SM WILSON 9/18/07 2:20 PM Page 251
CT: Do you also work at continuously im- portant in allowing us to plan the project
proving your operations?
DM: We recently expanded our field oper-
ations team, which will improve our over-
all operations. The role of our vice presi-
dent of field operations is to oversee the
superintendents and their needs. To im-
prove this, we promoted three superin-
tendents to the level of field operations
coordinators. This allows them to be more
hands-on and the eyes and ears of our pro-
jects. They are experts in safety, quality
and everything we do, so they ensure we
are always delivering quality work.
CT: What projects do you believe best
demonstrate the company’s strengths?
DM: We are in the final stages of the oper-
ating room expansion at Barnes-Jewish
Hospital. This was a $70 million project
done in three phases. It will be complet-
ed in early 2008 and is ahead of schedule
right now because of preplanning we did
in the design phase. That has allowed the
project to run very smoothly.
Our construction managers worked
hand in hand with the architects and all
of the departments in the hospital that
were affected by our work. This was im-
a resource to the managers. They also en-
so it would be as efficient as possible. We
are working in several areas of the hospi-
tal and each area was built at different
times in the hospital’s history, so we need-
ed to know exactly what we were getting
into before we started work on each area.
CT: How does S.M. Wilson ensure its proj-
ects remain on budget and on schedule?
DM: We have preconstruction directors
who are assigned to projects during the
design phase. Their main goal is to man-
age the design process; we work closely
with the design team to allow us to meet
the budget and schedule targets. The dir-
ectors work closely with the owners to un-
derstand their needs and also help own-
ers protect their budget. Depending on
the project, we do three to five budget
checks during the life of the project to
ensure we are where we want to be.
CT: The company says it has a “rigorous
focus on project management.” How does
S.M. Wilson maintain this?
DM: The key is how we support our pro-
ject management staff. We have a num-
ber of experienced executives and 80 per-
cent of their time is devoted to acting as
sure the project managers are complying
with processes and remaining on schedule.
Our project managers also get a lot of
help from project engineers, project assis-
tants and the rest of our support staff. We
try to make our operations as effective as
possible so we are always delivering on
our promises.
CT: What are the firm’s growth plans?
DM: There is no doubt that we are grow-
ing and will continue to do so. We don’t
have a formalized plan; we will just con-
tinue to react to the market. Much of our
work is negotiated, which allows us to
plan for growth easier; we know ahead
of time if we have the resources to take
on additional work. We are as much oppo-
rtunists as we are strategic planners.
CT: What are you most proud of?
DM: I am completely proud of our abili-
ty to be a top player in the Midwest. We
can now compete with the larger compa-
nies that are here and that come into the
region, and that is tremendous. We went
from being almost broke in the late ’80s
to becoming extremely successful. I am
proud to be a part of this success. ■
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