Lean Touch Solutions has partnered with Clients on some of the largest projects across Europe to improve Construction productivity via a wide range of Lean Transformational, behavioural changing, Tools & Techniques. Lean is relatively new in the Construction Industry when compared to the likes of the Automotive industry.
This industry has seen significant improvements through the deployment of Lean Transformational approaches. We are working with great companies that are looking to progress to the next level of excellence to keep ahead of competition.
We don’t just talk it, we teach it while making it happen on Construction projects.
Lean construction is a combination of operational research and practical development in design and construction with an adaption of lean manufacturing principles and practices to the end-to-end design and construction process.
It is the transferring of the most relevant Lean Tools and techniques from the Manufacturing industry to all aspects of the design & construction process.
For decades the Construction industry has been left behind when other industries have embraced the tools & techniques and in doing so achieved improved productivity.
Lean Touch Solutions provide a wide range of services into this industry and have successfully deployed these Lean Transformational services for almost a decade.
Lean Touch Solutions work with clients to discover the Clients business and develops with them the lean transformational strategy that will best fit their company. This will detail the pathway through Leadership development, Lean Construction training and implementation approach, facilitation and mentoring support during implementation across your company.
These services we provide in this sector include but are not limited to
Our approach on how we engage and work with our clients follows holistically through three phases.
On development of Clients Lean Construction Strategies Lean Touch Solutions work with clients to develop a training programme that complements this strategy to meet the clients business goals.
We don’t just carry out training, we support your teams through facilitation. We know from experience in most cases the mechanics of what we teach is typically only 20% of the effort to make the lean transformation successful, the remaining 80% is about creating the correct environment that leads to effective lean behaviours.
“Its all about making the workflow unobstructed.”
The Last Planner® System is a collaborative project planning & executing System that involves the last planners in project planning & executing to plan. It plans in greater and greater detail as the time for the work to be done gets closer. It is applying a production control system to a flow of activities.
There are many last planners on site. They are the people that plan the work for the journey men on the ground. (e.g Foremen, supervisors, superintendents, project managers, design managers etc).
The aim is to make work flow. To allow all teams doing work on the project to work together in a collaborative environment to help each other meet project delivery schedule & Cost while delivering superior quality in a H&S manner.
Back in early 2000 in the Automotive industry we were using takt planning on all our new production lines.
Some 20 years later we are now helping companies deploy takt planning on construction Projects.
Takt is the German word for “beat,” referring to the regularity in time with which process steps occur.
Takt planning in construction is a work structuring method used to create a predictable pace for the flow of resources across well-defined geographic locations on-site when performing similar steps in each of the areas.
Takt planning may be used to synchronize the process steps that the different trades perform to complete their work in different areas of a building while aiming to create a constant flow of work and potentially also a constant flow of material and information across the supply chains.
Takt planning is a fundamentally different approach to traditional construction project planning & execution. With everything new we focus heavily on the education element in advance of Implementation on Construction projects.
Goal of Takt is to have One Trade, One Area, One Takt We support at various levels during the Construction project cycle.
Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt programme is an introductory Continuous Improvement Programme. It leverages Lean & Six Sigma methodologies to improve performance by systematically removing waste. This training programme is be-spoke to the Construction industry. This training will bring teams through the standardised DMAIC process of improvement and allows team members to use the learnings on a project within their company.
The persons that would benefit from this training are employees who need to engage in Continuous Improvement and problem solving as part of their daily role.
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt programme is an introductory Continuous Improvement Programme. It leverages Lean & Six Sigma methodologies to improve performance by systematically removing waste. This training programme is be-spoke to the Construction industry.
This training will bring teams through the standardised DMAIC process of improvement and allows team members to use the learnings on a project within their company.
The persons that would benefit from this training are Employees who need to engage in Continuous Improvement and problem solving as part of their daily role.
Direct Observation (DO) is a method of collecting evaluative information in which an observer watches a subject in the natural environment without altering that environment.
This Lean Construction technique brings teams on a systematic journey of improving processes to allow teams to work smarter together. To carry out direct observations we train teams to ensure the correct environment can be created to carry out direct observations.
DO is a structured method for evaluating a process (not an individual) with a view to delivering an improved process.
Many forms of DO exist but in our case we use Overt, Structured Direct Observations which return Standardised, Quantitative information about the observation subject.
The goal of direct observations is to systematically observe and reduce the 8 wastes that exist on any construction project.
Process Mapping is a method used to define what a business entity does and who is responsible. It allows improvement teams to analyse and measure individual steps, identify waste and define process improvements to create a more efficient business process.
It is a visual representation of one or can include all processes on a construction project. By visually representing the flow of Activities of each process in this manner it becomes easier to identify the non value adding steps in any of the processes.
Teams often know how things are done, but don’t have how mapped. If teams are scaling it is essential to standardise how you do things through process mapping.
SMED principle was developed by Shigeo Shingo in the manufacturing sector and is a process of reducing changeover (setup) time by classifying elements as internal or external to a machine’s operating time and then converting the internal elements so they can be done externally (while the machine continues to operate). The goal is to reduce the setup time significantly to allow increased up time of crews or equipment.
In construction there are multiple opportunities to use SMED to reduce the setup times for equipment, crews etc.
An example of a SMED mechanism that has being around now for a while in construction is quick couplers.
Quick couplers are devices installed at the outer end of the work equipment of various types of construction and earth-moving machines. They facilitate the rapid exchange of working tools or buckets. Quick couplers are most common on hydraulic excavators and compact excavators and on the backhoe equipment of backhoe loaders, but are also installed on telescopic handlers, wheel loaders (loading shovels), skid-steer loaders and the loader equipment of backhoe-loaders.
They are also occasionally installed on attachments installed on agricultural tractors. Quick couplers do not normally have a specific function themselves in that they do not carry out handling or digging operations, but when installed on a machine they become a part of the overall system. They are usually mounted on the machine by means of the pins that would otherwise be the mountings for the bucket or attachment. This is an example that most construction professionals can get there head around.
Although not every setup can literally be completed in single-digit minutes, this is the goal, and it can be achieved in a high percentage of cases.
Developed by Shigeo Shingo to reduce the set-up time (change of dies) of pressing machines. He was able to shorten set-up times from 1 to 2 hours (or even half a day) per each exchange of dies to only a few minutes each, allowing an organization to run smaller batches and align more closely to customer demand. At lean touch Solutions we are using SMED with teams to allow them to produce smaller batches. If you can quickly change from one product to another you can be more agile and only produce what the customers want when they want them.
6S is a procedure that involves cleaning, organising and maintaining the work place to a standard that will allow us to work towards ensuring safety, morale, lowering cost, quality and productivity. 6S is a system for organizing spaces so work can be performed efficiently, effectively, and safely. This system focuses on putting everything where it belongs and keeping the workplace clean, which makes it easier for people to do their jobs without wasting time or risking injury. Its about having a smart place for everything and everything in its place. They words are Japanese but are often translated to:
Safety is the 6th S and is by far on any project the most important. If we follow the 5s before the Safety S we will achieve a workspace that is safer. 6S can be deployed to any workspace in construction, offsite manufacturing space, office space, construction site or even Construction vehicles etc.
As the name suggests the approach is a structured effort to have all the elements of the design & Construction cycle working in harmony to achieve optimal flow on projects that delivers increased value to the client by improved project outcomes. Its about improving the productivity throughout all phases with agreed common goals on the project. <p>
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) – an approach that integrates people, systems, business structures and practices into a process that collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of all participants to optimize project results, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize efficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and construction. (American Institute of Architects)
At Lean Touch Solutions we work with Owners, Designers & Construction management partners to guide and support the setup of Integrated project delivery framework on projects.
Having worked and guided partners on a €3bn project in Ireland with key focus on creating an atmosphere for collaborative project planning & executing of work where teams through the IPD agreement focused on the success of the whole as apposed to just their Scope of works. The Structure of the Contracts meant that they all had skin in the game in making the project as a whole successful. If the whole project was successful, then each partner were ultimately successful.
The Last Planner System & Takt planning Implementation primarily focus on Collaborative project planning & executing to bring predictability to the team to meet or beat project schedules.
The goal of Target Value Design (TVD) is to bring more cost predictability to projects and to continuously improve along the project execution cycle from design through to construction to ensure that cost is aligned with Client original budget for Large capital projects. TVD on projects will bring more predictability to cost and less probability of over cost projects. For Owners better cost predictability, and a more predictable investment.
At Lean Touch Solutions we work with clients and clients representatives & trade partners to help them understand the Target value Design method to cost predictability on their projects. We train and implement TVD with client representatives.
FMEA is a Risk Management technique that uses a systematic approach for collective knowledge about possible points of failure in a design, manufacturing or construction, product or service.
[American Society for Quality (ASQ) 2017]
There are many examples of where FMEA can be used as a Risk Management tool within Lean Construction. The process of curing concrete is a good example of something that could go wrong within the Construction industry. See FMEA example below:
These are the behaviours that add or create value for the customer (Bob Emiliani).
At Lean Touch Solutions, we know from first-hand experience that the success of any Lean Transformation programme is dependant on the actions that are performed by you (Lean Leaders) and your team(s) on a consistent basis over time. It is these actions, and the repeated display of consistent behaviours on a continuous basis that determine the health of the Lean culture within your organisation.
There are many Lean Behaviours that can help drive the success of your company’s Lean Transformation programme. However, in our opinion, the following 5 Lean Behaviours are key:
The Last Planner ® System is a great example of a collaborative planning system that requires Lean behaviours to be practiced on a consistent basis to achieve success.
To create an environment that nurtures teams to exert lean behaviours is not as simple a the flick of a light switch. We bring teams on a journey from ineffective lean behaviours practice to effective lean behaviours through programs of Facilitation & mentoring with teams.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a lean management tool used to visually display the process steps required to produce a product or service. It is a representation of the flow of goods or services from a supplier, through your organisation to the customer. VSM is differs from standard process mapping in that it maps both the material and information flows of a product or service. Typically, improvement teams will initially use a VSM to map out the current state of a process. Using this map, the current process can then be analysed and redesigned to allow a future state map to be created. The purpose of this exercise is to identify non value-adding waste and improve the current process. Note: the process of creating a VSM isn’t final and may be revisited more than once to enable further improvements to be made.
Value Stream Mapping in addition to being a great visual tool, is also very effective for improving team communication, collaboration and even culture change. Improvement teams can use a VSM to visualise where waste is occurring in the current process. This could include problems such as, process delays, excessive downtime, bottlenecks, resource issues, changeover delays, inventory issues etc.
Kaizen events are usually, short-term workshops / sessions that are aimed at improving an existing process or business area. It is a collaborative exercise involving an improvement leader and other workforce members, and typically include activities such as, training, brainstorming, process mapping, data collection / analysis, implementation plans etc. A Kaizen event enables a workforce to harness their ideas and creativity, allowing them create improvement ideas to help business performance. A key focus of Kaizen is on rapid improvement rather than longer-term project execution.
The duration of a Kaizen event will be dependent on the level of improvement required. Typically, this will range from 1 day to 1 week to implement. Regardless of the duration involved, a Kaizen event will involve the following steps:
An example of a Kaizen event in the Construction industry could involve assembling a team to improve the process of storing building materials on site, with a focus on reducing waste due to ongoing damages.
For most businesses, competition and change are constant factors that need to be dealt with. Many companies have successfully adopted Lean principles to help eliminate waste and gain competitive advantage. In more recent years, Lean principles have been adopted within the area of digital transformation or Lean Digitisation.
Lean Digitisation is where digital technology is utilised for the benefit of process improvement and waste elimination. Companies can greatly benefit / add value from Lean Digitisation, in that real-time information can be gathered on processes, allowing faster reaction to problems, and better decision making. For example, systems can automatically capture real-time data during processing, and this data can then be used to perform beneficial data analysis to improve processes.
Lean Touch Solutions are specialists in Lean transformation and continue to work closely with companies to improve their overall processes. We strongly advise that companies should not attempt to digitise any process, without firstly mapping out and improving that process, as this could prove to be very costly and wasteful.
| Summary Project Statement & Objectives | Summary of results / key metrics |
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| Summary of Process Implemented | Benefits |
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| Summary of Process Implemented |
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| Each crew enters the information to a mobile app
They use the same device to take job photos, type & measurements of works. Once job is complete the data is uploaded to the database automatically. No administration required. The revenue created is downloadable real time from the database |
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| Summary Project Statement & Objectives |
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| SIRO civil crews manually complete duplicate books of
confirmation of verbal instructions (cvis) Hand CVls into office to key to excel database (see Fig No 1 CVI duplicate Crews also take photos & Point of interests and email back to office admin. Supervisor creates individual folders for all CVIs (paper folder holds CVI, electronic folder for photos & POI) Project aim is to replace paper form with mobile app to collect the same information. Project aim is to calculate real time the revenue generated fromthe CVI (variations) |
| Benefits |
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| Each crew enters the information to a mobile app
They use the same device to take job photos, type & measurements of works. Once job is complete the data is uploaded to the database automatically. No administration required. The revenue created is downloadable real time from the database |
