Customize Technology or Hasten our Decline

JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2015

Our industry, with its emphasis on traditional, time-honored craftsmanship, has been accused on occasion, rightly and wrongly, of having difficulty adapting to new technologies. In the case of Building Information Modeling, or BIM, we are working against the clock to disprove that allegation.

BIM is both a software system and a process for the design of a project and during its construction phase. BIM saves time, money, improves estimation accuracy, reduces waste and avoids conflicts in the field. It is not new to the construction industry. Yet the masonry trades lag well behind most others – including concrete placement and steel – in developing tools specifically designed to improve craft-specific planning and execution through BIM.

Should the masonry industry fail to adopt BIM, we risk contributing to our own obsolescence. BAC has been proud, with IMI as our partner, to lend both resources and leadership to the BIM for Masonry Initiative. We are equally proud of our efforts in organizing the BIM Symposium in St. Louis in April and the great response it received (see more on page 14).

The trowel will never be replaced by an iPad but we must put our stamp on technological advances like BIM or ignore it at our peril.

We also are pleased to introduce BAC’s first mobile app, BACMobile, for members to download on a smartphone or tablet to review and update membership records, check work history or Job Network for available work in another Local, check-in when traveling, and even pay dues, all at your fingertips (see article, page 11).

Using social media tools to share information with our members and our progressive allies is also on our daily agenda in view of the ever increasing use of social media by our membership, Locals and ADCs. With a growing number of “Likes” on the IU’s Facebook page (facebook.com/IUBAC) and followers on the IU’s Twitter account (@IUBAC), we are reaching out to a wider audience to build stronger solidarity among members and across the labor movement and our industry and community partners. To see our posts or tweets I encourage you to connect with BAC on social media today.

We are embracing and customizing new technologies to arm and advance ourselves for growth. As contemporary writer and scientist Max McKeown said, “All failure is failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation.” The IU is ready. Are you?