2019Case3CFieldConstruction

21 L EAN C ONSTRUCTION I RELAND A NNUAL B OOK OF C ASES 2019 is quite achievable in a residential environment. Key elements of Lean are the visualisation of the work by both the site team and the subcontractors, collaboration, and the development of your subcontractors as partners and key stakeholders in the process. Taking this into account, the site team introduced weekly meetings with all stakeholders (subcontractors) present to review the previous week’s work and look ahead to the following week, and briefly touch on the month ahead (see Figure 4). This in turn greatly improved work flow, allowing materials to be ordered in a timely manner when work can be mapped out by the people doing the work. Figure 4. Weekly Coordination Meeting in Progress LEAN INITIATIVE IMPROVEMENTS & IMPACT From analysing processes at the chosen residential site under the four main headings and applying Lean principles to the given situations, we have noted that significant improvements have been made not only on that particular site but on other sites that have taken onboard the learning, in addition to other departments within CField. Some specific examples from the initial residential site analysed are illustrated in Table 1. Table 1. Residential Site Improvements Further Work – Achieving Sustainability “Best is the enemy of Better” – a key element of Lean is the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) method. CField Construction has now taken these Lean solutions and applied them to other residential projects in our portfolio. It also has to be noted that not all of the above work for each project – it is all about finding what works for each project. For example, another large-scale residential project (circa 150 dwellings) has adapted the Material Ordering element and developed it one step further. The project team took the time to measure as many bulk order materials as possible before the project commenced – setting up bulk orders not only for concrete, stone, blocks, etc., but also for drainage material, first fix joinery, etc., as a fixed price with a fixed supplier for 12 months. This allows the site team to deal directly with the supplier, eliminating the need for time consuming paperwork and delays in having to find the best price for each and every order. CField Construction has also used the aforementioned project as the start point for a number of other Lean initiatives looking at eliminating rework due to snags, improving the programme and increasing stakeholder (subcontractor) engagement in the project planning process. CField Construction Senior Management Team has completed a Lean Training workshop. As a result of the understanding of Lean concepts gained during this workshop and the practical benefits yielded to date from the initiatives listed above, the Senior Management Team has committed to have 50% of all CField Construction employees Yellow Belt trained by the end of 2019.