we will continue to up our game.”

Changing office landscapes

Rob said that he thinks people have embraced the use of technology to conduct business. “We’ve used virtual tools for meetings, for education…we can’t develop webinars fast enough. People are much more engaged in it then they used to be.”  

We are going to see some changes in the way we use our office space as well. Frank was part of a webinar the other day speaking to engineering firms and said their feedback is that we are going to change the way facilities are designed because of this pandemic. “They say they are going to be reexamining their space leases and cut down on space. The need for new office space is going to be diminished. You will also see more studios in offices so you can do this kind of broadcast video from the office.”

Sustaining the new normal

“I think sustainability [of the new normal] is measured by its effectiveness and largely its cost effectiveness,” said Rob. “By using video, it’s a time saver, it’s a money saver. We aren’t putting 12 people on airplanes and flying them around and renting cars. It’s a more efficient way to communicate and share information.”

When attendees were polled as to when they think will be back to some sort of normal, most agreed it would be sometime in the next 60 days. Rob shared that he thought that might be even earlier for construction but could be in the mid- to end of June range. Scott noted that it also is going to depend a lot on each state and how they are opening at different times across the country. Heidi agreed that June makes sense but cautions that the type of industry where construction is happening could affect contractors. For instance, retail and hospitality projects may take longer to get back into swing.

See METALCON's key takeaways from the webinar. To hear the full conversation and watch this as well as previous recordings, visit METACON’s RCS Directory.