Over the summer, a lot of businesses do special events. At bo-mar, we do those events too. But we have added another type of event to the mix: “field trips” to see our work on site, months or even years after it was first installed.

These group trips help to build our company culture. But I think they do a lot more. For instance, we can:

  • Evaluate how our work has held up over time and talk about whether we would do anything differently in the future. We especially like to see how the materials we use (especially CorTen steel, which is meant to have an “aged” look) can change year after year when exposed to the elements.
  • Bring new employees up to speed on the type of work we do and how we solved various types of client problems.
  • Show the finished product to  individuals who handled a piece of the project (such as forming a piece or welding or powder coat) but didn’t get to see the end result — especially in cases where it is assembled on site.
  • Talk to clients about how the installation went from their perspective and learn how we can continually improve our “intention to detail.”

But most of all, it’s about spending time together and celebrating the amazing work that our guys and gals do day after day. I’m so proud of the bo-mar team and I’m excited to share stories about their work with you here on the blog.

For more photos from our recent field trips, check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/bomarind/ — and if you haven’t already, please follow us on Facebook to get regular behind-the-scenes updates about our projects.

Til next time,

Bob

Estimator Ronson Lepper, Shop Foreman Keith Burns, Laser Operator David Moore, and owner Mark Buchanan inspect details on the recently installed John Wooden Pyramid of Success Wall outside Mackey Arena at Purdue. Engineer Josh Steinmetz, Welder Pete Fraker, Engineer Ethan Cating, and site superintendent Mike Nickell check out the CorTen finish on the back side.

Owner Mark Buchanan points out project details to bo-mar employees while visiting the Purdue Athletic walls in the plaza outside Mackey Arena

Bo-mar employees look up to see the oversized custom luminaires in Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. These lights were installed in 2006, and it was terrific for everyone, new employees and old, to see how well they’ve held up for the last 10 years.

Bo-mar’s Engineer Rex Harris looks over completed sculpture Heron. At the onset of this project, we were given a 12” cardboard maquette by the artist Jeff Laramore. Rex translated that small model into fully engineered shop drawings for bo-mar to fabricate from.