Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesEngineering & Construction

Front-End Loading Is Key to Planning Automation Projects

An automation project has plenty in common with a house. No matter how grand the idea starts, it’s unlikely to be a successful project if the blueprints and foundation aren’t right. That’s why Marques Harrer, Strategic Solutions Specialist for Concept Systems, said the company puts so much emphasis on front-end loading in automation projects….

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Engineering & Construction teams put it to work with Partner & Channel Enablement.

·
Share

Free workspace

Turn your Engineering & Construction expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

An automation project has plenty in common with a house. No matter how grand the idea starts, it’s unlikely to be a successful project if the blueprints and foundation aren’t right.

That’s why Marques Harrer, Strategic Solutions Specialist for Concept Systems, said the company puts so much emphasis on front-end loading in automation projects. The better the plans, the more likely it is that a project can truly deliver the return on investment companies expect.

“The automation roadmap for Concept Systems really is an embodiment of that front-end loading project management philosophy,” Harrer said. “It’s an embodiment of the extra emphasis on making sure you plan correctly, making sure you can trust the return on investment calculations that you do as a business and the labor requirements, because you have an automation project where you say, ‘OK, at the end of this, I’m not going to need two extra people to do this particular task, or I’m going to need two more mechanics.”

Harrer said utilizing front-end loading can be critical to the success and ultimately make the process smoother for not only the Concept team putting the project in motion, but also the companies they are working with.

“I think Concept’s life is made easier and I think the customers’ life is made easier, because, when you have the proper planning and the proper process … you develop documentation that matches to what you executed to,” he said.

All of it leads to a firm foundation and a project likely to produce the desired results.

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Engineering & Construction starts with a company putting its project engineers, superintendents, and estimators on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Owners shortlist firms they already trust, and your field leaders become the reason your name is on that list.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Engineering & Construction, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Engineering & Construction: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Engineering & Construction buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Engineering & Construction expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your project engineers, superintendents, and estimators into the articles, video, and social content Engineering & Construction buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Engineering & Construction Insights

IndexBox sees panelized buildings growing 5.3% a year if panel plants keep up

IndexBox sees panelized buildings growing 5.3% a year if panel plants keep up

IndexBox forecasts the global panelized buildings market to grow 5.3% a year from 2026 to 2035, with residential housing at about 45% of 2026 demand. Factory capacity is the catch. Limited mass timber and specialized steel framing capacity will hold growth back in some regions, and IndexBox expects investment in new plants and automation to ease those bottlenecks by the late 2020s.

  • 01Panels swap scarce framing crews for factory hours, and through the late 2020s the factory hours for mass timber and specialized steel framing are scarce too.
  • 02Housing is 45% of panelized demand, but commercial and institutional projects are expected to grow faster because owners are paying for schedule certainty; warehouse and campus owners are closest to that shift.
  • 03Volumetric modular plants are estimated to need 60% to 70% utilization to break even, so the useful question for a panel supplier is how far out the specific production line is booked.

Nov 11, 2026

Requests for Paebbl's carbon-storing cement substitute far outstrip what it can produce

Requests for Paebbl's carbon-storing cement substitute far outstrip what it can produce

Rebond 300 replaces up to 30% of cement in concrete with no equipment changes. In a Holcim and Goldbeck floor slab trial at C30/37, its workability, setting time and finishing matched the reference mix. Demand exceeds what Paebbl can produce, and closing that gap is now its main challenge.

  • 01After Rebond 300 runs through a standard ready-mix plant and hits C30/37 with no schedule change, buyers’ next questions shift to supply and allocation—how many tonnes Paebbl can ship—alongside price and how much of the mix to commit.
  • 02If Rebond 300 displaces up to 30% of cement yet can cut embodied carbon by up to 40%, the figures imply a negative footprint beyond simple substitution; Paebbl cites a verified -149 kg CO2e per tonne of product, with results depending on mix design.

Nov 11, 2026

ABC's Hensel Phelps Diverge partnership puts field tests ahead of vendor demos

ABC's Hensel Phelps Diverge partnership puts field tests ahead of vendor demos

Carolinas contractors need field-tested evidence on new tools now. ABC's Construction Backlog Indicator reached 8.7 months in September, yet more than a quarter of contractors expect thinner margins.

  • 01A contractor with 8.7 months of work booked has time to pilot new tools. A contractor expecting thinner margins has less room to pay for a tool that only worked in the demo.
  • 02Diverge tests construction tools in controlled pilots and on active jobsites, and ABC can pass along what holds up. Contractors still need to choose what to pilot and define the metric that will decide it.
  • 03In South Carolina, a 1099 specialist brought in to run a tech pilot faces two separate state classification tests. Passing one does not settle the other.

Nov 10, 2026

Explore More Engineering & Construction Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Engineering & Construction.

Browse Engineering & Construction Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Engineering & Construction and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512