As the Medical University of South Carolina’s new Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion project begins to go vertical, more than 250 construction workers are onsite everyday ensuring the facility is built with quality and on schedule. However, in the tight quarters of downtown Charleston, material delivery can be challenging and so can retrieving simple, consumable items and small tools that are essential to construction.
Robins & Morton of the Robins & Morton/Cumming/Brownstone construction manager association of the project knew there had to be a better, safer and more efficient way to provide onsite personnel with the items they need every day. Calling on their regional supplier division, ERS Construction Products, and connecting them with local firm , HHT, LLC a logistics supplier who was already providing transportation and warehousing for the project, the three companies put their heads together to form an innovative solution to a truly common problem in the construction industry. From this association, the MUSC onsite construction product store began. By providing consumable construction products just a few steps away, the onsite store eliminates the inefficiency of countless trips for material. If the store does not have a particular item in stock, staff can schedule same-day delivery from their local warehouse or overnight materials. With more than 30 subcontractors onsite, each averaging three trips to a local supply store for material, the onsite store could be saving nearly 100 trips per week, ultimately 5,200 trips per year. Not only does this reduce inefficiency on the project, but it also reduces wasted fuel, carbon footprint and improves safety by eliminating the hazard of driving.
