Mortenson Turns Innovation into Action at First-of-its-Kind Solar 3P Event
Article Summary
Mortenson used a first-of-its-kind competition at its BLUlabs facility to bring roughly 30 team members together and develop practical ways to streamline solar construction. Over eight days, four cross-functional teams applied the 3P Lean methodology to rethink field processes, prototype solutions, and strengthen innovation and leadership skills.
Key Takeaways
- Drawing on Lean methodology, participants analyzed each step, material, tool and role in existing processes, developed alternatives, and refined the strongest ideas through prototypes and testing.
- Teams worked separately on two related field-based challenges. The winning team ultimately developed a safer and more efficient transportation concept while demonstrating strong teamwork and inclusion.
- The event highlighted Mortenson’s culture of innovation and gave participants a chance to grow collaborative leadership skills.
A first-of-its-kind innovation competition at the Mortenson BLUlabs™ facility brought together roughly 30 team members from across project sites and functional teams to rethink how solar work gets done.
The eight-day event in August unlocked new ideas for streamlining solar energy construction by giving participants time, space and structure to challenge the way work is planned, built and moved in the field.
What is 3P?
Within construction and manufacturing, 3P — short for “production, preparation and process” — is part of the broader Lean methodology. The goal is simple: make the work easier by eliminating wasted time, motion, materials and energy.
A 3P approach encourages cross-functional teams to first break down an existing process into all of its individual steps while also taking note of any required materials, tools or people. Once team members have a thorough, shared understanding of the current state, they next think about how to approach the process differently and sketch out at least seven unique ideas. These ideas are discussed and assessed within the team, and favorites that bubble to the top move forward through rapid prototyping and testing. Teams can then repeat these steps as necessary to further refine their concepts or identify entirely new ideas.
It’s a detailed effort that takes time and forces participants to fully think things through before doing any hands-on work.
“It was challenging from an individual perspective because what do we do for a living? We solve problems. We often want to jump right to the solution,” said Solar Director of Operations Jesse Diedrich. “So getting a group of people to pull back from that and engage in the process, that was a challenge.”
However, team members soon learned that this more deliberate approach has its benefits. By taking the time to fully break down a current process, examine many different ideas for improvement, and prototype and test the most promising concepts, truly innovative solutions often emerge.
“We use 3P when we want to completely overhaul a process starting from a blank sheet of paper," said Innovation Executive Ben Peterson, who led the development and execution of the event.
Not only are the ideas going to be transformative, but the process and the thinking and the culture that we're building is the most important thing. This is the kind of revolutionary thinking that can change the game.
Identifying new ways to maximize efficiency in the field
Participants were broken into four teams and assigned one of two connected field challenges focused on streamlining solar construction.
While the challenges were related, event organizers were careful to keep the four teams separated. Each team also featured a diverse mix of people, with some team members having years of experience in the field and others bringing backgrounds in design, information technology or supply chain.
This event format pushed team members to truly work with each other and go through all the 3P steps in detail — from breaking down the current process through developing and testing innovative ideas — without getting outside help.
"I think really having the understanding of the physical work, the brain work, the paperwork and kind of finalizing everything, I think that was a really good thing to have everybody included," said Solar Laborer Lead Vanessa Rodriguez.
Across the vast BLUlabs floor, teams hung up their rough sketches, worked on table-top designs to bring those sketches to life as 3D models, and built and tested various prototypes. As participants got more comfortable with the 3P process and with working with each other, the innovative thinking ratcheted up and more new ideas bounced around. Speaking about his own team’s work, Innovation Engineer Justin Price summed up what everyone was focused on at the end of the eight days.
“We're trying to streamline this in a much faster, safer way, and reduce the amount of waste on materials,” he said.
The winning team ultimately reimagined a process related to on-site transportation and distribution. But most importantly, this team exhibited exceptional teamwork and inclusion as they efficiently followed the 3P methodology to perfection.
Redefining what’s possible through innovation
For Mortenson leaders, the event was about more than one competition or one winning prototype. It was a visible example of how the organization is building the mindset, skills and systems needed to keep leading the way in solar energy with innovation at the core.
“In solar, we’re leading the industry,” said Mortenson Executive Vice President Mark Donahue. “What we must have is a desire and hunger to stay two years ahead of everyone else.”
Beyond developing innovative ideas, event organizers said it was equally important to give team members the opportunity to boost their leadership skills by stepping out of their comfort zones, working collaboratively and approaching challenges in new ways.
“This is not just about coming up with awesome solutions for the business moving forward, but it's about developing our people,” said Peterson. “One of the outcomes that I hope everybody comes away with from this event is feeling that they grew tremendously personally and professionally.”
The sky is the limit for future innovative thinking at Mortenson. The BLUlabs facility — which recently marked one year since opening its doors — gives team members a state-of-the-art space to ideate and experiment. And a commitment to innovation from the top of the organization down provides the fuel to keep pushing forward and redefining what’s possible.
“Not only are the ideas going to be transformative, but the process and the thinking and the culture that we're building is the most important thing,” company chairman David Mortenson said. “This is the kind of revolutionary thinking that can change the game.”