Electical Contractor

This article focuses on the principles on which an electrical contracting firm’s quality management system (QMS) should be based. QMSs are the focus of the 2000 edition of the International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 series of quality standards.

It seems as if many people talk about the future a lot. The problem with such discussions is that if predicting the future were easy, many of us would not be working today because we would have made a fortune in the stock market by now.

An effective quality assurance (QA) program can be a valuable asset to the electrical contracting firm. Not only can a formal QA program improve construction quality and reduce rework, but it can also improve customer satisfaction and serve as a valuable marketing tool.

As customers increasingly demand more complex and technologically advanced voice/data/video (VDV) systems for their facilities, electrical contractors must rely more than ever on their distributor partners to supply the value-added services that will strengthen their competitive edge.

Return on Investment (ROI) is probably the most common measure of an electrical contracting firm’s performance. However, ROI doesn’t reveal how management can improve this performance.

Cable management for voice/data/video (VDV) is a very important element in an infrastructure and belongs just about everywhere there is cable to be laid.

Electrical distributors are the most vital link between the manufacturers of thousands of different electrical products and the designers, architects, specifiers, contractors, and service professionals that order, install, or use those products.

From Louisville, St. Louis, and Leavenworth, Kan., the three contractors profiled — this month and the following two months — are working to become even more lean and efficient.

During the electrical industry’s history, changes have occurred at warp speed. Many of these ideas can create havoc for an estimator or estimating system that has not changed with the times.