Earlier this month, the Epsilon team took a break from a heavy itinerary of speaking engagements to attend The Advancing Life Sciences Construction conference from the audience perspective. While we always appreciate being at the podium, attending as participants gives our team on-the-ground insights into what the audience is saying outside the Q&A sessions. The Raleigh, NC-located conference featured a number of speakers addressing how the industry can accelerate speed to market, while delivering high-quality, complex & compliant life sciences facilities.
Here are several key takeaways the Epsilon attendees brought back to the rest of the team:
Planning – It’s no secret that successful life sciences facilities construction projects start with detailed planning. This year’s conference provided insight into how leading firms approach planning, including:
- Treat skilled labor like long-lead equipment. Teams need to plan ahead for labor talent, because you can’t assume you will be able to get skilled tradespeople when they are needed.
- There’s an inherent conflict between the desire to lock in a project plan and the need to be flexible as user requirements change – often in response to a dynamic research and regulatory environment. Qualifying and engaging the right set of team members at the right times can help uncover and nail down critical details while building flexibility into the project plan.
Leveraging innovation – Innovation is only as effective as the implementation.
- Modular construction was mentioned many times throughout the conference program. However, more than one speaker cautioned attendees not to get carried away by trying to modularize everything, just to be innovative. The best solutions are often a balance of modular and stick-built systems – considering the relative impacts on schedule, labor and material availability, and cost certainty.
- Adding the right modular partner to the team, and using the Design Assist methodology to work collaboratively with the designers and builders, can be the quickest route to striking that balance.
Communicating the mission – Teamwork works when the team works well together.
- In an environment where leaders are asking so much of everyone, don’t underestimate the impact of helping project teams – from the designers and suppliers, to on-site labor – understand the impact that the life sciences facility may have on real people. Clearly identify the value the facility will provide to the greater community or humanity, such as developing and producing life-changing and life-saving pharmaceuticals.
- Communicating the underlying project mission can be inspiring, and often helps overcome a lot of the challenges inherent in getting disparate individuals and teams aligned to help meet aggressive expectations for schedule, cost and quality.
While no substitute for attending the conference and speaking with others in person, these takeaways are a valuable snapshot of recurring themes and nuggets of wisdom. If you have a question about any of these items, or how Off-Site Construction can help life sciences facilities balance speed-to-market, regulatory and quality objectives, contact the Epsilon team today.
