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Lean University --
Lean Articles
“Lean”
construction
Grunau
Co. takes lessons learned in manufacturing and adapts them
to the mechanical trades.
by
Clair Urbain
Lean
manufacturing is all the rage in plants across the country.
In an extremely competitive environment, streamlining plant
processes and eliminating waste are battle cries for
survival.
Construction
is also competitive, but there hasn’t been the rush to
apply similar lean principles to achieve greater
productivity and quality, and Ted Angelo has set out to
change that at Grunau Co., a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based
mechanical trades contractor.
Angelo
was turned on to lean construction concepts a few years ago
after hearing about it at an association meeting. In less
than two years, the tools he has learned and shared with
others in the company have resulted in dramatic changes in
how they tackle work.
The
new way of working has yielded at least $59,000 in tool cost
savings in the toolroom in one year; an on-the-jobsite
vendor stocking program has reduced parts costs by $45,000
in six months; and changes in weld and sheet metal shop work
flows have yielded up to 20 percent savings.
“This
does not even include the savings from faster order filling,
increased utilization of tools and other
improvements in productivity,” says Angelo,
Grunau’s executive vice president.
“I
have had people say, ‘Lean concepts won’t work in
construction. Every job is different.’ I reply, ‘How
many soldered joints do we do on a typical job? Tens of
thousands? Do we do each one of them differently?’ It’s
really about best practices and continuous improvement and
that’s how we look at lean construction,” says Angelo.
Train
the trainer
To become versed in lean concepts, Angelo attended a
Milwaukee School of Engineering Lean Manufacturing
certificate program where he rubbed elbows with people from
companies adopting lean practices. He also attended training
offered through the Lean Construction Institute and read
many books on the subject. The company also hired a
consultant to help steer the effort.
“Management
commitment is important. We train every employee in the
benefits and practices of lean construction. When you have
500 employees, that is a huge commitment. We think it is
worth it,” he says.
The
5 S concept is one of several tools Grunau’s lean team
uses to improve processes. In training its cross-functional
lean team, the group decided to reorganize the toolroom as
its first project in September 2003. Since then, the team
has tackled many other projects and Angelo hopes to have
worked through the list of 60-plus projects by 2008.
“We
selected the toolroom as our first project because it would
have a great impact on the company from a business
standpoint and have a ‘wow’ factor,” he says.
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Elements
of 5 S
The 5 S concept originated in Japan, and this is a
rough English translation of what the 5 S concept
signifies. These are the steps that Grunau Co.
took to make over its toolroom, prefab areas,
warehouse, storage yard and toolboxes.
Sort:
Sort from the workplace what is needed from what
is not needed. General criteria: If it wasn’t
used in the last 30 days or will not be needed in
the next 30 days, store it away from the worksite.
Grunau uses a red tag to signify items that must
be removed.
Straighten/Set
in order: Find a place for everything and put
everything in its place. Mark and label everything
so it can be easily found and put away.
Sweep/Shine:
Clean the area and the equipment. Use a “ceiling
down” strategy. Paint if necessary and develop
strategies to prevent items from getting dirty.
Schedule/Standardize:
Standardize the use of the first three steps of
the 5 S process by developing checklists (work
instructions) for all areas. Checklists should
include a picture of what the area should look
like.
Sustain:
Make the first four steps of the 5 S process a
part of company culture. Use an audit team to
evaluate and grade the 5 S implementation
throughout the plant.
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The
toolroom and warehouse were the dumping ground for tools and
supplies coming back from jobsites. The toolroom supervisor
was in charge of organizing the material so it could go to
other jobs. Without a structure or system, it was difficult.
The
12-person cross-functional team applied 5 S principles to
the toolroom. The team looked at the inventory of parts and
realized that once parts came back to the shop, it was
highly unlikely they would ever get back out on a job. “We
would spend more time looking for the item than what the
item was worth,” says Angelo.
A
healthy housecleaning and a switch to bin-fill arrangements
with distributors on jobsites resulted in the company
eliminating half of the racking in the warehouse.
Tool
organization was driven by the number of footsteps it takes
to fill an order. “The team counted the steps it took the
toolroom supervisor to fill an order. Starting off with 525
footsteps, they reorganized everything to reduce footsteps
to 252. We believe that footsteps equal time which equals
money,” Angelo says.
The
toolroom, once a general area, is now set up supermarket
style with racks plainly marked for dedicated tool storage.
The whole area was clad in white metal for better light
reflection and bins were painted white inside and out to
make bin and shelf contents easier to see. Every cubby and
shelf space has an easy-to-read label.
The
team revisited the toolroom process in September 2004, and
fine-tuned it even more.
“Lean
and 5 S isn’t about getting it 100 percent right the first
time. It is about continuous improvement. We conduct monthly
audits of processes and post the results. It’s the final
and critical step in the 5 S process to assure it is
sustained,” he says.
The
team has also reworked the welding and sheet metal shops for
greater flexibility. For example, rolling stands for pipe
cutters and threaders stand like sentinels along the wall of
the shop, ready to be rolled into place on tracks made of
inverted channel iron. All tool storage areas are marked
clearly and are stored in that place.
On
the jobsite
The lean team also develops lean practices for the jobsite.
Any area or activity is fair game.
Any
lean proposal is circulated in the company. “We have
apprentices, foremen and service technicians look at what we
are thinking of doing to get their perspective. Fresh eyes
see things that those closest to the project may miss,”
says Shane Schilcher, piping superintendent.
Gerry
Gelhaar, one of Grunau's
general foreman, is a 30-year veteran of construction
and sees the benefits of standardizing procedures. The lean
practices on the jobsite reflect activities on other Grunau
jobsites:
Last
Planner: “We use a system called the Last Planner.
It’s a philosophy that no one knows better about what it
will take to do a job than the workers doing it. It takes a
six-week look into the future and once a week, we review the
steps and number and type of workers required to complete
those steps,” says Gelhaar. “It’s all tracked on an
Excel spreadsheet that I update weekly and share with all
parties involved with this job,” he says.
Schilcher
says the Last Planner concept helps him see where the pipe
fitters and sheet metal workers are working and allows him
to look for coming bottlenecks on the project.
“Other
contractors use other programs and methods to manage work,
and sometimes their work interferes with ours. We can’t
control that. But if we can do a better job of managing the
work we can control, we will be more efficient,” he says.
Bin-fill
agreement with a distributor: The bin-fill arrangement
instituted on jobsites sets up a kanban system with minimum
and maximum quantities. A tool and supply distributor
restocks the cabinets every week. From job to job, the
cabinets are stocked in the same order so workers
transferring from one job to another don’t have to learn a
new scheme. When the job is finished, the cabinets go back
to the distributor, and Grunau only pays for the parts
consumed on the job.
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Secrets
to
Grunau’s success
Ted Angelo shares key points needed to
successfully adopt lean concepts in any
organization:
Understand
it. Angelo suggests reading, attending
conferences and talking with others instituting
lean practices.
Commit
to an outside consultant. It costs money, but
an expert in lean techniques can help others
understand it, knows where pitfalls and resistance
may lay, and can lead the company through the
all-important first projects that make the biggest
impact on the company from buy-in and money-saving
standpoints.
Commit
to the process. This must come from the top
and filter throughout the organization. “We
struggled at first, but then ended up training
everyone. We found that if we didn’t, the rumors
would fly. Do everything to show commitment to the
process,” says Angelo. Keeping the process
highly visible in the organization also shows
commitment and respect for the teams’ efforts.
Create
a passion for the process. It’s a tremendous
challenge to lead change in an organization. Rely
on respected authorities in the organization to
help carry the concept.
Embrace
change. Understand that even processes
transformed by lean events can be improved. Tackle
them again to make them even better.
Keep
it simple. It’s really all about common
sense. When transforming processes, find the
simplest, and often least expensive way to make
changes.
Keep
it going! Angelo says this is the most
difficult part ofthe process. Audit the process
regularly and post audit results to show progress
or deviations to the process.
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“We
don’t need an apprentice or foreman ordering parts for
each trade. It’s all ordered the same way and the parts
are all here, and workers just take what they need for the
job. In exchange for giving one distributor the business, we
don’t have to deal with ordering and stocking and can be
more productive on the job,” says Gelhaar.
For
greatest efficiency, supervisors review tool and supply
consumption after every job and continue to streamline the
inventory. “For example, we only buy 6" bolts and cut
them down to the length as needed. This saves room in the
cabinet and makes stocking easier,” says Schilcher.
Trades
toolbox: The latest project underway is developing a
two- or three-man trades tool box that is standard issue for
every jobsite. In it, tools are sorted by type and trade and
stored in a labeled spot in the toolbox. Any Grunau worker
can open the box and find a needed tool quickly (see
illustration).
“It’s
still in the design phase and we are circulating the concept
for input. We’ll put it together, find out how it really
works, then fine-tune it,” says Schilcher.
Job
supply carts: Grunau has assembled some job-specific
carts. For example, it built wheeled carts that neatly hold
fittings for fire sprinkler installation. The parts are easy
to find, access and review for restocking.
Stop
the band:
In the past, prefabricators would band prefabricated
pipe before shipping it to the jobsite. Now, prefabricators
place the pipe on 6' wheeled tree racks that are rolled onto
a truck for shipping. “Transportation is a bit more
expensive, but the huge reduction in onsite labor makes more
sense because we aren’t banding and unbanding pipe
anymore,” says Angelo.
Worker
acceptance
Some naysayers believe that lean construction is the flavor
of the month, soon to be replaced by another management fad.
Not so with lean construction at Grunau. In fact, workers
embrace the concept.
“Workers
like it because they can get their tools quickly. It also
makes them feel more professional because the contractor is
doing something to make their job easier, not harder,”
Gelhaar says.
“It
all adds up to a winning team concept. If workers can get
the information, tools and parts so they can do their job,
they feel better about the job they’re doing and
appreciate it,” Gelhaar says.
Published
in the March 2005 issue of Contractor
Tools and Supplies magazine.
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