In manufacturing, continuous process improvement is critical to maintaining profits and quality. Transforming and enhancing operations, however, demands more than good intentions; it requires a dedicated change agent focused on ensuring the program is implemented and ingrained into ongoing plant...

In this final article about building our home, let’s talk about money and scheduling. We wanted our dream home to have the highest quality we could afford, built on time, without overspending. Here’s how we did it. Budgeting, tracking expenses, and cost accounting are in my DNA....

As we approach the finish line of our construction journey, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the progress we’ve made and the final touches that will bring our home to life. We’re thrilled to share the latest updates on our project, which has been a labor of love every step...

As construction moves forward, the focus shifts from the exterior to the interior, making it harder to track progress from the outside. However, there’s still important work ahead. Tasks like leveling the surrounding area and ensuring proper grading away from the house are crucial....

We are in month seven and have managed to maintain the schedule, give or take a week. At this stage, I am spending a lot of time walking the site, crawling around the attic, down in the crawlspace, and everywhere else, looking at work and asking questions. In addition, I am watching the schedule...

Last month, I thought we would be completely dried in with utilities run by the end of July, but instead we are almost dried in and utilities remain on the to-do list. We had some issues matching the metal siding and roofing colors with the stone color, which necessitated having a hands-on look...

Since breaking ground, the progress made by the foundation and framing crews has been amazing. I know everyone says the fastest part is drying it in, but still I was surprised with the speed everything happened. The foundation crew, an Amish group out of Logotee Indiana, about 2 hours away,...

Prior to JobLine, I was a General Manager, and before that a Project Manager. That was more than 30 years ago, but hopefully I can shake off the dust and continue the process of building our forever home without too many problems. Project Management is a catch-all name used by people who may...

With the loan in-hand, for construction to begin the next hurdle is permits. In my case, I received a combined shop/home permit, rather than separate permits for our house and then our shop. Even the building commissioner said I had put the cart before the horse, but we needed to build the shop...

Homeowners usually have to deal with obtaining a mortgage when buying a home, but they seldom need to convince a bank to loan them the same amount on a piece of dirt, with promises to make a home worth a mortgage. As the Homeowner/General Contractor, I not only had to qualify for the loan, I had...