Founded in 1851 and long known as the manufacturer of products like television glass and cookware, Corning in 1997 embarked on an ambitious campaign to intensify its optical physics and material science research and to translate its burgeoning lab activity into commercial products. The transformation spurred 850,000 sf in new construction at Sullivan Park alone, along with the addition of new labs in Europe, Asia, and in other locations in the U.S.

"We did roughly one million square feet of new construction and half a million square feet of renovation over a period of about three years, at an average cost of slightly under $200 per square foot," says Tom Blumer, vice president of global operations for Corning Science and Technology. "We feel pretty solid about that."

Two Years, Three Buildings

Corning's Sullivan Park construction boom was carried out in three almost parallel phases. The first, a 150,000-sf lab/office facility, was quickly followed by a 400,000-sf manufacturing/lab/office building, and then by a 300,000-sf facility with specialty labs and offices and amenities like a library and a café.

On the outside, the new structures are aesthetically pleasing, in an architectural style that harmonizes with the existing industrial research labs on campus. Inside, because light, dust, and vibration are all antithetical to the new research, the environmental standards are far more stringent than usual.

"In our business, a stray photon coming in from an overhead light or from sunshine absolutely kills our research, so darkness is critically important," Blumer says. "A speck of dust in a strand of optical fiber, which is thinner than a human hair, is similarly harmful. Finally, imagine trying to put two pieces of optical fiber together when you have foot traffic and work trucks going by. All of the sudden we had to go from relatively straightforward chemistry labs to vibration-free, light-free, dust-free labs."

Despite these challenges, construction activities proceeded on an ultra-fast track. Receiving formal corporate approval in February 1997, the Phase I building was up and occupied by the end of that year, with full completion in March 1998. Phase II got underway in July 1997 and was operational by the end of 1998. Groundbreaking for Phase III occurred in March 1998; occupancy began in December 1998, with full occupancy by early spring 1999.

Strategic Resourcing Fills Need for Speed

How did Corning pull off such an aggressive construction schedule?

Realizing that any delays would be detrimental to its position in the marketplace, the company eschewed standard project delivery methods and embarked on a new building approach.

"We said, 'We're an R&D organization, so it's okay for us to experiment in all areas, including the way we engineer and design buildings,'" says Blumer.

The new approach, called strategic resourcing, brought the owner, designer, builder, and key subcontractors together into a high-performance work team committed to the challenge of getting the project done within stringent deadlines.

"The building parameters were not necessarily fixed, but upfront I would establish a date, typically viewed as ridiculously fast, and ask the team to tell me how to meet it," says Blumer. "If you set the bar high, people will do their best to jump up to it."

Responsibility and Trust

Team members enjoyed considerable autonomy while sharing both risk and responsibility.

"Not all decisions need to be made at the top," says Blumer. "For example, a piping contractor who finds a conduit in the way would typically go back to the engineer for guidance. Instead, we told the subcontractors to put their heads together and make the call. Any construction project will see numerous instances like that. It's just a matter of giving the people who do this for a living the power to exercise their judgment. The key is letting them run with their ideas."

Corning's long-standing relationships with contractors and engineers contributed to the requisite atmosphere of trust, building confidence that everyone's best interests were being served.

"We had been working with our contractors and engineers for a long time on small renovation projects," says Blumer. "They all knew each other. Now we all had the opportunity to scale up."

Other aspects of the new strategy included parallel integration of design and construction. Blumer offers a tongue-in-cheek description of the process as "build-design" because everything was moving so fast.

"We would design a foundation and then be pouring it within a few days," he says.

While all the buildings are different, repeating elements like lab footprints, modular offices, and HVAC and electrical schemes were extracted from Phase I to provide a head start on the other two facilities.

Corning's strategic resourcing also allowed it to minimize red tape and bureaucracy without abandoning project controls. Weekly meetings kept the owner and contractors in close touch and prevented costs from escalating.

"I monitored our cost per square foot closely," says Blumer. "We are very much in line with industry standards, and in some cases we are better. We are not necessarily the cheapest, but we are not the most expensive either. The key is that our facilities enable innovation faster."

Blumer concedes that the accelerated schedule permitted some mistakes to be made but insists none were critical to the project outcome.

"You have to put it in the right perspective," he says. "The incremental cost of change is small in comparison to the value of the technical research going on. R&D is 'patient' money. If a scientist comes up with an invention that changes the world, like the optical fiber that has totally revolutionized telecommunications, how do you put a dollar figure on that?"

Strategies for Going Global

After strategic resourcing passed the test in Sullivan Park, Corning applied the approach to newly acquired lab facilities elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe. Once again the process delivered results in record time.

"We took a building in New Jersey owned by another company and renovated 25,000 square feet in four months," says Blumer. "That was unheard of."

Corning's next challenge was the on-going management and maintenance of this global collection of diverse lab buildings. Bringing in a site manager well versed in Corning culture proved to be the essential first step in blending a new organization into the corporate fold.

"Malfunctioning lights, telephones, or computers steal time from technology," says Blumer. "When people worry about infrastructure issues, they can't be very effective. We found it very important in our acquisitions to put a Corning person in place as the operations site manager, not to disrupt the operation of the lab but to improve efficiency. It saved a lot of time and energy and greatly reduced frustration."

Outsourcing plays a significant role in Corning's management and maintenance strategy. All facility operations are taken care of by third-party providers. Although contract management is centralized at Corning headquarters, some agreements--security and building management, for example--are national; others, such as facility maintenance, are often local. IT and communications services are also outsourced and managed remotely, typically with one corporate person onsite to provide basic support.

Procurement for U.S. and European labs is handled through a centralized buying council, which negotiates global contracts for capital equipment and large instruments. Routine items such as supplies or utility services are purchased locally.

Web Tools Extend Reach

Web-based programs help to leverage Corning's limited FM staff, extending their reach globally. Blumer ultimately expects that technicians will be able to manipulate all electrical and mechanical controls from a single computer screen, while the entire work order cycle, from entry to job completion, will be automated in all Corning facilities worldwide.

Current Web tools include Fluor Daniel's TabWare for preventive maintenance, along with a room and lab locator program that includes all HVAC piping and electrical diagrams, developed jointly by Corning and its engineering firm. Tenant information resides in an Oracle database, while facility drawings and diagrams are stored in Bentley System's Microstation. A Siemens' Building Systems control panel provides access to electrical controls. The system is still a work in progress, not yet fully integrated in all locations.

"Without Web-based management tools, we would have to put a lot of people across the globe, and that is very expensive," he remarks.

Face-to-face contact with building occupants is another important component of Corning's maintenance strategy. Blumer or a key manager travels to each site once a month, especially during construction. The visits not only keep the lines of communication open but also serve as an incentive to accomplish specific tasks or meet certain milestones.

"We spend a lot of time on the road," Blumer says. "It's very important in operations management to be highly visible and to fix problems."

To make sure that scientists are happy with their lab environments, every year they are asked to complete customer satisfaction and climate surveys.

"We really get good answers back," says Blumer. "Every once in a while I get a phone call from somebody saying 'thank you,' which is always a surprise."

Lessons Learned

When it comes to lessons learned, Blumer is a staunch advocate of master planning, even if individual elements change over time. Not only did master planning pave the way to the rapid Sullivan Park expansion, but Blumer expects it to provide a jump start when the French and Russian facilities run out of space.

"We have identified the obstacles, we know what we need to do, and we have a path to a budget to present to upper management," he says.

By Nicole Stahl

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