Lean Construction Ireland Annual Book of Cases 2021 58 to building our client relationships.We moved to steps two and three, not identifying any improvements. In steps four to eight, we sawwaste in the formof motion and over-processing.Our proposed value stream incorporated the improvement targets to eliminate waste, but we could not identify the projected lead times. After discussions, we decided to upload an electronic dayworks sheet into Excel for a trial period of one month on numerous sites. The results would give us the data for the proposed value stream calculations. Our colleagues gave additional suggestions in the trial and research period, like, for example, identifying electronic calculations, copy facilities, and drop-down menus.This research was hugely beneficial as it provided a holistic view, and we made several adaptations following on from the suggested improvements. Our research also highlighted a significant risk to our project: could our clients view and action the electronic version?We had overlooked this initially, but the added layer of research in the trial period picked this up, which proved beneficial.We proceeded to ask this of all our clients, and they confirmed they could receive and action this through the proposed route of Adobe. In our project charter,we had defined our project controls to eliminate scope creep.Change management was a prominent aspect of this project, and the team’s knowledge of change management was an area identified for improvement.The dayworks project change from manual to electronic was a significant undertaking as the existing manual process has been in existence for over 35 years.We identified that we would likely encounter some resistance to this newway, and thus change management became critical for adapting the process improvements along the way, and we maintained this through use of the Change Kaleidoscope. Additionally, training was a significant element of this project and Management committed extra system support analysts, which proved critical for the success of this project. Figure 6. Proposed Value Stream Lean Initiative Improvements & Impact In March 2021, discussions and meetings took place over the projected metrics in this project.We projected a 70% reduction in the lead time and a 67% reduction in the process times.Management saw the potential savings for the company if reproduced on all sites. In April 2021,our proposal went to the Board of Management where it secured successful sign-off along with the budget and support to continuously improve and implement across the company. Lessons learned included the need to present anA3 early-on in the project to highlight the potential improvements. Presenting early had a significant impact on our project as all the team members worked full-time and the project was taking too long to implement. We explained this to Management, and it became a critical turning point for us.Management assigned two system analysts to us to test, implement, and train teams quicker. We informed Management how the Suir Engineering NetworkTeam approach had contributed to the project’s success.The team focused on the SuirWay, had a diverse background, mutual respect for each other, and had fun in the process.The plan is to build more projects together as a team. Sending the presentation to Management in week six rather than week sixteen accelerated this project. Feedback from clients has been fantastic, and we have since trained two external clients personally on the system as they want to adopt this on other sites themselves. We have already adjusted for future improvements as this is an ongoing project. Suir Engineering currently runs a system called a“T2 APP” dashboard which compiles a site’s information. Management thus have a collective view of the project labour, quality, health and safety, commercial, continuous improvement, operations, and planning.With this in mind, we have since begun to move the electronic dayworks from Excel into theT2 APP dashboard.We have developed the same structure to implement this move into theT2APP platform.At the initial meeting for theT2APP, we were presented with several different screens to add information, and we reverted to the process which states one-screen-one-click and no multiple screens were allowed. We also applied the 5S technique when discussing this new process: sort it, eliminate waste, standardise for company-wide use, perfect it and make it sustainable.Trials are currently running on theT2APP dashboard, with presentations to the entire workforce planned for the end of November 2021. In preparations to roll this out across the company, we encountered an issue regarding colleagues who are not literate with computers.This issue highlighted an additional requirement for two types of training: one computerised, and one computer-aided – and our timelines on training were accordingly adjusted. Knowing what we do, how long it takes, identifying waste, adding value, creating a pull system, improving efficiency, perfection, and problem-solving will be part of all future projects.The results for the downtime project are a significant improvement in lead times and process times, thus strengthening the SuirWay culture of the business. There has been elimination of bottlenecks in the department, flow introduced to the process, KPIs and measurements in place, waste eliminated, and risk identified. Lean tools and techniques are applied and normalised, and value-add has been achieved with the dayworks process.This is a tribute to the collegiality amongst Suir Engineering colleagues seeking to enhance value-add for the company and its clients, and is a further example of the purpose and impact of the SuirWay. Case 15
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