LEAN vs. SHAME
The implementation of lean in the construction industry has been gaining traction over the last several years. More and more firms are realizing the benefits of applying lean thinking. The concept is simple enough – maximize value for the client while at the same time minimizing waste. But proper execution of lean construction philosophy can be quite difficult to implement. Do you really have to adopt a LEAN methodology to be successful in your business?
Watch our blog this week as Dennis digs deeper into a key for success in your construction projects. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.
Hello everybody, Dennis Engelbrecht with The Family Business Institute, and the CEO Performance Roundtable Program,
here with our blog, Digging Deeper. Trying to dig a little bit deeper into a few problems in the construction industry. Today
we want to talk about job planning, and I really want to talk about LEAN construction.
And this may get a little humorous, but I really do believe in LEAN construction, and I've seen many of the contractors in
our program really have great success. And the reason for that is the principles behind LEAN are really solid. The whole
idea of pull planning, planning from the back to the front. I was in miscellaneous metals as a sub-contractor here in the
past, and I always found it amazing, the contractor has to get their CO tomorrow, and we have to get the dock rail in for
them to get their CO.
Well, you would think that's a simple thing, but actually it's a very difficult thing. First of all, it has to be engineered,
approved, and all of that. And then with the dock rail particular, we have to field measure. So, we have to field measure
before we can produce it. And then ship it to your site and have an erector meet it, and actually get installed. But before
you can do that of course, you have to pour the dock, right?
So, thinking back to front, the problem we oftentimes encounter is, they're screaming at us that we got to have the dock
rail tomorrow. Well, that's great, but until the cement's done we can't field-measure, and we can't produce until we fieldmeasure, can't ship it up there and all of that.
So, it's really a four, five-day back-to-front process, and of course most folks in construction understand that. But the
whole idea is, everything in construction follows in sequence. So, the idea of LEAN is to get all those sequences planned
in advance, and have the trades appropriately communicating and stacked properly, so this all can happen without
interruptions, and you get your CO hopefully early, if not on time.
So anyway, LEAN works, but I do have this humorous story. So, one of our contractors in our program had seen how LEAN
worked out at another company, and he decided he was going to implement LEAN at his company. So, he decided he was
going all-in. So, he hired the LEAN trainers, brought them out, got all of his project managers, all his superintendents to
go through all the segments of that, ready to go. They go out for their first LEAN project out in the field, and the first day
three subcontractors don't show up.
So, the bottom line is, they decided to go away from LEAN and go toward what they called SHAME, that they thought
they'd have better success just shaming the subcontractors into showing up on time and getting their work done. And
obviously that doesn't really work and doesn't work that well, and they certainly learned plenty in the LEAN process, but
in thinking about it, we did think that SHAME might be an acronym for Subcontractor Harassment And Mentoring
Experience.
And you know, when you're communicating with subcontractors, it's interesting because you really have to influence them
to get what you want. And they have five other jobs, and three other customers that they're trying to serve at the same
time. So, they're probably doing the best they can. And jobs have moved, and jobs have stacked, and all of that. But what
it really boils down to is the art of influencing your surroundings. And LEAN is a great system, it's a difficult system, takes
a while to get people to buy in.
And like any system, it has to be well-executed. And most of your greater superintendents have a planning system that
works, and that's why they're great superintendents. They can look forward, they communicate well, their subcontractors
trust them, and it all comes together. So, the point of this is whether you operate with LEAN or SHAME, it's really about
controlling and influencing your surroundings, and get with your superintendents, your job foreman, and just make sure
that they're skilled at accomplishing that.
Again, Dennis Engelbrecht, digging a little deeper. Thank you.
