Through the many phases of a construction project from conception to starting up the line, challenges are abundant. When a project gradually increases in scope — also known as “scope creep” — a baker may become his own worst enemy, especially with new construction.
For John Khoury and Joe Bisogno, co-owners of Custom Foods, this is reality.
“We’re in the midst of our biggest challenge now — as we move forward in the planning stages, we keep positively expanding the scope of the whole project,” Mr. Khoury said. “As we are planning, we think it would be nice to add in a bigger maintenance shop or expand our offices or the holding freezer. Basically, our $5 million project is turning into a $7- to $8-million project.”
One way to alleviate scope creep and bring the project back down to budget is to employ a practice known as value engineering. This is the process of reviewing all aspects of the design to identify and eliminate areas that don’t fully contribute to the original purpose of the facility. Some examples include using less expensive materials or reducing unnecessary square footage.
In other words, look at your project and ask yourself what aspects of the new facility can you live without?
“We don’t have an indefinite amount of money to spend, so we want to make sure we have a good structure and the right bones in place for growth into the future,” Mr. Khoury said. “That’s the most important thing, that we get the right equipment in and that the building itself is the right building.”
