The company has placed a greater focus on refining, potentially in Canada to leverage demand for the country's oil sands. "We're not looking at new market sectors but new clients in existing sectors," says Acton.

"There are some sectors, such as institutional, that award the low bidder project No. 2, no matter how well you performed on project No. 1," says John Manta, BMW's vice president of marketing.

Cost is a growing challenge in industrial and process-oriented sectors as well. "Clients are choosing on the basis of price more than ever," says Acton. "Because we're risk-averse, we tend to negotiate our work."

To better manage costs, quality and schedules, BMW has steadily acquired the expertise to self-perform much of its work. In addition to its equipment setting, boiler making and process piping services, the firm installs sheet metal, steel, plumbing and life-safety systems while fabricating piping, carbon steel, sheet metal and biotech assemblies.

"A lot of that came from owners," says Acton. "They weren't happy with some of the subcontractors out there and thought we could do it better. We thought we could, too."

In addition to eliminating mark-ups, in-house trades relieve clients of the "hidden costs" associated with scheduling delays, delivery delays, poor communications and subpar workmanship, Manta says.

"The more you self-perform, the more control you have on the outcome," adds Acton.

Control extends to jobsite safety, a key criterion for securing and maintaining work among the firm's client base, says Clay West, BMW safety director. "If safety isn't the most important criterion, it's certainly among the top three," he says.

"There's no silver bullet," says Acton. "I spend about 50% of my time on safety." That includes 360 Degree Incident Reviews in which Acton and senior management meet with all relevant parties, including project managers and supervisors, to identify the "root cause" of an occurrence and develop corrective actions to address it. As follow-up, corrective actions are logged in a database and regularly reviewed to ensure measures are in place and performing as planned. BMW also distributes company-wide Safety Flash Reports that describe the incident and corrective actions to promote awareness and consistency among all trades.