What if a building could be manufactured, like an automobile or an airplane?
While a prefab skyscraper might seem like a pipe dream, that’s the goal of CadMakers Virtual Construction, a fast-growing Vancouver company that’s changing the way buildings are designed, engineered and constructed.
Using CATIA (Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application) – a software proprietary to French company Dassalt Systèmes that’s widely used in the aerospace industry – CadMakers works with architects, developers and contractors well before ground is broken on a building project. With sophisticated 3-D modelling, CadMakers reviews complex building designs, flagging coordination clashes and construction challenges that could delay the building process and create cost overruns.
The modelling process can also help contractors prefabricate as many components of a project as possible, from building materials to mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
“The way we communicate what we do is we sell back time to the project,” says Mr. Glatt, a former CFL linebacker who helped the B.C. Lions win the 2006 Grey Cup. “Obviously, there’s the coordination piece up front, but there’s also the idea of optimizing time off-site and reducing costs and waste by prebuilding as much as possible.”
Mr. Glatt and his co-founder, Nicolas Cantin, created CadMakers in February 2014 because they saw an opportunity to bring CATIA to an industry that rarely used that technology. Now, they are on their 28th project in 18 months and have $1.3-billion in projects under their belt, including a key role in the high-profile construction of the new University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre.
But when you’re turning the construction industry on its head, it isn’t always easy.
“What we do is not typical; we’re disruptive to the process of what everyone’s gotten comfortable with,” says Mr. Glatt. “They have very entrenched processes, so at first it was very difficult to convince an owner to spend a dollar more today in the hopes of saving 10 dollars tomorrow.”
The first six months of their business were particularly challenging, recalls Mr. Glatt, because most potential clients weren’t willing to take a risk on something new.
“It could be tough at times to think: Is this really what people want? Will someone pay for this in a sustainable fashion?”
Salim Teja is executive vice-president of ventures at MaRS Discovery District, a not-for-profit organization that helps Canadian entrepreneurs launch and grow their innovative companies through partnerships with governments, foundations and corporations. He says that because of “the way technology is evolving now and the types of problems we are able to solve, innovation is affecting every industry.”
But, Mr. Teja notes, these days, it’s not about just having a brilliant idea.
“I think people have realized that the startup game has gone global and ideas are prevalent everywhere, and the moment you have an idea chances are [that] three or four or five other teams are working on the exact same idea,” he says. “So, getting to execution becomes really important.”
When working with young companies, Mr. Teja emphasizes three key steps to developing a business when innovation is your selling point. First, you need to really understand the value proposition you’re offering.
“It’s great to have a whiz-bang technology, but if you’re not creating an opportunity or solving a problem that’s relevant to an industry, then chances are you could be spinning your wheels,” he says.
To ensure they’re on the right track, innovative startups should talk to prospective users of their product or solution, advises Mr. Teja. “Develop an early prototype, get in front of customers and get feedback. Then take the learning that you get and reinvest that into the approach or the product.”
The second step is to build talent. “Because this is all about execution, you need to have the best, smartest people working with you in order to get the momentum you need,” he says. As well, because businesses will probably have to pivot as they learn, they need a strong team that’s comfortable in that kind of environment.
“The third piece is you have to get that early revenue or capital in, so that you can really start to build up the resources you need,” says Mr. Teja. “To convince customers or investors to invest in your business, you need to understand how to articulate the value proposition [and] how to show some early milestones that validate some of your functions and a great forward-looking plan that gives investors and customers confidence that you can pull this off.”
And don’t forget to do your homework, he adds.
“We’ve seen with some of our companies [that] they go into an investor meeting and the investor knows the market better than they do,” he says. “It’s a dangerous way to start a relationship. You need to understand the market inside out, who’s relevant and who isn’t.”
Learning and being willing to pivot, notes Mr. Glatt, was essential to building CadMakers into the company that it is today.
“We learned and made mistakes and pivoted and were constantly tweaking,” he says. “Nine months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you the stuff we’re doing now and the level of detail that we’re doing on prefabrication of sophisticated mechanical systems. For us, it happened through doing it and really understanding the problems that our clients were having.”
While he foresees a future where buildings are manufactured, Mr. Glatt recognizes that there will be challenges along the way.
“There are code reasons, trade union issues – all those issues that will make it a challenging thing,” he says. “But buildings are getting more complicated, costs are going up, and 3-D design technology has advanced so much in the past five or ten years that it’s becoming cost-effective to look at a new way of doing things.”
The one thing he is sure of is that change is in CadMakers’ future.
“A year ago we were definitely not the same company we are today, and a year from now we won’t be the same company,” says Mr. Glatt. “We’ll do a lot of what we do now, but we’ll evolve. We are just constantly moving forward.”
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department, in consultation with CIBC. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.