Lean & 5S' in Construction #18 - January 2007

Submitted by Dennis Sowards on 24 January 2007 - 10:17pm.

Lean & 5S' in Construction - Newsletter #18 - January 2007

***************** Attack Waste of Over Processing
OVER-PROCESSING: This waste happens when there are unnecessary or extra steps in the process or if steps that do not create value. The more steps in any process, the more chances for mistakes in processing. In construction this waste includes over-engineering, having to have someone’s’ signature on a requisition, multiple handling of timesheets, duplicate entries on forms or data-entry fields, and getting double and triple estimates from suppliers. Over-processing is caused by a lack of standard methods or processes, by poor communication and/or poor planning. Even when a standard process exists, this waste often occurs as the process slowly changes over time and it is not updated. A good way to detect this waste is to do a value stream, or even basic processes mapping, and look at all non-value added steps. Are these steps even necessary?

************************* Lean New Year’s Resolutions
Robert Bernstei suggests these resolutions that might contribute to the success of your lean initiatives in the year ahead:

  1. Keep an open mind and not insist on doing something the way we’ve always done it, just because that’s the way we’ve always done it.
  2. Adjust your metrics to only measure that, which truly adds customer value.
  3. Talk to my customers and not assume you know what they consider to be of value.
  4. (For managers:) Step back and not try to substitute my judgment for the team’s.
  5. Try to learn about lean from other industries, not just your own.
  6. Apply lean to all parts of my enterprise, not just the shop floor.
  7. Work to align strategies, tactics and incentives throughout your enterprise.
  8. Genuinely try to build relationships with your supply chain partners and not just squeeze them for a better deal.
  9. Attend a lean conference to learn from the experience of others.
  10. Read a new book about lean.

Source: Location: BlogsLean Insider 12/22/2006 - Copyright ©2006 Productivity Press

********************** Last Planner System®
How could my project be over budget, I’ve kept my hands busy the whole job? Have you ever asked this? Hal Macomber offers this insight:

”Someone asked, "What do we do when we are already busy? We'd like to improve but we don't seem to have the time for it." It just so happens the same group manages the project staff to virtually 100% utilization. They do it by seeing that everyone has more than one thing to do. The reasoning is understandable. So much of what we work on in projects is not ready for completion. People are expected to do what they can, then go on to another task. All the while, they keep their utilization high. This is a usual condition, particularly in engineering organizations and professional services firms.
High utilization is not equivalent to high productivity. Managers fail to realize the cost of the repeated de-mobilizations and re-mobilizations of work. Not only is that mobilizing time a pure waste, but for knowledge work and creative work the performer has fallen out of flow. The quality of the work has to suffer. Managers also fail to see they can do something about the exact issue they are responding to. They can set out to make work ready.

Ready work can be promised reliably. Ready work can be performed uninterrupted. Ready work completes on a predictable basis releasing work for others in the same predictable way. Ready work is simply more rewarding for the performers. It is a principal responsibility of the project manager and the planning system to make work ready.

The Last Planner System of Production Control is an approach for planning and preparing the work of the project team. In doing so, a principal source of variation -- planned work in an unready state -- is minimized. Oh, but we (the project team) don't have the time (capacity) for making work ready. What a shame. Stop”
How are you are doing with the Last Planner? Here are some tips to improve:

Top Surefire Ways to Continue to Improve Project Work Reliability
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1. Commit yourself and your team to improved reliability.
  2. Be clear why that is important to the success of your project for your customers, your company, and the team members.
  3. Act with data. Record your daily PPC and plan variances on Pareto charts.
  4. Practice the actions for pursuing perfection:
  5. Use Plus /Deltas Reviews at the end of meetings
  6. Look at what is going well* and replicate it
  7. Innovate New Practices Everyday
  8. Support each other. Be encouraging and unconditionally constructive. Celebrate throughout the life of the project

The Last Planner system is a proven method for improving project management. When applied correctly projects usually come in under budget, ahead of schedule and with less pain and hassle to the PMs.

* Last Planner System (LPS) is a trademark of the Lean Construction Institute.

****************** Top Five Ways to Learn from What is Going Well

  1. Hal Macomber suggests the tips:
  2. Interact with people while they are performing. People will see you as interested and caring.
  3. Ask questions followed by more questions. This shows respect for others and you will avoid making ungrounded assessments and reaching poor conclusions.
  4. Ask people how much better the situation could be or how they could perform better. Be ready to be surprised.
  5. Thank people for the comments they offer and for what you learn from them. You will find they will offer more in then future.
  6. Tell them what action you intend to take and offer to take action on their behalf. This signals the seriousness of your inquiry. Follow-thru.

**************** Safety and the Last Planner
While safety in the construction industry has improved, people are being injured in roughly the same numbers as they have been for the last 15 years. What can you do to improve safety? Use the Last Planner System® on your project. Anecdotal evidence suggests safety incidents will fall by 30%.

Source: Hal Macomber, 10/26/06 FeedBlitiz

**************** Learning Opportunities
You may be interested in attending one of these training seminars:

***************** A Quick Thought
If you’ve got a project that is supposed to be fully implemented in a year. It seems to me that the typical American company will spend about three months on planning, then begin to implement. But they’ll encounter all sorts of problems after implementation, and they’ll spend the rest of the year correcting them, However, given the same year-long project, Toyota will spend nine to 10 months planning, then implement in a small way – such as with pilot production – and be fully implemented at the end of the year, with virtually no remaining problems.
- Alex Warren, former senior vice president Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky

For more information about Lean applications to construction and especially the 5S’s contact Dennis Sowards at his office at 480-835-1185 or his cell at 602-740-7271 or at his web site: www.YourQSS.com

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