Below are several of the topics within Lean Construction that new contractors struggle to put into practice. We've paired Subject Matter Experts to these areas in order to help provide insight and to more effectively incorporate the principals.
Target Value Delivery
Christian Pikel
Target Value Delivery is a holistic approach to project delivery that seeks to maximize customer value in the most efficient and effective manner throughout the life of the project. To succeed in target value delivery, some of the critical team features are some form of team integration and early builder and trade involvement, but not necessarily and integrated form of agreement, a clear understanding and alignment around the owner鈥檚 business case and value proposition and strong cost modeling and estimating team.
Properly implemented, TVD will:
- Deeply focus on the team on delivering customer value within the project constraints and basing decision making on that value proposition
- Reduce rework and increase project predictability through proactive evaluating value, cost, schedule, and constructability factors before committing to design options
- Enhance collaboration and project knowledge through early engagement and transparency
- When integrated with trades: reduce RFIs, Changes and Design Supplements required
- Create a learning organization within projects and across projects
- Create a more fun and cooperative project experience
We refer to it as Target Value Delivery because the process is intended to be applied throughout the life cycle of the project and value capture by the owner.
Last Planning in Construction
Colin Milberg
The Last Planner(R) System is a system for project production planning and control designed to create reliable project workflow and project results. LPS (R) can be used to manage production at any phase of project delivery. LPS uses Pull as the primary method of project control. Pull-planning is a method used in various levels of the last planner system design production to flow.
LPS consists of 5 connected conversations:
- Milestone Planning
- Phase Pull Planning
- Make-Ready Planning
- Weekly Work Planning
- Daily Commitment Management.
These conversations are connected by metrics and learning loops to support continuous improvement. LPS incorporates the Lean Construction Institutes six core tenets of: Respect for People, Removal of Waste, Focus on Process & Flow, Generation of Value, Continuous Improvement and Optimize the Whole.
Problem Solving (A3, 5 Whys, Fishbone)
Nick Masci
Whether you鈥檙e tackling an inefficient process, a faulty product, or any other issue, you need to clearly define a problem before you put time and money into solving it. Lean problem-solving approaches 鈥 such as A3, the 5 Whys, and Fishbone diagramming 鈥 help you articulate your issue, identify precise trouble spots in your operations, and define your ideal state.
Here鈥檚 a high-level look each method:
A3 (a.k.a. 7-box, single-page problem solving)
- Provide background information: what problem are you talking about and why?
- Describe your current conditions: where do things stand now?
- Specify what specific outcome(s) you require.
- Perform a root cause analysis: why does the problem exist?
- Develop recommendations that address root causes.
- Create a plan to implement changes.
- Create a plan to follow up: how will you ensure the plan is working? How will you share learnings with others?
Fishbone diagramming
- Articulate your problem at the head of the fish.
- Identify where your problem starts by listing out issues 鈥 or fishbones 鈥 in four categories along the body of the fish:
- People
- Information
- Process
- Systems
5 Whys
- Start with your problem.
- Then get to its root cause by asking 鈥淲hy?鈥 until you鈥檝e exhausted all scenarios.
When guided through these approaches by a skilled practitioner, you can ensure that you solve the right problem and get your solution right the first time, minimizing wasted resources.
5S: Stop Searching and START Working
Kenneth McBroom
Have you ever:
- Spent more time looking for something, i.e. Tools, Material, Information, then the actual work?
- Thought you had everything you needed only to discover someone else took it?
- Kept more than you needed, even though it has been years, just because?
Then IMPROVE and start using 5S. 5S stands for:
- Sort
- Set
- Shine
- Standardize
- Sustain
5S can be used on Construction sites, Office spaces and even your 糖心破解版. Wasted time will be minimized, frustration will decrease, and Safety will improve. The effort to implement 5S will be offset almost immediately by the increase in productivity.
E8 Wastes
Stephen Hall
Want to improve performance and have things flow more efficiently? Try the Lean strategy of eliminating the 8 Wastes. Wastes all around you, but most of the time it just becomes the normal course of business and you don鈥檛 realize how much is there. Once you learn about the 8 Wastes, you begin to see opportunities where you can make both big and little improvements. A great way to remember the 8 Wastes is by the acronym DOWNTIME聽
顿别蹿别肠迟蝉听
Defects are costly! Extra material time, extra labour time, project delays, disruption in flow, frustrated parties, all creating waste. Develop a system with checks and balances to reduce the volume of defects. If you have a system and are still having defects, you need to revamp your system!聽
Over Production聽
Over production can be wasteful in a couple ways. By producing more than is necessary, you鈥檙e tying up capital that could be more appropriately used elsewhere. As well, these extra finished goods need to be housed and stored somewhere, again using cash or space.聽
奥补颈迟颈苍驳听
Waiting is a big problem and is caused by a disruption in flow. Someone finishes early, so there鈥檚 work waiting for workers. Or someone finishes late, so there鈥檚 workers waiting for work. Either way, this is wasteful and costly. Use pull planning strategies to better align hand-offs between trades.聽
Not using Human Capital聽
Your workers have lots of great ideas on how to improve things. The people in the field that are hands-on doing the work have valuable insights on how efficient processes and workflows are. The worst waste is not using all the talents and skills across your company, capitalize on this instead.聽
罢谤补苍蝉辫辞谤迟听
Each time something needs to be transported or moved, it creates a cost. Moving something multiple times, incurs that cost multiple times. Equipment and manpower expense, diverting attention from the bigger task at hand. Proper planning, staging, and scheduling can reduce the amount of transport and save a considerable amount of waste.聽
滨苍惫别苍迟辞谤测听
Having too much inventory on site can create housekeeping issues, usually requires to be moved multiple times, can become damaged, and more. Ordering material early also ties up capital earlier than necessary. Have material delivered at the most appropriate time to keep the waste at a minimum.聽
惭辞迟颈辞苍听
Having extra motion is another waste that gets embedded without realizing it. You鈥檙e adding additional movement or steps that aren鈥檛 necessary. Process mapping is a great way to see what steps are necessary and what鈥檚 superfluous.聽聽
Extra Processing聽
This would entail continuing to work on something after the scope of work is complete. By eliminating this extra work, you bring down this additional waste. Ensure parties understand the expectations, what鈥檚 reasonable, and what鈥檚 far beyond necessary.聽聽
Value Stream and Process Mapping
Stephen Dennis
A Value Stream Map (VSM) is a very powerful tool that helps you 鈥渟ee鈥 the value being created throughout a process. It鈥檚 an end-to-end depiction of the flow of value to the Customer, important to creating a Lean process.
A well-completed VSM:
- Is a graphical representation of a process flow that identifies the process steps
- Shows the entire end-to-end process, from input to activities to output
- Illustrates the workflow and interactions with ot