A
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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
The
Adverti$er
March 2020 #12248 Page #100
Hiring Zone
Future Roles for Senior Truss Designers Thomas McAnally Publisher
oday, senior designers working in the office are involved not only with designing day to day projects, but also with providing training, solving problems for lower level designers, and working with customers. Their experience and knowledge are invaluable in many respects. But, consider this: the design process is the same at all levels. Not the same skill, but the same tools and steps. Some of their experience is used efficiently, some is relegated to the design process.
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So, what if you could refocus their day to better use senior level knowledge and skill? What if they could produce a lot more at the same quality in the same time? The challenge is to minimize midlevel and repetitive tasks, so they can focus on senior designer-level processes. The “best� solution would be having 4-5 designers below them to perform lower level tasks, with the Senior Designer as the master puppeteer, pulling the strings and making sure everything that comes out of their office is senior designer-approved. The problem with that solution is that hiring, training, and retaining numerous intermediate level designers is difficult. Multiply that by 3-5 senior designers and you have a potential disaster. When seasonal cycles reduce requirements, having 5 senior designers plus 5 intermediate each is almost impossible to maintain. Or is it? Enter the flexibility of offshore services. The idea of farming total projects out to offshore design firms is idealistic, but not currently realistic. My clients say that, while they are sharp, having them produce a complex single-family custom or multifamily project is tricky. Even with production builder runs, someone must be their point of contact and make sure they are producing buildable projects. The next generation of senior designers is more likely to be design project managers. Offshore design and estimating firms have the flexibility to backstop an in-office design project manager. Continued next page
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