2020Case14CollenConstruction

Contents Lean Construction Ireland Annual Book of Cases 2020 57 Case 14 • Check – Introduced robust monitoring of all the project KPIs including APC (Actual Percent Complete) Vs PPC (Planned Percent Complete) for all site activities, SPI (Schedule Performance Index) trends, Subcontractor performance, Schedule variance analysis, and Schedule risk analysis. • Act – Prompts focus on mitigation measures and corresponding action plans for under-performing tasks. One of the key components of this PDCA cycle is the Check step wherein a quantitative risk analysis is carried out on those items that present themselves as potential impacts to the project baseline. The evaluation of both the likelihood and impact of such an event acts as an early warning system and also gives our project managers greater confidence in their decisions on what mitigation action is required. This weekly cycle drives focus on the schedule and provides the prompts for our project managers to keep their fingers on the pulse regarding project performance. Fundamentally, the steady improvement in the quality of project planning increases as the project grows through each phase. RAID implementation The benefits that RAID analysis brought to our master planning were immediate and brought more certainty to the schedule through the assignment of action plans to the various stakeholders. The incorporation of the RAID log to the weekly pull planning sessions on our South Dublin project was therefore a natural step forward on our Lean journey. During these weekly pull planning sessions (Figure 3), the project manager is now mandated to update the log and track all risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies in a transparent manner as the various subcontractors step through their look-ahead tasks for the following period. This collaborative approach to planning also lends itself to increased workflow efficiency at the package interfaces and promotes a safer working environment for our subcontractors through the clear understanding of ‘make ready needs’. The coordinated and timely management of the project constraints makes it a lot easier for our project management team to identify potential bottlenecks well in advance, triggering the need to devise an appropriate path to risk mitigation. On this particular project, this weekly engagement of RAID analysis resulted in a 2-week improvement on a 16- week target duration for the completion of the RC structure. By focusing on the RAID components, the project team was able to move roadblocks in a timely manner, and ultimately drive efficiencies within the formwork workflows, increase productivity and improve this critical path activity by 12%. The efficiency of our procurement has also vastly improved thanks to the early and appropriate categorisation of project constraints during these sessions. The integration of the RAID log provides the platform to focus on long lead items – revisiting these inputs every week prompts the project team and subcontractors to address typical issue such as open RFIs/submittals that could potentially delay material orders for example. Long lead elements relating to the curtain walling package on this project were able to be procured on time as a result of this weekly focus on constraint removal through RAID. Moreover, the logging of constraints has led to increased morale throughout the supply chain as all LLP participants now know that their voices will be heard and concerns recorded through the RAID log. Project Controls-PDCA cycle The recent enhancements that we have made to our Project Controls tools have now been introduced across all Collen projects, both in Ireland and Europe. The cyclic nature of our embedded PDCA model promotes a ubiquitous approach to project planning, providing the tools for our project managers to de-risk areas of concern associated with the project schedule. Not only does this form of risk management provide a roadmap for improved schedule adherence, it establishes transparent and real-time data on on project performance for all stakeholders. Lean Initiative Improvements & Impact Figure 2. PDCA Cycle Figure 3. Weekly Last Planner Session