Mechanical contractor J.C. Cannistraro has long focused on Lean Construction methods, high-tech tools, offsite construction and expansion of its services to give it a leg up in its market sector.

The Watertown, Mass.-based mechanical contractor’s strong bottom line stems from the staying power of Boston’s strong post-recession rebound and is a credit to the area’s economic diversity, says John Cannistraro Jr., president, who leads the firm with brothers David, the CEO, and Joseph, the chief financial officer.

ENR New England’s first Specialty Contractor of the Year, Cannistraro ranked 86th on the ENR’s 2017 Top 600 Specialty Contractors and second in last year’s first ranking of New England specialty contractors. This year, it is fourth in the region with $222 million in revenue.

Two of Cannistraro’s major projects are the 23-acre Seaport Square mixed-use development and the 22-story 88 Ames Street residential building. For the area, $500-million projects are “the new norm,” adds John. “That makes our portion of the projects larger too.”

约翰说，坎尼斯特罗（Cannistraro）采取了战略举措，以增强其能力。他说，2014年收购当地的金属承包商哈灵顿兄弟公司（Harrington Brothers Corp.）使Cannistraro能够为客户提供“完全集成的包裹”。约翰补充说，这一优势加上800多个办公室和现场工作人员，“为我们提供了持续增长的跑道。”

一个精益施工方法和早期采用者technology-based construction practices, Cannistraro has more than 30 employees working in virtual design and construction across various disciplines. The firm has worked closely with software vendor Autodesk to streamline processes by incorporating manufacturing techniques. Among the innovations are modular equipment skids and mechanical penthouses, hospital headwall units and laboratories, all including mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.

Jim Lynch, vice president of Autodesk’s construction products line, says Cannistraro sets “the bar on where the construction industry can go” using CAD/CAM and offsite construction to drive more predictable outcomes.

Calling Cannistraro’s embrace of technology and prefabrication “compelling,” Lynch adds that Autodesk has relied on the company’s feedback to gain a better understanding of the design-fabrication continuum. “You need a tight link between the software products to facilitate design changes, and [save] time,” Lynch explains.

为了支持其异地业务，Cannistraro在去年6月开业的波士顿海港区进行了157,000平方英尺的前美国海军重型机械车间。该商店允许制造加热，通风和空调设备，薄板金属管道，管道管道和洒水系统以进行火灾抑制。

The facility allows the firm to expand offsite capabilities to meet an anticipated growth in demand for these methods that Cannistraro is known. For example, on a 500,000-sq-ft advanced patient care facility at Massachusetts General Hospital, led by Turner Construction Co., under an integrated-project-delivery contract, Cannistraro worked with electrical and drywall contractors. Cannistraro fabricated, assembled and tested headwall assemblies in the shop. The assemblies were then transported to the site and installed in a precisely timed sequence that helped minimize downtime and staging conflicts, according to Cannistraro.

Cannistraro’s commitment to coordination and leading-edge technology “allowed us to finish the mechanical level and primary heating and cooling services two months ahead of schedule,” says Brian Chase, Turner’s project executive.

尽管异地建设改变了该领域的工作，但并非每个分包商都遵循Cannistraro的VDC和异地构建负责人。尽管技术可以帮助改善冲突检测和预组件，但约翰认为“建筑的固有效率低下”是持续的障碍。

For that reason, the firm trains its field staff in offsite construction. “We push training at the apprentice level because they’re the foremen of the future,” John says.

With the average age of workers approaching 50, “we want new workers to be ready to step into what will be the way most construction is done in the future,” he adds. Performing offsite work can be appealing to new workers because it is considered safer to preassemble ceiling level units at waist height in a controlled environment rather than on ladders outdoors.

这些统计数据似乎实现了异地建设的安全性。坎尼斯特罗（Cannistraro）的可记录伤害率从6开始下降到1.5次，“这就是这些方法带来的文化变化的结果，”约翰说。

该公司还活跃于弱势青年的贸易培训计划。其中两个是建造途径，为服务欠缺的社区的居民创造了机会，并为离开监狱的人们提供了重新进入计划。

The firm also aided rebuilding efforts in Haiti after the earthquake and hurricane by prefabricating headwall assemblies and other components for new hospitals and shipping them to construction sites. Last year, after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, the specialty contractor not only conducted a campaign to raise money and gather supplies for victims of the storm, representatives personally delivered the goods to victims.

Even with its growth and focus on advancing construction, the brothers insist the firm’s principles remain close to those that guided their father when he established the business in 1963. David says he and his brothers “can relate to our employees as peers” because the brothers have personally worked in every labor position themselves. “We’re still a family business, and we love making things,” he says.