Project Management And Innovation At Tremco Roofing - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Rachel Wrobel of Tremco. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts, to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seat belts and join us as we embark on this exciting Roofing Road Trip.

Karen Edwards: Hello and welcome to another episode of Roofing Road Trips. I'm your host, Karen Edwards. And today's topic is really going to be about technology, innovation and project management and how everything works together to create successful outcomes. And I have Rachel Wrobel from Tremco Roofing here today, who's going to talk about how they leverage these technologies and innovations and tools to find success at Tremco Roofing. So welcome, Rachel.

Rachel Wrobel: Hi Karen. It's so good to be here. I'm very excited. This is my first podcast ever, so I'm glad to be with you doing it. This is going to be fun.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. So for our listeners, can you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do there at Tremco?

Rachel Wrobel: Yes. So my introduction is, let's see, I have a mechanical engineering background, that's why I went to school for mechanical engineering. And that's essentially where my love of problem solving, organizing, information and chaos and using logic and data to make decisions started.
And before I was at Tremco, I was at Dow as a Thermoplastics Application Engineer. Very nerdy stuff, but a lot of it was customer-facing and project management type stuff.

I found my way to Tremco in 2017 as a Project Engineer for our RoofTec Drying Technology. I was there to help really kickstart the program into field trials and really turn it into a scalable product. And I worked on that project for about a year.

And then Tremco, in its wonderful support, I wanted to migrate into a family life and start my family with my husband and that meant less travel, not climbing up on roofs. So I migrated into the product group, where I could be still Project Engineer/Project Manager, but working on process improvement projects, the Home Depot pilot project that we had for our roofing products.

So that morphed into where I am today with, I actually have a new title as of early May. I'm the Director of Product Operations. And so that includes data science, project management and digital solutions, as well as rooftop solutions. So that's where I am today.

Karen Edwards: Wow. So you mentioned data science and I think there's so much information and things that we can learn, and discover from data and analyzing that. And I'm just curious, what does that look like on your end? Put it in terms I can understand.

Rachel Wrobel: I'm able to do that because I am not a data expert. I never claimed to be a data expert. There are people that I have recruited, and hired and brought onto my team that are those data people and they love data more than anyone I've ever met. So I can speak to it on a similar level of, I'm not that expert in that field. But I've put together a team that is.

And data, as a lot of people in our industry, I'm finding, is so important to incorporate in business decisions, in understanding the lagging indicators such as your warranties, what are coming in through your warranty calls. And your leading indicators of what is being speced at the beginning time of a project. So it's really getting all that information and using it to make informed business decisions. And it can be challenging because if you've, you're a company that's not been data centric or really a paid close attention of creating clean data, it can be challenging. And so we've had pockets of areas where we've had some challenges of realizing our data collection wasn't clean, making it hard on the tail end to help us make those decisions. So it's a process. And hiring the right people who love data is a key piece of that.

Karen Edwards: Well, so many times in a business or with a project, you go, "Well, I think this might be the reason why something is happening."

Or, "I'm seeing this."

But by looking at that data, you're really not just using your gut, right? You're using that science, and the facts and the numbers to help...

Rachel Wrobel: Yes.

Karen Edwards: ... you.

Rachel Wrobel: Yes, yes. And you have more confidence in the direction it's going, when you have your confidence in your data.

Karen Edwards: And we talk about, you mentioned the warranties and the specs and the whole process. What changes have you noticed in your role there with the process? And, I am not asking this question correctly, but have you seen efficiencies happening already?

Rachel Wrobel: As it comes to data, we're getting there. We're getting there. Yes, we are able to bring in data in a easier way to digest. We've migrated from exporting reports out of SAP to tying SAP data directly to Power BI. And utilizing a BI system to help us see our data better. And that has helped us streamline the way we price our products. The way, like I said earlier, about what's coming in as specs, what's trending, as far as, how are our sales reps in this region going after jobs? Are they sticking to one to two systems, or are they doing the whole gamut of what we offer? And that gives us insight of what our sales reps are doing out in the field.

Karen Edwards: Yeah. And when you mentioned power BI, that's business intelligence for those who are listening that might not know and that's really using technology to help analyze that data.
So I'm really curious, one of the hot topics right now, I was going to say in roofing, but everywhere is artificial intelligence, right, AI. And are you using AI at all? Or do you guys stay away from that?

Rachel Wrobel: We do not stay away from it. We are embracing it. One of the big things that I've worked with my Data Science Manager on is that everyone on our Data Science Team, one of their goals for the fiscal year and it's been like this for the last two years, is to investigate and research how AI could impact our day-to-day, what's happening, just keeping up with the trends of AI. So that's how we're immediately like, "This is important. We're not shying away from it. Let's learn," right?

AI is exciting and it's moving fast. And so we need to be on the boat. We need to be looking into it. And it's great because you may know that Tremco Roofing is part of RPM Inc. They own a lot of construction products, companies and they have an AI initiative. And actually, an AI task force, which is there to help explore those platforms while keeping in mind the security and streamlining common ways for us to use the AI. And then also having that governance behind it because it can get scary. It can be scary.And so what RPM is doing is providing that support to understand AI's capabilities, where the company's going with AI and really helping us navigate that ecosystem of AI and generative AI.

So we're definitely not shying away. We are leaning in and learning. We are excited to lean in and learning. One of the AI we're exploring right now and doing some research right now is utilizing a platform called Scribe, which is a documentation platform, many people have heard of it. It's a very popular tool, but they have AI built into it. So we're working with RPM to say, "Okay," as we start to document our internal processes or external processes, making sure AI, we're doing it safely and we're not sharing any proprietary information. So it's very, very good that RPM is giving us that support and guidance as we explore new tools that are going to make our day-to-day more efficient.

We have so many people, the trends are, people staying at companies three years maybe and then going somewhere else. And as people move around, we lose legacy knowledge. And we've got to bring up our new hires quickly and efficiently. And to do that, it's important to have those processes, internal processes, documented. Those, "Okay, here's your two weeks of onboarding and here are all the instructions on how to do things."

And Scribe is a great tool, which can literally take you through step-to-step by looking at your desktop. It's amazing.

Karen Edwards: Okay.

Rachel Wrobel: So check it out. We're checking it out.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, I've seen ads.

Rachel Wrobel: We're exploring it.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, I've seen ads for it. And people are like, "Oh my gosh, this was incredible."
And so, we might have to look into that. Definitely.

Rachel Wrobel: It's very cool.

Karen Edwards: It sounds, yeah.

Rachel Wrobel: It's very cool.

Karen Edwards: So I really want to circle back and mention, you mentioned security and you mentioned safety. And I think it's important for people to realize that whatever information you put into ChatGPT, or one of those things, is now out in the world for everyone...

Rachel Wrobel: Yes.

Karen Edwards: ... to see and for AI to learn from. And so putting proprietary information out there, or stuff, it can really hurt a business.

Rachel Wrobel: It really can. And I was very happy to see RPM and Tremco put out governance around AI. When ChatGPT came out, we were given instructions of, "Do not put formulas into ChatGPT."
They immediately addressed it and communicated. Their communication lines between RPM and Tremco on this AI journey has been really helpful as we navigate that and make sure that people are using it the right way.

Karen Edwards: Yeah.

Rachel Wrobel: Yeah.

Karen Edwards: It can be really helpful. And I've heard, and I think Microsoft even named theirs Co-Pilot, it' like just a little helper and get some ideas.

Rachel Wrobel: It is. And I've used ChatGPT myself for writing internal articles about this or that, or looking up the best way to word something for a job posting, or something like that. So I am always very careful where you're not using brand names, you're not using company names. It's more generic as you use it.

Karen Edwards: Yes, definitely.
Okay. So now that you're putting these processes in place, are you recognizing or seeing any trends in the roofing industry?

Rachel Wrobel: It's hard for me to see that as much as I'd like to, as far as the roofing industry goes, because a lot of what I do is inside an internal.

As far as, because I know this is one of your questions you've prepped with. So as far as just trends in the industry, in the data science industry, there's a lot out there of gathering the data, having it available to different teams, not just your IT teams.

So I think with the roofing industry, it's important to start thinking about data as an essential product within your company and to really understand its power. So, I would say, that's not exactly, maybe not what you're thinking about for roofing technology, but understanding that data has the ability to advance your abilities in the field and internally. So from a data standpoint, that's that way.

But from just a technology, how fast technology is changing and how that can affect efficiency, I think it really can help and it could hinder your efficiency. It all really depends on how your company and teams are set up to adapt and adopt to these changes, to these technologies. So I definitely think there needs to be a focus on training and change management as areas to focus on as new technologies are coming out and you're like, "Oh, Scribe could help us be way more efficient."

Well, how's training look to support that technology? How are we managing that change with our people? Because it's a people, it's so important to get people bought into the change and to the technology. And so, I think those two areas, training and change management is a great place to focus as you're building your foundation to support the rapid changes in technology.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah, it's moving fast. You think about when smartphones came out, and how they've changed and grown and everything is just rapid. And it's easy to get stuck in the same old ways. "Well, we've always done something this way."

And that, I think, can be a little intimidating to want somebody to try something new that they've not used before. And I think that training is such an important step for success.

Rachel Wrobel: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Karen Edwards: Yeah. Yeah.

And I'm thinking about, how can other companies start implementing these new roofing technology too? From a contractor's perspective, there are so many. They call it the tech stack, and there's so many. But I think the same thing applies. You have to have a plan, right? And you have to train.

Rachel Wrobel: Yes. And really to get started in implementing the new technology, you've got the training and understanding how to manage change management. But even before that, get curious about it. Get curious about the technology that's out there. Network with people who are familiar with it. And just be open and excited and intentional, to learn about it.

And then, I started the interview with, hire the right people at the right time. Right? Hire the people who understand the technology, who can really elevate where you are today. Bring someone in who's very familiar with the technology and have them help you along your journey.
And I say at the right time, because if you're not ready to hire someone, say, you're like, "I'm going to hire a Data Engineer."

And they start. And they're like, "What do I do?"
And you realize you don't even have the systems ready for them to work in, then you're not ready. So hiring the right people at the right time is also really important that you've got the resources and systems ready for them.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah. And there's nothing worse than bringing somebody on to do a job and then you're like, "Uh-oh."

Rachel Wrobel: Right, right.

Karen Edwards: "We better figure this out."

And I think finding the right people, and maybe they even already exist in your organization, but maybe they're in another role. We experienced that at Rivers Coffee Shop with some of these new social media platforms that, I'm like, "I don't even have an account there. I don't know how they use it."

But we have some younger folks in our organization who understand it, get it inside and out. So now they're helping working on that.

Rachel Wrobel: Yes.

Karen Edwards: So yeah, you could have that talent already in your organization and maybe you just don't know it.

Rachel Wrobel: Absolutely. Absolutely. Which goes back to be curious, network, even within your own company.

Karen Edwards: Yeah. You never know what you might find.
Wow. So Rachel, this was really interesting conversation. I think we should do it again in about a year and see, because you said you really are building this and I'd love to do a follow-up and say, "Hey, where are you now?"

Rachel Wrobel: Yeah, I would love it. I would absolutely love it.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for being here today. It was really great to learn about how you're building this team, how you're using data, your thoughts on AI. It's fascinating. Thank you so much.

Rachel Wrobel: Well, thanks for having me, Karen. Look forward to talking to you soon.

Karen Edwards: And thank you everybody out there for listening to this episode of Roofing Road Trips. Be sure to subscribe, follow us on social media.

If you want to learn more about Tremco Roofing, as well, you can visit their directory on Rooferscoffeeshop.com and learn more about the cool things that they're doing over there.
Thank you and see you on a future episode.

Outro: if you've enjoyed the ride, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and join us on every roofing adventure. Make sure to visit Rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll catch you on the next Roofing Road Trip.