When people are asked what they remember about the year 2020, the first thoughts will most likely be about the COVID pandemic and how it affected their lives. For the PC project team at the Martin’s Point Health Care (MPHC) Brunswick Clinic project, they will also recall using Lean construction practices to deliver a facility dedicated to the health of the Brunswick community.

Adapting: During “normal” times, we gather with our trade partners, roll up our sleeves, and collaboratively create phase plans to effectively hit milestones. COVID-19 certainly complicated this process and required a greater emphasis on virtual collaboration. PC worked with the MPHC Clinic team to adapt by using Microsoft Teams for phase planning sessions. People could be miles apart, but still see the faces and hear the thoughts of everyone else. With this, everyone stayed safely distanced from one another but collaborative communication between trades was maintained.

Flowing: On a recent visit to the jobsite, I saw how those virtually created phase plans were coming together in the real world. As I walked the job, it was exciting to see the flow of work from area to area matching the team’s phase plans. Those plans, and the color-coded batch plans, were posted on boards inside the building for everyone to see and follow. It is obvious that everyone is on the same page and collaborating.

Continuously Improving: Back in the field office, I was also pleased to see the results of continuous improvement. Obtaining sufficiently detailed Weekly Work Plans from all foremen is a consistent challenge, and it was no different early in this project. That may sound like a small piece of the overall puzzle, but it is a crucial one. The better the foremen plan, the greater the collaboration, all leading to a smoother and more efficient project process. Our project team recognized this, kept coaching the foremen from week to week, and brought up everyone’s game!

By maintaining a commitment to Lean practices, even during unprecedented times, this project maintained the schedule and executed work in an efficient manner that was embraced by and coordinated among all trade partners.

Images: These images, all taken on the same day, clearly illustrate the Lean flow of work going from one batch area to next.

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From the onset of the project, the project team – including PC Construction and our trade partners – have been fully dedicated to Lean principles. They use pull planning to collaboratively create Phase Plans for each area and stage of the work, develop Weekly Work Plans based on the Phase Plans and hold Daily Huddles, all while identifying constraints that could prevent work from progressing. This has allowed the team to quickly identify if course corrections are needed.

Color-coded batch drawings were also leveraged on this project. During the pull plan sessions, the team broke the building into smaller working areas, otherwise known as batches. During the pull plan sessions, the work was pulled from one batch to another. The color-coded batch drawings are hung at the project so all team members can understand the planned flow of work.

The project team also used Building Information Modeling for MEP coordination. While not technically a Lean tool, BIM is integral to creating an efficient plan. BIM helps eliminate constraints that could disrupt the flow of work by finding those issues in the virtual world so they can be planned for or mitigated before construction even begins. On this project, BIM was also used to help with the prefabrication of the bathroom plumbing stands. Prefabbing off-site was safer and more productive, reduced the number of people and stored materials on site, and increased the overall speed and flow of the work, resulting in shaving weeks off the schedule.

Having everyone involved and every voice heard through the Lean process built trust and respect on this project, and you can feel it the second you walk onto the job site. They talk and act on a level different than what you see on most projects. For Lean to be a success, trust and respect needs to be a foundation for everything else. From there, the work becomes easier, and it’s smooth sailing.

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The commissioning-based “pull” focused on the milestone of Operational Demonstration testing associated with the project’s consent decree date. The 18-month pull had a heavy focus on electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation and controls coordination as well as the document control associated with start-up and commissioning. Representatives from the subcontractors associated with the respective work joined the project team to ensure all key input was considered into the process.

The session was full of “ah-ha” moments. Everyone knew their role in getting to the finish line, but pull planning really emphasized how each individual role affected other trades. Key coordination issues and major equipment releases were brought to light and the team became aware of the need for field direction about power distribution priorities.

The pull was shared with our client, DC Water, and has been crucial in engaging them in the work. We’ve been able to identify a handful of high priority items that needed quick attention and set up workshops with DC Water to facilitate reviews and provide resources for removing potential obstacles. With all key team members involved, high priority submittal reviews and RFI responses have been handled efficiently.

The Last Planner System is a great way to get the entire team engaged, involved and fully in tune with project milestones. We are continuously utilizing the Pull Plan method to target milestones and work activities from our master 18-month Pull. It is amazing how the entire team is taking ownership of their roles and being accountable to one another through this process.

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The newest addition to the Poughkeepsie, New York landscape is well underway. The 110,000-square-foot design-build multi-residential building – Fox Run at Fulton – will house 73 apartment suites with a total of 237 beds, each equipped with a private bathroom and fully equipped with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and washer and dryer facilities. The facility will offer a contemporary fitness center and luxurious lounge for residents.

Construction of this facility has been challenging due to the tight schedule and is now in the final stretch as finishes commence. To overcome the demanding schedule requirements, the PC Construction team implemented pull planning, a Lean-based process, to keep all trades on task and properly coordinated. This process has helped the PC team and subcontractors fully evaluate the sequencing of construction and ensure completion, as scheduled, for August 2016.

The post Fox Run at Fulton Rises in Poughkeepsie, NY appeared first on PC Construction.

The team recognized that they needed a system to identify and organize the components as they were produced to prevent potential confusion during installation. They selected an online labeling service to create weatherproof identification tags to withstand rain and snow. The crew implemented the new approach, fabricating and labeling the railing kits to identify where they should be installed. The new system also provides a more organized site with the added benefit of early inventory for possible missing materials and quicker labor installation, saving time and money.

This is a perfect example of how PC Construction’s employee-owners have adopted the Lean philosophy.

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