IPD and Lean Construction Conference Brings Together Industry Leaders

The AGC IPD and Lean Construction Building Conference was held Sept. 21-24, 2011 in San Antonio, Texas with a record attendance of more than 230 participants.  Building construction contractors, construction project owners, design professionals, attorneys, suppliers and service suppliers came together to hear from an excellent line-up of industry experts about the impact of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Lean Construction on the construction industry. Speakers included: Digby Christian (Sutter Health); Bill Seed (Universal Health Services); Howard Ashcraft (Hanson Bridgett); Will Lichtig (The Boldt Company); Renee Cheng (University of Minnesota); Ken Stowe (Autodesk); Ken Simonson (AGC of America); Mike Kenig (Holder Construction), and two panels of industry experts who discussed the convergence of lean fundamentals and IPD.  Attendees also enjoyed numerous networking opportunities including breakfasts, evening receptions, a keynote luncheon and the golf tournament.  This conference was developed by the leaders of AGC’s Building Division, Project Delivery Forum, and Lean Construction Forum. Before the Conference began, AGC held the first three courses of its Lean Construction Education Program (LCEP) for the first time.  The three courses sold out months in advance and were positively received by the attendees.  AGC will begin offering these courses later this year through its network of Chapters and will continue development of this ground-breaking curriculum in 2012. At the keynote luncheon, AGC Building Division Chairman Chuck Greco (Linbeck) announced that AGC of America and the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) had agreed to a strategic partnership that will benefit both organizations and the industry as a whole.  In addition to encouraging the organizations to work together, the agreement will also allow LCI to be directly involved in the development of AGC’s lean construction curriculum and ensure that the curriculum includes the latest knowledge, resources and best practices related to lean construction. Bob Marwill from Satterfield & Pontikes Construction commented that the “IPD-Lean Conference in San Antonio was most informative, enjoyable and interesting.  Quality of presenters was as good as any conference I've attended.”  If you didn’t make it to San Antonio, take a look at some of the presentations by clicking on the “Presentations” section at www.agc.org/bcc. The next AGC Building Contractors Conference will be held Sept. 12-15, 2012 at the Charleston Place Hotel in Charleston, SC.  For more information contact Mike Stark at starkm@agc.org.