No Detailer Is Detailing This Much Conduit.

Adam Jeninga is a Detailer at Interstates, an electrical construction and automation company with locations throughout the Midwest. Adam was awarded Staff Pick for a BIM project he submitted at Trimble MEP’s user conference, and according to some, “no detailer is detailing this much conduit.”

Here is the story of his award-winning project.

What was this project all about?

I’m part of the construction team at Interstates, which focuses on industrial electrical work. The client on this project was a large player in the soybean oil refining industry. It was one of the largest projects I’ve been involved with at Interstates, all with SysQue conduits. I don’t remember off the top of my head, but it was over 95% spooled. It was unbelievable. We were getting over 3x the normal production rates through our fabrication shop. Cut listing everything was great for us.

“We were getting over 3x normal production rates through our fabrication shop. I think we spooled/cut listed in the neighborhood of 23,000 ft of conduit.”

What was the “big win” for you with this project?

Starting out, we bid the project using Trimble Accubid and that gave us a nice, spec-driven, accurate estimate, then when we moved to scanning. We went back and checked the installation to see if it went as planned, and it was almost exact— other than items we knew were changed onsite for factors outside of our control. When we went to check everything, the couplings lined up exactly with our plans.

What was your accuracy on projects before this one?

Previously, we didn’t have a great way to track design accuracy. We would make an estimate, send it to the site, and fight the fires when necessary. We didn’t have many, but when we did the goal was always to adjust as quickly as possible to deliver the right solution to the client, rather than focusing on what we missed. Overall, our work on this project was incredibly accurate thanks in large part to our technology advancements.  

Did you work with any other companies on this?

No. Everything else was done onsite. Throughout the project, we’d get access to a work area, scan it, and move forward with the design using the new scan.

How long did the project last, from start to finish?

We had people onsite for about a year. However, with some of the new technologies, we could delay our fabrication until most trades were complete and out of the work area. We could track our accuracy and still make the deadlines, even when going into a work area later than usual. This was especially valuable considering electrical work is often completed in the final stages of a project. This allowed us to prove to the customer that we weren’t behind; rather we were well prepared and simply staying out of the way of the other trades and that we would get our scope done at the right time.

You said everything matched up at the end. But were there any challenges that made the project more successful?

One thing we worked closely with SysQue on was InterFab’s 90-degree bends. We created a unique feature with the SysQue development team that allowed us to remove guesswork created by common conduit length variances. What that allowed us to do was have incredible accuracy for where we placed those 90-degree bends. They were exactly right. We built those in our fab shop, InterFab, which eliminated any chance of error onsite.

What was unique or innovative about this project?

I would say the cut listing. We set ourselves up for complete runs of conduit by spinning each together on the floor and taking overall measurements. The other thing we did was to cut the standard 10’ conduits down to precisely 117”. This allowed us to eliminate guesswork caused by common conduit length variances. That proved a great way to eliminate error. So every time we pulled a full stick of conduit, we knew its exact length. Just eliminating those two potential variances, we were able to dial in a conduit run where we wouldn’t have to spin extra pieces together. It made for incredibly accurate measurements. We knew exactly where everything was going to be.

What’s next for Interstates?

We’re still waiting to see when we’ll have a project that will top this one in terms of the amount of conduit detailed. This was the largest scope we’ve done with that much conduit. It’s definitely up there on the list of the biggest projects we’ve worked on. It was a huge win.

Interstates meets the electrical and automation needs of companies around the world. For over fifty years, the company has tackled complex challenges and developed innovative solutions for their customers. Building relationships through dependability, integrity, trust, quality, and family is at the core of their vision. You’ll see this in everything they do. Interstates believes in understanding needs and delivering superior results through collaboration across their entire organization.

For more information, visit the Interstates website or connect with Adam on LinkedIn