2018Case13SuirEngineering

53 L EAN C ONSTRUCTION I RELAND A NNUAL B OOK OF C ASES 2018 benefits for the site: • Improved safety standards. • Improved productivity. • Improved quality. • Improved working conditions and morale. • Better use of storage space. • Reduction in damage to stored materials. Images of the newly improved stores, along with the CAD drawing, can now be shared with other project managers to learn and implement on other projects. Quality Reward Scheme The quality reward scheme significantly reduced snags and rework for this project. Figure 4 highlights the dramatic improvement in quality from 827 snags in the previous project (pre-Lean) to 286 on this project (with Lean). Figure 4. Reduction of snags achieved by this project (bottom) Vs very similar previous project (top). On average it takes at least 1 hour for a trade person to clear a snag. This substantial reduction in snag numbers led to a saving of 541 hours, which equated to a financial saving in the tens of thousands of euros. Although it is often said that you shouldn’t reward someone for the job they are supposed to be doing, the realistic situation here was that we were spending very little money on tools that better equipped our employees with the overall aim of embedding inherent commitment towards high quality. It is important to mitigate against any habi ts of cutt ing corners or shor t-term orientation. The quality reward scheme promotes Lean thinking and contributes to the creation of a continuous improvement culture by engaging with the tradesmen. The Client and main contractor were very impressed with our efforts in improving quality, and this has helped us greatly in securing further projects. Figure 5. Employees receiving their tool rewards. Safety Improvements During construction of the previous production lines, a weekly site audit was carried out by the site EHS team where findings were discussed with all contractors and arrangements made for items to be closed-out. This was then translated to the employees on the ground via weekly huddle meet ings . Generally, the audit score for the site safety audit came in at 96%. During construction of these production lines, Visual Management and 5S were introduced to the site and they helped shape a better culture for managing and handling of materials on site from the site stores where all equipment and material was assigned specific locations. These have been labelled for easy retrieval by operatives on site, and this has in turn reduced housekeeping issues on site. An initiative entitled “The Drive for Five” was introduced and consisted of more than 200 separate audit aspects where each aspect had a nominal score value of 0 to 5. Achieving a 5 indicated an exceptional degree of preparation, administration, and execution. The site scored 5 in all audit aspects. Since the introduction of the above systems, the audit score for the project has improved to 98%. Summary Overall the project achieved savings of over € 20,000 and had a productivity increase in terms of the S/E (Spent Vs. Earned) measurement from a loss making 1.10 to a more efficient 0.98. As can been seen from the results of the audits, project safety also improved and the project was completed without any lost-time accidents. Staff morale greatly improved on site, and management, supervision, and trades staff supported and collaborated on all Lean initiatives. Working conditions and general housekeeping improved greatly on the project. Because of a greater emphasis on short-term planning, we received positive feedback from our procurement office and suppliers. The company received very positive feedback from the Client, who was very pleased with this high-quality project delivered on time and on budget. Recommendations: • Education programme on Lean tools to be rolled-out across the company. • Planned kaizen events to establish other areas that could benefit from Lean tools and thinking. • Earlier engagement with future potential clients to establish other improvements areas. • Carry out lessons-learned sessions periodically throughout the project to share knowledge and establish areas of concern that could benefit from Lean thinking. • Create a focus on continuous improvements and maintain any gains achieved. Some key initiative outcomes include: • Improvement in trades productivity – S/E improved from 1.1 before to 0.98 after. • Higher % achieved in weekly safety audits – from 96% before to 98% after. • Reduction in project snag numbers – from 827 before to 286 after. • Reduction in delays – over € 20,000 worth of man-hours saved from initiatives. • Project completed on schedule. • Project completed within budget. • Workforce educated through coaching and practical on-site delivery.