“You have a set time from start to finish. Construction companies are always trying to find an edge on how can we complete this a little quicker? So why would that be important? It’s going to help you deliver a reduced cost with the benefit of repeat customers because if you’re delivering the projects on time, it’s always a win for the end user and the customer.” 

-- David Hernandez, US Head of Elecosoft

The digital age has brought about significant change in all industries, and construction is no exception. Every major advance in communication, planning, and management improves the capability and speed of business, from large to small. Elecosoft enables businesses to optimize their project with planning and visualizing software, especially with their 4D models.

Join us as we interview Elecosoft’s David Hernandez on scheduling and planning construction projects in today’s world. David shares key information on schedule compression and optimization for any size contractor, along with some examples of the benefits of optimized projects. He also sheds some light on his prediction for upcoming technology to watch out for.

Topics discussed in this interview:

- What is schedule compression?

- What are some challenges construction faces?

- Why do owners and contractors want projects done faster?

- Elecosoft and 4D models

- What is a 4D model in construction?

- Who uses Elecosoft’s programs?

- How long does it take to get on board with their software?

- Sharing knowledge and protecting proprietary information

- Customer feedback and implementation

- What will impact construction tech in the future?

- Rapid fire questions

Discover if Elecosoft can help streamline your projects at elecosoft.com and stay updated with their LinkedIn page.

For more Construction Disruption, listen on Apple Podcasts or YouTube

Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn

This episode was produced by Isaiah Industries, Inc.

Intro/Outro: Welcome to the Construction Disruption podcast, where we uncover the future of design, building, and remodeling.

Todd Miller: I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries, a manufacturer of specialty metal roofing and other building materials. Today, my co-host on Construction Disruption is Ryan Bell. Ryan, how is today going for you?

Ryan Bell: So far, so good, Todd. How are you doing?

Todd Miller: Yeah, I'm doing really, really well. Sometimes we do a couple of dad jokes in this episode. I understand you have a couple of prepared for us.

Ryan Bell: I am prepared to drop some laughter this Friday morning.

Todd Miller: Drop some laughter. I love it.

Ryan Bell: Why did the pony ask for a glass of water?

Todd Miller: Why did the pony ask? You know, I feel like I should get this. I know it. Should I ruin it for you?

Ryan Bell: Yes.

Todd Miller: Because he was a little horse.

Ryan Bell: Yes, yes, there we go. One more. How many apples can you grow on a tree?

Todd Miller: This one I do not know. How many apples can you grow on a tree?

Ryan Bell: All of them.

David Hernandez: Oh, geez. You need a rimshot.

Todd Miller: I got a little horse, but I didn't get all the apples, this is embarrassing. Oh well. Well, just to let our audience know, we'll also see how we end up doing on our challenge words. So both Ryan and I and also our guest have a challenge word that we have been given to try to work into the conversation as seamlessly and noticeably as possible. And so we encourage our audience, if you hear any weird words, think to yourself, maybe that's the challenge word. And at the end we will reveal our success or lack there of. So let's go ahead and get the show started. Are you good with that, Ryan?

Ryan Bell: Yes. Let's get going.

Todd Miller: Well, today we're going to take a deep dive into the world of construction project management with an industry expert who is at the forefront of innovation and efficiency. Joining us today is David Hernandez, the head of U.S. operations at Elecosoft, a trailblazing company specializing in cutting-edge construction project management software. Now, we're going to be picking David's brain on a variety of subjects, but one in particular subject that we think is of really good importance in today's rapidly evolving construction landscape, and that is the subject of schedule compression. Kind of interesting. So I operate more on the manufacturing side of things and we actually deal with schedule compression too, if you're having like tooling built or something. Often times compression is kind of an option available to you at an extra fee. But you know, sometimes you take advantage of that. So I'm excited to hear about how that impacts the world of construction. We're going to be exploring the strategies, technologies, and best practices that can help construction professionals streamline their projects, deliver faster results, and stay ahead of the game in a fiercely competitive industry and market. David, it's a pleasure to have you today as our guest on Construction Disruption. Thank you so much for joining us.

David Hernandez: Thanks for having me.

Todd Miller: Fantastic. Well, I'm looking forward to a great discussion. Can you kind of start by explaining what schedule compression means in the context of the construction industry and why it's important, why do people care about it?

David Hernandez: I guess schedule compression is just probably the terminology people use. Some people call it optimization, right? But it's just simply just a methodology to shrink the project delivery time. Right? You have a set time from start to finish. Construction companies are always trying to find an edge on how can we complete this a little quicker, right? So that why that would be important? It's going to help you deliver obviously a reduced cost, right, benefit of repeat customers, because if you're delivering the projects on time, it's always a win for the end user and the customer. But it just also, I think it also has a little bit different methodology around planning and the way you communicate in collaboration. So I think that that also just just kind of delivers some harmony across the project as well. So yeah, that's I guess I sure like, I guess a quick simple analogy would be the way I plan vacations versus the way my wife plans vacations.

Todd Miller: Okay.

David Hernandez: I'm a week-long guy. I don't really care how, I know we have start to finish, how we get there. We're going to get there. My wife is let's cram everything in as quick as possible so we get to a bunch of different things between start to finish. So that would be a similar analogy I guess.

Todd Miller: Love it. Good analogy.

David Hernandez: We can't share this with her, by the way.

Todd Miller: Yeah, no one, no one else in the world will see it. So you're good, I promise. Anyway, so. Well, I'm curious. I mean, in today's, you know, really pretty fast-paced construction environment, what are some of the big challenges that contractors face when they're thinking of trying to compress their schedules?

David Hernandez: Well, I think, you know the thing that was probably on everybody's mind is today's labor problem. Labor shortages are an issue. Actually, I think schedule compression kind of plays into that a little bit because if you can kind of compress the time line, you can do a little bit and you can be a little more creative with all your, well, some of your labor force. You can overlap some things, you can do things that time-wise maybe help. I think the one thing that we have you always have to look at is the complexity around a project. How complex is this project? Every project, there's no projects out there that are cookie cutter. I mean, even if you're doing the same type of projects over and over, they change. So you have to look at the complexity of a project, the area that you're in. You know, you can say, Hey, we're going to extend work hours or we're going to throw in additional resources. But maybe the support mechanisms might be different on this project than they were last project. So maybe working overnight may not make sense if you don't have some support around around your crews. So that's a piece that you have to look at. And I think if you're working with a crew or a team that you're familiar with, that matters. But if you're working with a new group of people that you haven't worked with in the past, that could probably cause cause some issues as well. I think if you listed them out, there would be 50 different reasons. But I would say complexity, labor shortage, and probably the team in collaboration you're working with probably better.

Todd Miller: Makes a lot of sense. Well, you know, when you think about those trying to optimize, optimize timetables and so forth, I mean, do you more often feel that it's the project owner that's trying to push this or is it more often the contractor or, you know, what? Where does that fall?

David Hernandez: I think it can be both. Obviously, the contract owner always wants more. I think that's just the standard across any industry. Do you deliver more? Sometimes it's about rescuing projects. There were some, you know, unforeseen delays in the projects and now we're behind. How can we rescue our timelines? So that that would be the contractor will probably step in there. But also if they've had success doing this over the past of the past few projects, they have a little bit more methodology around it, some understanding that there are some safety procedures in place so they can analyze the risk easily. Yeah, I think that I think that the contractors would push it, you know, just as much, if not more beyond. But the owner always wants more. They always can get it quicker or can I get a little bit more?

Todd Miller: Very interesting. So not necessarily. I mean, you know, a lot of times I think of compression, especially in our industry, tool and die industry and so forth. It's usually all decided up front. Okay, You know, we're going to pay extra to throw all the resources at this and get it done more quickly than than a normal timetable would be. But sounds like, you know, sometimes in construction, this is something you end up entering into after the project is already underway. Am I understanding that correctly?

David Hernandez: You could end up with the other way. But I think there are some, there are probably more times that you're probably doing this from an upfront perspective. Again, I think because the project's underway is probably because the project's in trouble, something's happened, there's delays, threats of if we don't get it done here, I've got to deal with my LDs down the road so we can throw a little bit more resources at at the at risk of litigation at the end. But I think it does happen. I would say probably more preplanned than it would happen during a project, at least in my experience. I mean, I again, there might be some other people that probably have a different opinion, but I've seen it mainly done as a as a planned upfront approach.

Todd Miller: Makes sense. Well, tell us how Elecosoft plays a role in that. I mean, you have construction project management software. You bring this technology to the industry. So how does that play a role in helping companies when they are trying to optimize schedules and and so forth?

David Hernandez: So I think that, you know, first first and foremost, we're a software company, construction software company. Our primary product is Asta, which is, you know, planning and scheduling software. And one of the things that we specialize in is providing data in one centralized environment so that helps the collaboration base. We have our active 4D model, which allows for taking the 3D model and bringing it into our software from a technology perspective. But I think one thing that makes us unique around that active 4D is we've had some customers who kind of flip this scheduling methodology infrastructure on its head a little bit where they started with the model. Let's bring the 4D model in, let the software read it, and the software would then build a schedule. So quick example was one of our customers, CIMIC out of Australia. They were having a hard time scheduling a very complex project and nobody could figure out. So the company brought them the model and the scheduler was able to take that model, turn it into 4D. They submitted it into power project. So they were trying to do this over a period of about a month to figure out schedule and put it. And the model was then read by power project. Over the weekend they were able to schedule out this project using the 4D model. And what they found was the customer was saying, this is a 12-month project. Well, really, because they were able to put it into an actual schedule model right from start to finish. They realized it's an 18-month project. So they were able to go back to the owner with actual data and say, No, really, it's an 18-month project. Here's all of the steps, here's the critical path. Here's the other thing that needs to happen. So saving the customer six months of change orders on a very complex project was extremely efficient. So that helped. You know, we also have the ability to do some resource allocations right, what if scenarios. There's a lot of other things in there that would help around this methodology around, you know, if we're trying to do something that is, you know, there's some risk in doing schedule compression because if you miss or mess up, it could make it worse. You need good software around that, you know, to make sure that that's organized well. And I think that we do that very, very well.

Ryan Bell: Are you guys a kind of the unicorn in the industry when it comes to that 4D-type thinking and process?

David Hernandez: So around the 4D collaboration, we are absolutely the unicorn. We're the only software that has 4D integration with a CPM schedule. There's companies that do the 4D, there's companies that do scheduling software. I've yet to find one that does them both together and do them as well as we do. So yeah, I would, I would claim that we are the unicorn, absolutely.

Ryan Bell: Good to be the unicorn.

Todd Miller: Very cool. Well, okay, so I need help here. Help me explain what 4D is a little bit. Help me understand that a little bit. 3D I can handle, okay. I took geometry class. 4D I need a little help with.

David Hernandez: It's the exact same thing. It is, basically, but it's the digital, the digital piece of that. The 3D model I can touch. 4D is taking that physical, the model, turning it into a digital file. So we typically take IFC files, which is pretty much the industry standard today. We kind of put all of our eggs in that basket a few years ago when the industry had multiple different files that they were going after, we chose IFC. Don't ask me about all the technical stuff, it's above my acumen, but it just takes that 3D model, puts it into a 4D format that allows our system to read it, what's in it. And it's very data-rich. So, you know, these architects and engineers put a lot of time and energy into building this information. So it's extrapolating all that data. So you take that 4D model, you put it into a software set, it tells you from start to finish, you can put automations that you can see, you know, where your layouts are, how the sections, so you can actually watch how this project can be built before you even get started. And it's, that's been, so when you talk about complex projects or large projects or multiple stakeholders that are involved, it really allows some visual representation for everybody. So just thinking same thing as 3D, you're just putting it on your computer.

Todd Miller: I assume that your software is typically being used by, you know, fairly large general contractors and so forth. Am I correct on that?

David Hernandez: You would actually be surprised. So obviously, yes, we have a lot of you know, our 400, we're a global company, so we've got, you know, large, complex projects in Europe and Australia with some of the US as well. But a lot of the conversations lately have been with some of the some of the medium-sized, mid-market general contractors who are, you know, the US is a little bit behind on BIM. I think from Europe, it's being required in some of Europe and the European markets. And a lot of it, it's not that we're afraid of it. I think sometimes it's a matter of, I think I need a BIM expert. I've got to hire, you know, a virtual design company to do this for me. And, you know, but if you have a software that takes that complexity out of it, basically all I need is the file. And you can see the 4D world built in your scheduling software. That's where I think we've made some ground up in the last few months, actually probably last 8 to 9 months was where you don't need to hire a specialist. Your scheduling and planning manager can do this right. And the software, the software does it. You're still getting the same information. So it's now being introduced a little bit more into some of the smaller mid-market general contractors that realize, oh, we can do this and compete with some of the bigger, bigger contractors. So do you think that's a competitive advantage we offer to some of the smaller contractors.

Todd Miller: Gotcha. And that actually leads really well into my next question, which you've kind of sort of answered already to some degree. But what type of ramp up period is there for somebody who's starting to use your software? I mean, you know, I really that's great that you put it more in the hands of the people who are already there. But still, what kind of effort are they going to have to put out to learn it and start to use it?

David Hernandez: So I tell my team all the time, our biggest competition is construction companies that do nothing. So they're looking at a software and they get worried about the disruption. What is this going to cost? So we pride ourselves, number one, on hiring industry experts in-house, that we can support from support-wise to implementation. Our implementation process is very quick. We actually have a company up and running from a business intelligence power project 4D environment in a week. I mean, it's it's very, very quick. We can probably spin the environment up in a day and they have it going. But there's some training and just some layout. What I share with our customers, though, is you don't know what you don't know. So let's get you up and going in kind of a simplified version. See how it works kind of out of the box, if you will. And then let's, we have a process, a customer success process along the way that says, what do we need to change? They may say, this is perfect. It works exactly the way we needed to. And then when I say, you know what, yes, we need to change. But part of the the struggle in construction technology is the difference between, and I always these words are very tough for me. It's my Texan accent, so forgive me. Digitalized versus digitized. So digitizing is just taking your process and putting it in software. And you can take a bad process all day long and put it in software, it's still a bad process. So, well, what I think our responsibility is from a construction technology world is to let's explore processes that our customers have and can we help them improve that process? There's you know, it's funny, you talk to a lot of customers who say this is how we do it and it's very, very company policy, very good that we're going to do it this way. But when you really get into the nitty gritty, they don't do it that way. They want to do it that way, but they're not doing it that way. So we try to help get them to where they want to go process-wise. But again, limit that disruption. So we say, we'll handle that for you. You know, we meet with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of customers all the time. We've got a customer advisory board. We're listening to our customers. We're hearing best practices already across the world. Let's share them with our customers. And just I think the ultimately, just make it easy. So this was a long, long-term answer to we make it very simple. You could be spun up real quickly; we're there with you the entire time. We have an onboarding process that's about nine months. And then after that, we have a continued training process as well.

Todd Miller: So I'm kind of curious, does your company, does Elecosoft encourage your customers, the contractors, to talk about your software to their clients? I mean, do you encourage them to be transparent that, hey, you know, we're using a cutting-edge software program that does all these things to help make the project and ensure good things for you? Or do they kind of keep it more behind the scenes? I'm just curious about that.

David Hernandez: It's a weird industry, right? It's relationship-built. Everybody knows everybody for the most part. But there are some things that they probably keep very close to the vest. So but, you know, we share with our customers from the very beginning when we start talking to them as a prospect, our roadmap is driven by our customers. We started as a construction company, so we come from the industry. We understand the industry, but we're not in the industry anymore. Now we're a software company, we're not still construction. So we rely on our customer base to share not only with us, but, you know, let's do some case studies, let's get testimonials, let's figure out ways that we can share best practices across the region. No, we won't necessarily share proprietary information. That's, you know, we're going to be careful about that. But we do want to make sure we're sharing best practices. But the most, I think the biggest benefit for us is by the sharing, whether it's company to company or customers to us is that's how we're driving our roadmap. We want to build things up because we think our industry needs it. We want to build things that our industry's saying they need. And that's why I'm really intrigued by the smaller big market guys, because those are the guys that they're trying to figure out really innovative ways to be competitive. They're in growth mode, they're trying to be strategic. Maybe they need a little more resources than, you know, a multibillion dollar construction company. So those guys are really like the. Now don't get me wrong, I like the multibillion dollar guys too. But I want to hear from you. Yeah, so we encourage the sharing. But we try to do that within like a case study or so we're not sharing so we can kind of control what data that they want released versus stuff they don't share.

Todd Miller: Well, you mentioned earlier having a customer advisory board, which just really struck me and and I because I don't think too many companies do that. Sometimes I've heard of it and some trade organizations and things, but little unusual for businesses. So I applaud you for that. But anything you recall coming out of those sessions with customers that you know, you were like, wow, we never thought of that? You know, it was really an aha moment for you.

David Hernandez: So that's, I think there's some aha moments sometimes from a negative. Be honest and open and transparent. So you have to be willing to hear both sides of it. You go into it with the expectation of your customers is going to sing your praises, but you're asking them to give you feedback. So you have to be prepared to get that feedback. So I think we learned probably the most from the negative feedback. What they're saying is in the scheduling and planning world, it's not abnormal for our our customers to also have the license of our competitors. So they're using multiple softwares within the company a lot of times so they can provide real time feedback. Well, we can do this in X, and we can do this in X, but we can't do it in yours. Or I really like the way this interface is versus yours, so that we pull from. But I think that listening to, outside of the technology conversation, just listening to how they're tackling some of these challenges because a lot of people will just sit back and complain, can't find the new workers, I can't do this. They still have to build things. And so to kind of figure out ways that they're being a little creative, you know, schedule compression is one of them. But, you know, I think prefab and modularization happen from the manufacturing world. So we probably talk a little bit about that as well. I imagine like that started because of labor shortages awhile back and we could build stuff prior to coming. So that was something that was kind of cutting edge that's obviously continuing. So I like hearing like ideas around what's coming new. But obviously AI is a big conversation, like how can we help them bring in AI? How can you, I know people throw those around, hey, AI and machine learning and all the stuff, they throw it around without context. But I think AI is a huge piece of technology. If you can help take some of that information, feedback from the customers, a lot of it is around predictive. If I could wake up in the morning and show up to my office and I have some predictive analytics around my scheduling saying, David, you're going to be in trouble in five weeks, because if you don't do this, this, and this. And here today, I said, okay, however, here's a solution. Do this, this, and this. We're doing that. Now from a human perspective, I think a lot of people get nervous. But I think if you take away some of the some of the kind of, I guess, the human emotion from it and just say it's very black and white, here's where we're going to be in trouble. Here's what we need to do to fix it. Now, I can go and make sure that I'm allotted for that. So those are some of the conversations that I think are pretty hot on everybody's mind right now. I joke and say, AI may take over the world, but let's figure out a way to utilize it and make money off of it now. I guess there are a lot of really cool things to come out of it, but just be ready to handle the negative too, and just get it right and learn from it.

Todd Miller: Well, that makes a lot of sense. I know some of those customer, voice of the customer-type things I've been involved with. Yeah, you learn real quick that I'm going to learn from the bad stuff. Sometimes it strikes you right in the heart when you hear it. Yeah, but that is where development comes from. So I'm kind of curious and you touched on it, but as you look out to the future, are there any emerging trends or innovations that you foresee in technology or even maybe non technology, things that you think are really going to impact construction and project management in the future?

David Hernandez: If you look at construction just 10, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, I mean, I remember early in construction, I wasn't as heavily involved in it when I owned my own company. But there were times as a as a laborer, I go with our estimator, you go into the GCs office, you take the pledge, did your mark up and take offs right there. You put it on a clipboard, right? Everybody gets to see each other, have coffee, right? It was the way. Then fax machines came, right? The only technology you saw on most job sites were maybe walkie talkies, maybe a CD player. Now it's, then the fax machine came, but then you had to make sure somebody was there to put the paper in the fax machine. But then mobile technology come. I mean, the technology world. Everybody said, well, construction is getting left behind. I think construction has always been one of the most innovative industries. And they just, they were really cautious. I think if you look at 2017, 2018, they were buying everything because that looks really cool. Back to my digitalization versus digitize. You're still buying software to do that process. So then they become very guarded and they hired these directors of innovation and technology. And I'm not trying to speak ill of you guys because all of the guys we talked to, I think directors, directors of innovation, their job is to stop buying just software. It needs to makes sense. And so I think a lot of the technology is here now with cloud-based olutions. Everybody wants cloud-based solutions. Problem is, is you guys can't use cloud-based solutions because there's no internet in the tunnels, right? So we have to figure out a way how can we do that offline? So I think there's going to be some so probably some 5G towers there will probably come up to allow underground communication. AI we talked about. We've seen robotics and automation already on sites. Being able to as a project manager, some of these really cool, you know like open space where I can go and look and see my site without being on my site and map it out in real time. Drones, which they've been trying to implement drones for a long time now. They really have drones that can be, you know, takeoffs and updates. I mean, there's some really cool stuff that's already happening. And so I guess I say all that because we've changed so much just in the last ten years. I think I would be foolish to think where we're going to be in the next ten years. And, you know, because I think everything that we're talking about today is probably going to be old news very much like the fax machine is for us now. But I love virtual and augmented reality. I think that this is pretty cool as well where I can you know, I can walk through my site virtually, which is pretty neat. So, I mean, I'm sure there's some other things out there that I'm not thinking about. But yes, it's going to be pretty fun to watch.

Todd Miller: That was a very interesting answer, I think. And, you know, I thought I was the only person alive who still remembered the advent of fax machines. So I'm glad I'm, I feel comfortable now. But, you know, it's interesting.

David Hernandez: I was responsible for collecting to make sure a paper was in it.

Todd Miller: It's interesting what you said, though, as far as yes, there's more things to come, but there's a lot of technology right now still being adopted and perfected and brought in as well. So that's good stuff. Well, yeah. David, this has been really informative and a lot of fun. We're kind of close to wrapping up what we call the business end of things. Is there anything we haven't covered yet today that you want to make sure you get out to our audience maybe about Elecosoft or just your thoughts in general?

David Hernandez: Well, I will tell you, you know, we're, I hope the point comes across that, you know, we want to be partners with our customers and the industry. I've even told my team like, it's okay. You know, obviously we want to sell, we're a company, we're a business. But at the end of the day, if we could still, everybody that we talk to, we could help in any way, whether it's just talking through a problem, help them solve a problem. Even if they don't buy our technology. I think we want to always be that. In our core, we want to help. We want to be a helper. But at the end of the day, we're easy to do business with. We want to make it a simple implementation process. We want to partner with our customers and we want to listen, we want to be a part of those cutting-edge technologies that are out there. The other thing that we really we didn't touch on a whole lot was that, you know, there's other technologies out there that we can partner with. Not necessarily it's not something we do, but there's a way that we can, you know, start to kind of work together with other construction tech companies that maybe we don't do this piece of it, but they do this piece of it. And there's a way for us to, you know, partner together. We have an open partnership with a lot of other companies, not only in the U.S., but also the UK and Australia. So that's a big piece of it as well, is we want to partner with our companies. It's all about helping the industry. It's an industry I love. I'm in construction technology because I gave up the hard hat, now it's time for me to still help the industry but do it in a different perspective.

Todd Miller: That is very cool. And one of the things we talk a lot about on the show is, you know, we just work in and are blessed by an amazing industry that has so much variety and so many exciting things. And you're right, sometimes we get a bad rap that that we are kind of slow at adopting things. But the reality is, I think construction moves right along and, you know, it is serious business. So you can't sometimes jump into things too headstrong, shall I say, and you got to be a little careful sometimes also. Well, this has been great, David, So I feel like we need a trombone sound effect or something because we're now ready to go into what we call our rapid fire questions, if you're willing. So rapid fire consists of seven questions. Some are serious, some are little silly. All you have to do is to give your quick answer, and it helps our audience know you a little bit better. So I have to ask you, are you up to the challenge of rapid fire?

David Hernandez: I am, yes.

Todd Miller: Awesome. Ryan, we can try to alternate questions here. You want to ask the first one?

Ryan Bell: I would love to. Question number one: if you could be transformed into one animal, which one would you choose?

David Hernandez: Okay, so the leader in me says lion, but I've always said eagle because to me, eagles have a lot of freedom. They're still kind of the king of the birds. The freedom piece to me is probably the more appealing.

Ryan Bell: I like that.

Todd Miller: Good answer. Question number two: What is something that never fails to make you laugh?

David Hernandez: I would say my kids, I'm a dad of seven boys, So they're constant, whether it's their failures. Sometimes they have funny failures or just sometimes the things they do. And I have a grandson too. He makes me laugh constantly.

Todd Miller: Oh, that's awesome stuff. Good answer.

Ryan Bell: Question number three: You've been selected to be on a reality TV show of your choice. What show would you be on?

David Hernandez: Probably Ultimate Survivor.

Ryan Bell: Yeah?

David Hernandez: Yeah, definitely. I like being outside. Very competitive, yeah.

Ryan Bell: You think you could win?

David Hernandez: Oh, one hundred percent, absolutely. I would cheat, but I would win.

Todd Miller: Well, that may kind of lead into the next question. What world record do you think you would have a shot at beating?

David Hernandez: It would have to be something around eating, probably. Like the world's largest steak. Maybe the most hot dogs. I would probably have a shot at those world records.

Ryan Bell: So have you ever entered into any. This is not a rapid fire question, this is a side question. Have you ever entered into an eating competition?

David Hernandez: I've watched them, and most of the guys that do are very, very skinny. And I'm like, where do they?

Ryan Bell: I know.

David Hernandez: It makes no sense.

Todd Miller: Maybe if you're skinny, you got more space for everything.

David Hernandez: Maybe that's what it is. The fat's suppressing the space.

Ryan Bell: Alright, question number five. Do you have a favorite quote that you can share with us?

David Hernandez: I mean, it's probably it's been my motto since 2021. I don't know if it's really a quote. It's just control what you can control. I mean, I got to that 2021. It's just kind of like a mantra. That's the number one that anybody ask me about four core values. That's number one. It's control what you can control. And once you kinda let other things go because they're out of your control, it's a little freeing. Because you do get very frustrated when you can't control everything. So, yeah, I've just, control what you can control.

Todd Miller: I can certainly see that being something that came up in 2021 while we were dealing with supply shortages and all the craziness that came out of COVID. Wow, interesting. Love it. Okay, question number six. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

David Hernandez: I love Christmas. I've been trying to put my Christmas tree up since June. So yeah, I've come from a big family, so I have a big family now. Like there's so, holiday tradition, just the gathering and family, but usually around Christmas. So I'd leave my tree up all year long, if my wife would let me do it.

Todd Miller: I was going to say I would leave my tree up all year long too, but it's just out of pure laziness, I gotta confess.

Ryan Bell: Yeah, I was going to say, I'm always ready to put our tree up super early, but my wife is not. Like she has to wait until after Thanksgiving.

David Hernandez: And yes, it's not like, What is that?

Ryan Bell: Yeah.

David Hernandez: So I told her my rule is as soon as they start coming out in the stores, we will put them out, which is like August. So this month we're good.

Ryan Bell: We're good. I'm right there with you on that one. Okay, final question. Name a product or service that you have purchased recently that you would consider life changing?

David Hernandez: Well, I haven't purchased it, but I was trying to figure out if buying hydrogen was something that was legal or not. And so there's a lot of research going on around. I haven't bought that recently, but now I have something that's life-changing. Nothing's really been life-changing that I can think of. I mean, you know, I guess I'm a car guy. I love pickup trucks. I guess we just purchased a new truck and it's got a multifunction tailgate on it. I love it. It helps me get in my back of the truck easily. That's actually been life-changing, probably makes me more lazy actually. But yeah, that's pretty cool.

Todd Miller: Good answer. Well, David, thank you again for joining us today here on the show. This has been great and I think it's been very informative. So for folks who would want to get in touch with you or to learn more about Elecosoft, how can they most easily do that?

David Hernandez: Probably the easiest way is the website, it's elecosoft.com. There's a lot of information on there, there's ways to contact us, there's webinars, a lot of a lot of informative information. Obviously our LinkedIn page as well, we try to keep up to date with upcoming webinars, just even if we're not customers to be able to just see what we're about and what we have to offer.

Todd Miller: Very good. So that's elecosoft.com and we will put that information in the show notes as well for folks who are watching us on YouTube or one of the podcast platforms. So before we close out, I'm pleased to announce we were, we chose some weird challenge words, but we were all successful at them. Ryan, you had the word?

Ryan Bell: Unicorn, if that was not obvious.

Todd Miller: Not obvious at all. David, your word was?

David Hernandez: Hydrogen. I was trying to figure out the entire show how I was going to fit that in there.

Todd Miller: Sometimes they're easier than others. Sometimes it's just tough. You got her in there, though. Good job. And my word, I also kind of got in there at the end was trombone, which I thought that was going to be an easy one, but it was not. It was hard for me to figure out. So it's been great. Well, David, thank you so much for joining us. It's been a real pleasure and a lot of fun and anxious to get this in front of our audience and have them learn more about Elecosoft and what you all are doing there.

David Hernandez: I appreciate you guys having me. It was a pleasure meeting you guys.

Todd Miller: Well, you too. And thank you so much to our audience for tuning into this episode of Construction Disruption with David Hernandez of Elecosoft. Please watch for future episodes of our podcast. We're always blessed with great guests. Don't forget to leave a review, please, on Apple Podcasts or you YouTube. Until the next time we're together, though, keep on disrupting and challenging the construction industry and those around us to better ways of doing things. And don't ever forget to have a positive impact on those in your life. Everyone you encounter, make them smile, encourage them. Simple yet powerful things we can all do to really change the world. So God bless and take care. This is Isaiah Industries signing off until the next episode of Construction Disruption.

Intro/Outro: This podcast is produced by Isaiah Industries, a manufacturer of specialty metal roofing and other building products.