For Architectural Woodworkers, Panel Matters

When Architectural Woodwork Institute members gather, the discussion always turns to panel and veneer, defining aspects of commercial architectural millwork. At last month’s 61st AWI Convention in Orlando was no exception, where AWI board president Michael Bell recounted the state of the architectural wooding business.

“How has our industry been faring? Relative to past year, a lot more jobs have been awarded, but there are numerous concerns about pressure to turn around estimates, and around materials costs,” Bell said.

“A lot of people have downsized their companies,” he noted. “Now that we have the work, do we have the people to do it.”

Bell, who is Vice President of Allegheny Millwork in Lawrence, PA, said that after the bidding process, “Clients  turn the jobs loose at the last minute.” Then, of course, demand is for rapid turnaround, meeting complicated delivery schedules that must dovetail precisely with other subcontracting professions on the project.

“Instant and custom are polar opposites,” Bell remarked. “But the good news is there is a lot more technology to help.” Bell cited digital take-off – which captures measurements from architectural drawings -  estimating and project management software, video conferences, and file sharing systems like Box and FTPs, and BIM (Building Information Modeling) as making the accelerated bidding and review process doable. The downside? “Since updated project drawings are cheap, they are updated all the time.”

Bell also noted that project materials increasingly involve much more than lumber and veneer panel, with glass, acrylic, and metal. “There are a lot of increased risks with those products,” Bell said, noting, “You can’t cut stainless steel at the job site.” Architectural woodworkers are under pressure to do everything for a project, even manage areas outside their core business. “There is a lot of pressure on us to do everything.” The danger for AWI members is they can become responsible for non-architectural woodworking aspects of a job, elements that are not even profitable, but are given them to manage simply because they are good project managers.