An uncertain economy, supply chain issues, and labor shortages are three of the most pressing challenges manufacturing and construction businesses are currently facing. Wells is involved in the entire building development process – from preconstruction and design to manufacturing prefabricated products to field operations with erection and installation to finishing services of sealants and restoration. This requires a variety of specialty skilled employees, expounding on the labor shortage challenges. Thanks to the collaborative nature of regional economic partnerships and national organizations like PCI, our Wells team can engage with industry partners exchanging ideas at monthly seminars, providing enlightening, innovative approaches to overcoming economic uncertainty.
To address the supply chain obstacle, where getting raw materials is still difficult, Wells continuously looks to leverage our geographic relationships to improve buying power while managing inventory levels. Additionally, we utilize our internal engineering resources to identify alternate or new material options while creating innovative ways to manufacture our buildings solutions or support construction.
Technology plays a big role as we look for new ways to automate processes. The more we can automate, like using robotic welders, the more flexibility we have in redirecting our labor force, which helps us address labor shortages. The biggest labor challenges in our industry right now are finding qualified drafting, engineering and skilled laborers. To support this, we are taking a proactive approach, when a qualified person walks into the door, even if we are not trying to fill a certain role, we make every effort to take advantage of top talent and find them a home at Wells.
We are hopeful as the MMAC’s Region of Choice Initiative grows; it will attract talent from diverse communities, continuing to help us live our mission of providing transformative support to our partners and inspiring pride within our communities.
This article is originally published in MMAC Winter 2022 Milwaukee Commerce publication.
