“We started developing software,” he says. “We started developingacomputerprogram and we started implementing it within palm pilots – this was before smartphones were really out there. We could then track deficiencies. We could figure out where the deficiencies came from. We could track the time of the guys actually fixing the deficiencies. It was pretty unique. No one had done it before.” That unique program helped Norseman build strong relationships with a lot of major developers. It also helped them grow and bolster their industry reputation – right up until about 2010, when market conditions slowed the development of condos in the GTA. They then had to figure out a new market to get into. After experimenting for a little bit with their own developments, they settled on residential renovations. “We ended up doing quite well,” Kris says. “The people we had were already experts. We had experience repairing the worst kind of construction problems you could imagine. We could handle anything anyone threw at us – and we could do it for a pretty decent price and within a good timeline. Once again, Norseman Construction started to grow exponentially. Also once again, Kris started looking at how they could use technology to improve their efficiency. This time, he looked into the field of robotics for answers. “We started developing an automation system,” he says. “Now we have a robot who works for us, his name is Bjorn. We developed him and built him ourselves. What Bjorn does is he’s an automation systems program operator that uses subsystems and he can track your job to the dollar and to the minute.” This helps our firm’s ability to manage future cash flow and in turn helps our clients ensure a company that will be around to warrant their work. “A lot of major renovation firms go belly-up,” Kris says. “Because they don’t know where their money is at. They don’t know how much they are spending on projects and they end up getting over-extended. Most of the time they won’t know if they’ve done well on a job until months after the job’s done.” “Having Bjorn available to us is a huge advantage when you’re trying to run a company based oncashflow,”Krissays. “Because that’s what you’re doing as a construction company. A construction company needs constant feeding. You’re a shark, essentially, and if you don’t eat all the time or if you stop swimming, you’re going to die – which, in the construction industry, is bad for clients, bad for trade groups and bad for the industry.” In order to make sure Norseman keeps eating and keeps swimming, so to speak, the company has development processes for every division – they have processes for their sales teams, their construction teams, their architectural teams, and their interior design teams. Those processes “underpin the infrastructure of the company,” and – backed by Bjorn – they ensure the success of every project as well as the overall financial health of the company. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA
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