Lean Construction Ireland Annual Book of Cases 2021 49 Case 13 Creating theTakt Plan Takt Planning starts with the Scope Breakdown structure and design areas.Construction zones andTakt zones are well-established before the end of Concept Design, and this applies to all subsequent stages of the project.The earlier this volumetric segmentation happens, the more profound the impact.The four high-level partnership groups areVendors,Trade Partners, Client, and A&E.These four groups became the “team of teams”, and within each team there was subdivision, and, as the project progressed, their membership changed. By the time it came to construction execution, the teams were mainly trade partner and A&E construction, with design as participants. The planning work begins with the Overall ProcessAnalysis (OPA) where all trade partners come together to: • Understand the scope of the works involved and agree on the constructability. • Break the area into zones (Takt Zones) tomaximize efficiency and flow of work.TheseTakt Zones were evolutions of the design areas and the segmentation setup to enable digital delivery. • Generate individual tasks per trade partner that will accumulate in the completion of the works. • Agree, as multiple trade partners working with a team ethic, on the sequence that the works need to be carried out in eachTakt Zone. Agreement on sequence of works can be done using traditional post-it stickers or by using new technology (an online scheduling platform).The design team is a key partner in this part of the process, and the construction team has the opportunity to pull design and to target certain scope in order to make schedule improvements on site. After the OPA sessions are completed, trade partners come to the Process Planning (PP) session with their durations and resource requirements prepared. Here, the full schedule for the work is developed.The access/start date and the target completion date are provided from the project master schedule.The data is populated Lean Initiative Undertaken – Lean Thinking, Tools, Techniques PMGroup manages the design, construction and commissioning of high-tech facilities.We are an employee owned company with over 49 years’ experience working for the world’s leading pharma, food, data centre, and medical technology companies.We deliver projects across Europe, the USA, andAsia. Trusted Partners –To excel at the complex, we always seek to understand our clients’needs.At every level of our business, a culture of honesty, openness, and flexibility prevails. Our approach has led to long-term, trusted relationships with our clients. This case study looks atTakt planning excellence in project delivery. TaktTime Planning is based on using location break-down structures to plan, with the objective of making the work flow continuously. Implementation benefits include: • Reduction in work phase durations and associated costs. • Increased transparency and predictability of work flow. • Improved ability to deliver design on time with reduced quantity of RFIs. • Improved efficiency in the workplace with materials arriving to suit the work being executed, which leads to reduced waste (moving materials) and a safer environment to work. This demonstration of Takt Time Planning comprises three main sections: i. Creating theTakt Plan. ii. Implementing theTakt Plan. iii. Maintaining theTakt Plan. Overview & Background to the Lean Initiative Brendan Kealy Author David Moody Author Company Overview PM GROUP pmgroup-global.com Paul Martin Author Figure 1. PP Generated fromTakt to Support Project Milestone
Lean Construction Ireland Annual Book of Cases 2021 50 Case 13 into the digital platform at the session, and we can see where trades can work in parallel to reduce work phase durations. It is also where we strive to provide flow of work for trade partners from zone to zone. After thisTakt is completed, the next sequence of works (or next Takt) is planned out in the same way, for example: • Cleanroom Ceiling. • Cleanroom Flooring. • CleanroomWalls. Figure 2. Takt PP illustrating Flow of Work & Levelled Personnel Density to SuitTrade Partners The resourcing function on the digital platform allows the group to see the personnel that will be working in theTakt Zone based on the PP that has been generated.This technology can group work fronts together to see the combined personnel across a number of Takt Zones to, for example, give the total in one building.Of note is the flow of trade partners from zone to zone,which reduces waste and is a key component ofTaktTime Planning. It can also be used to see the personnel required for an individual trade partner per zone, per building, or across the whole project. Figure 3. IndividualView ofWorkflows & Density Implementing theTakt Plan The agreed PP for an area is the main tool for coordinating the works in the field on a daily basis.Permits to work are approved if the works are scheduled in theTakt Zone as per the agreed PP. At the daily site permit meeting, the works in eachTakt Zone are reviewed. If there is capacity for additional work to be completed in a Takt Zone, then this is allowable if agreed amongst all trade partners. If the trade partnerTakt into that zone cannot accommodate any additional works by others, then the work cannot progress. Figure 4. Takt Zones &Area Coordination re Permits toWork To reinforce the focus of the planned works throughTakt, theTakt Zones were physically demarcated on site with barriers. Ingress/ Egress points clearly marked with theTakt Zone identifier.The agreed PPs were on display in eachTakt Zone so that PM Group area owners would be clear on what trade partners had the right to work in an area. Figure 5. Demarcation ofTakt Zones Impact of the Covid Pandemic After the onset of the Covid pandemic,Takt Planning became a critical enabler to keep crews separated and to manage the health of the team.The pre-Covid personnel requirements perTakt Zone were already known, as well as the maximum density of personnel per area.This information could then be used to take action after the onset of the pandemic. Revised personnel density limits were calculated for every Takt Zone with social distancing taken into account.This could then be applied to previously agreed PPs to see where action was required, like, for example:
Lean Construction Ireland Annual Book of Cases 2021 51 • Shift-work in critical areas; or • Re-scheduling in non-critical areas. Figure 6. Personnel Density Limits & Physical Distancing Requirements Maintaining theTakt Plan After work in aTakt Zone has commenced, progress of the PPs are updated on a regular basis, and this was done daily on our project. The activities on the PPs were broken into dailyTakt cards,with each card representing one day of work for a particular task.These cards are then placed into theTakt Boards on a rolling 4-week look-ahead basis.At the daily meeting, trade partners would turn their cards to confirm that the work for the day had been completed and that the task is on track overall. If progress is not as per plan, the card remains unturned. If there is a constraint or reason for the progress of that day not being achieved, a constraint card is placed in the board.The issue is then discussed immediately within the group at the meeting,with resolutions typically agreed there and then. Figure 7 illustrates this with the requisite QR code on theTakt card – cards can be turned in the field in advance of the meetings using smart phone or tablet. After the onset of the pandemic, the use of the dailyTakt board was no longer viable due to physical distancing. In order to keep the daily Takt updates running,we took the technology in use for the PPs and further adapted it for use as a daily OnlineTakt Board. A daily MS Teams meeting was set up and the cards were digitally turned with all trade partners participating online.An important part of the daily updating is the scoring system called OTP (OnTime Performance). OTP (%) = achieved cards ÷ planned cards Unturned cards result in a lower OTP. Works can be re-forecasted at the sessions to ensure works continue to be coordinated between trade partners, and weekends are also available for works to be caught up on. OTP scoring can be detailed per area, per trade partner, and overall for the project. Figure 8. OnlineTakt Board Lean Initiative Improvements & Impact The implementation of Takt Planning on the project, coupled with other Lean project initiatives listed below, led to significant schedule savings, including: • TieredAgility. • OneTeamApproach. • Right FirstTime Construction Quality Culture. • Enabling information flow through an RFI turnaround-focused metric. Takt Planning enabled a visual demonstration of the work progress through theTakt zones, as well as of people and material. It communicated clearly the construction sequence intent in detail for the design team to focus their efforts in providing the correct information at the correct time (i.e. Flow).The colour coding ofTakt Zones, coupled with the physical demarcation in the field and daily permitting meeting reviews, facilitated both theTrade Partners and PM Group area owners calculate the area occupation and capacity. Case 13 Figure 7. DailyTaktTracking, Update of PPTasks,QR Code
Lean Construction Ireland Annual Book of Cases 2021 52 It was an easy headcount check thereafter to confirm personnel numbers within the defined zones. The control granted by theTakt Planning also facilitated the following: • Governing numbers of people within strict zones. • Monitoring progression through the zones of the trades. • Regulating the flow of material to and around site. • Permitting of works by zone. • Trade partner personnel forecasting. Figure 9. Project Milestones Achieved/Bettered An unforeseen benefit of theTakt Planning was witnessed during the Covid pandemic after the return to construction sites was permitted. The previously definedTakt Zones had personnel allocations that were easily revisited and revised to allow for new maximum occupancies to accommodate the social distancing requirements. Proof of the benefits ofTakt Planning can be seen in how we used it to specifically target the most critical milestones on our project with successful results in all cases.On a project that adopted a takeoff-site approach at the concept stage, the trade partners used the Takt process to further enable off-site modularisation even into the construction stage of the project. Testimonial “By creating this culture, we enabled the team, including the very important voices from key trades, to redesign the work to reduce waste and improve flow of information, decisions, fabrication, and work in the field.Takt became a foundation for everyone. By taking the time to plan together, from the bottom up, each trade learned how to better coordinate work among themselves. By resizing work and crews to optimise the whole project using Takt, we created a much better work flow.” (Executive Director, Global Engineering Solutions,MSD). Case 13
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