LEAN MANAGEMENT

Cost effective designCompletion of design

Clarifications1. Conflicts between disciplines

E&OP:rocurement ChangesScope

ProcurementSubmittal ProcessDeliveriesMaterial Handling

Inventory

Precedent trade handoffs Trade collisions Equipment sharing Unevenness of work flow Greater demand than capacity Workmanship

INCOMPETENCEIneffective schedulesIneffective coordinationIneffective, untimely decision making

Using contract clauses as an illusory basis of managing risks

No Damages for Delay ClausesOther unreasonable risk shifting clauses

The concept is based on:Unity (1+1=1) of purposeReal collaboration of all the parties throughoutCommon sense and creativity Accountability and trust It is based on the fact that the present system is

broke And that no single entity alone or acting

independently can overcome the variables that arendemic in the construction industry

Is based on the goal to weed the weak and to reward the strong. It is quintessential Darwin.

It replaces brochures with outstanding performance . . .by all the parties

The strong will have: TQM programs Continous Improvement Programs (CIP)

Input from all Owners will help design organizations

The strong will have: Demonstrated reliability Demonstrated collaboration Demonstrated the ability to solve problems instead of

having lawyers do it for them Demonstrated creativity Demonstrated 20/20 foresight (Post mortems in

advance) Demonstrated built-in-quality Supervisory teams up to the task

Lean Management Institute claims that ALL its projects have met project goals and no claims

Major companies such as Turner and M.A. Mortensen have adopted and implemented these concepts successfully

The concepts have been implemented by: Charleston County School District Clark County Sanitation District (www.frisbygroupl.org) Empire State Building (old wine)

In all these cases, the owner took leadership in motivating and participating in a more effective delivery system

Owner used concepts of From Good to Great (Load the bus with the best people in the right seats) in selecting team members

Competence was in . . .Incompetence was out. They have established a model in which the future of the contractor is tied to quality, non-wasteful performance in INTEGRATED procurement systems

The following projects (among others) did not apply the concepts of lean management with disastrous results: Aquarium: CharlestonColiseum “ Arena ColumbiaHospital NewberryHospital CharlestonBarracks Beaufort

Traditionally, we find that on the bad projects, that the attitude of the owner (often almost promoted by his attorney and CM) is a “bid ‘em and bust ‘em approach.

But when the contractors fail, generally the project also fails in busted schedules, budgets and quality.

So, concepts of Lean Management begin with Leadership and Commitment by the Owner. By an Owner committed to principles and trust

In lean management, there is an initial commitment in the design phase to prevent problems that can disrupt the construction process through proper management of the design phase.

This means you cannot separate design from construction and procurement. Design is an iterative process with a specified goal of facilitating the procurement and construction process, not inhibiting it.

Design is a developmental process requiring discussions, options, creativity, modeling, trade-off decisions and value analysis which can be aided by BIM but not replaced by BIM.

Integration of construction and procurement input must be real and not a “contractual game.”

See handout

Construction crews will benefit if: Everyone on project team is competent and

understands what they need, to do and how their work needs to be coordinated with other disciplines.

Everyone could rely on what is needed before the task is started and that everyone has what is needed before the task is started.

And that includes precedent trades so that the work flows smoothly between the trades.

IMPECCABLE COORDINATION . . . Which produces PREDICTABLE WORKFLOW

Thule said you cannot put your foot in the same river twice . . .nor step on the same construction project twice. Because a project is like that river, it is dynamic, always moving. And even with the best design phase, there are changes . . .variables.

The CPM has not been an effective tool in managing variables or the intricate details of the construction process, especially in the more complex projects.

In Lean Management, the CPM is largely used for developing milestones and the field supervisory team develops the work plan and manages against variables.

So, the CPM lays out the overall game plan The field team looks at the project as though this is a football game.

It establishes six week goals for scoring, and divides that duration up into one week look ahead schedules. Each week is a “down” . . .you must meet the goals of that week if you hope to score. And each day is a “play”.

Each of these durations must be properly planned and executed. CPM establishes yard lines (milestones) 6 week look ahead establishes “6 point” score ‘1 week look ahead establishes what is needed for first down Daily plan is a play that should move you forward without penalities

Lean Management is obsessed with proper planning and recognizes that there are very discrete opportunities for planning: Estimate Turnover Project Kickoff (desk top reviews, 1st 25% goals) CPM development and each update Look ahead plans Three step quality (P-I-F) Lessons Learned and Focus Meetings Close-out Plans

The concept of planning in lean management is not a paper exercise. Planning is PREPARATION, like a skull session or a drill

on the field by ALL of the players in the game. In Lean, modeling such as BIM is often used as a tool.

Preparation involves: Discussions Input from all the team players A knowledge of what is to be done, who is to do it, when it is to

be done, what is needed to do it, what is the acceptable outcome

Work flow means a smooth and even distribution of the work. The concept is “production flow” as you would see in a manufacturing plant.

As indicated before, the work flow is developed in segments (6 week, 1 week, daily). In addition to figuring out the best movement of the crews and what is required for them to stay productive: Post mortems are done in advance to identify and manage

productivity eroding variables Commitments (promises fulfilled) are made by each of the team

members. (Duke Energy Compact) This is another lynchpin of Lean Management and is based on the

concept of C+C+C=T (Character plus Competence plus Consistency equals Trust.

Workmanship (Quality) is planned as a part of the 3 step (P-I-F) process.l Rework is an intolerable variable but when required, it is identified and put into the plan.

Deliveries are included in the look ahead, and like rework, when deliveries may be late, the look ahead anticipates them and the team figures the leastimpactual plan for overcoming the delay.

TRANSPARENCY AND FULL IDENTIFICATION OF ALL ISSUES, AND ACCURATE REPORTING OF PROGRESS ARE REQUIRED FOR LEAN MANAGEMENT OR ANY PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO WORK.

Reliability first, then speed Plan what should be done, not what can be done. For example, the GC tells subs: “There is a whole building out

there, hundreds of thousands of square feet that you can work in.”

Sure, you CAN send troops all over the jiungle, but is what you SHOULD be doing? You can work a bunch of overtime and add a bunch of people, but is this what you should be doing?

Or SHOULD you be intensifying the planning for optimum workflow and production. This is the concpt of Lean Management.

Figure out what is right and then do it right. Doing things right is not the answer. Doing the right things is the answer. (See theQuad).

The rule of thumb is to commit only 75% of crew’s capacity for the week to work on the weekly plan that must be done to assure work for your work and follow-on trades for next week.

Avoid “stretch” or “overcapacity and goals which are unlikely to be met.

This is the essence of “pull management” (start and the end – that which is available and attainable and work backwards), as opposed “push management” which starts early no matter whether a smooth workflow can be maintained or not.

Schedule the process and not the pieces Aloha Stadium

Excavation, fill, compaction for concrete runways Installation of concrete runway Topping on concrete runway Air movement system then installed Site Protection Permanent drainage Each by a separate contractor – each was “okay” within limits but

as a whole didn’t property function The “value stream” was to produce a flat concreter runway with no

porosity and cracks which would permit air to maintain an evenpressure without bleeding off. It didn’t.

l

Priority conversations are part of the preparation process;Priority walls, as an example

This is the greatest cultural shock of all The “next in line” or successor contractor can

say “hell no, I won’t go” if the work of the precedent trade is defective or not ready for him to effectively perform his work.

This is the Toyota assembly like built-in-quality concept where anyone can stop the line if the quality does not exist.

SUMMARY Lean Management is really old wine in a new bottle Its concepts have been used in the Master Builder

delivery system for centuries. It became lost with the Balkanization of the

construction industry, avoidance of responsibility by contract clause.

Forget the term “Lean Management”. Instead think in terms of “integration of the parties: integration of the functions/process; continuous improvement of the parties and the process. Think in terms of survival.