2019Case6KirbyGroupEngineering

28 L EAN C ONSTRUCTION I RELAND A NNUAL B OOK OF C ASES 2019 Case 6 – Kirby Group Engineering Founded in 1964, Ki rby i s a mechanical and electrical engineering contractor. The company operates in Ireland, the UK and Northern Europe, and directly employs over 850 highly- skilled employees. Kirby provides full mechanical and electrical contracting services as well as specialist high voltage (HV) and medium vol tage (MV) design and construction services to clients across a number of different sectors including Data Centres, Life Sciences, Industrial Manufacturing, Substations and Renewables, Power Generat ion, Petrochemical and Commercial. After 55 years in business, Ki rby has earned a reputat ion, supported by client references, for excellence in high-value mechanical and electrical engineering contracting services. This reputation is built on early engagement, finding innovative cost-effective solutions for complex bui ld chal lenges and an uncompromising approach to safety, quality and delivery. Kirby has strong capabi l i t ies in prefabr icat ion, modular i sat ion and digi tal construct ion, along wi th a Lean approach to project delivery, which ensures excellence and value for its clients. C O M P A N Y W E B S I T E OVERVIEW & BACKGROUND TO THE LEAN INITIATIVE A mindset change regarding quality can be seen since the publishing of ISO 9001:2015 standard in September 2016 and even prior to that wi th the Q-Mark standard applied from 2012. A duty was placed upon companies to now del iver quality from the top down to all levels of the industry. Thi s can be particularly seen within section 5 of ISO 9001:2015 – Leadership along wi th Sect ion 1.0 of Q-Mark Leadership & Commi tment . It emphas i sed the need for senior management to demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the quality system by taking accountability for the effectiveness of the quality management system. It also stresses the importance of senior management demonstrat ing leadership and commitment with respect to customer focus and adding value to the customer needs. With this ISO update, along with the Q-Mark standard, Kirby felt that there was an opportunity to show true leadership from the senior management as part of the company’s Lean ini t iat ive. As par t of Lean thinking and ut i l i s ing Plan-Do- Check-Act (PDCA) , the use of Gemba walks would be seen as a positive continuous improvement to Kirby work practices. This was an opportunity for the Senior Operations Team to go to the Gemba and highlight positives, reduce wastes (Muda) and promote value to the customer, where going to the Gemba meant going to the actual place where the work was being undertaken and the place where value i s created (namely the construction site). The Gemba walk, much l ike Management By Walking Around (MBWA), is an activity that takes management to the front lines to look for waste (Muda) and opportunities. Gemba, a term first used by Toyota, which means going to the real place where the action is. In the 1980s , ‘ In Search of Excel lence’ author Tom Peters popularised the concept when he talked about management by wandering around (MBWA). Like MBWA, Gemba walks take management to the front lines to see daily happenings. Gemba, however, is more focussed.The Gemba process was to be delivered in three phases: • Kaizen to determine requirement and content of Gemba Form. • October 2016 – December 2016 trial of process at 2 projects to finalise process • Beginning January 2017 – roll-out of process and inclus ion into company metrics and KPIs. This Gemba process is now part of the Lean Construct ion way of thinking at Kirby and has been since January 2017 wi th over 45 visi ts taking place per year. As is it is also part of our continuous improvement process, we are now on revision 7 of the Gemba form to illustrate that once we have a behavioural change within the organisation we can emphasise the importance of something else, as continual improvements are realised. LEAN INITIATIVE UNDERTAKEN – LEAN THINKING, TOOLS, TECHNIQUES www.kirbygroup.com AUTHORS Martin Searson New quality standards and continuous improvement within the construct ion industry determined that senior management of companies needed to be present on projects. Progress needs to be driven from the top and senior management must be seen as promotors of innovation. Lean was the innovation moving forward for Kirby, and Gemba walks would be the tool to promote this and drive it forward. COMPANY OVERVIEW Kevin Wall