The following scenario is a familiar one for just about every trade partner who has worked a job in our industry: The schedule dates are compromised because production rates are way out of whack. Several crews have worked ahead in an effort to “save time” and others have commanded bigger areas striving to “increase efficiency.” But the fact of the matter is that neither of these scenarios are doing anything other than perpetuating the no flow circle yet again. And this means no one is working as a team anymore. Instead, everyone is focused on their own part at the expense of the whole.
What does it actually sound like and how do you know if you’re contributing to the chaos?
- “If we start late, we will bring in twice the crew and catch up.”
- “I need more space!”
- “Let me start over there, where no one is working, and I will be ahead when they get there.”
- “Someone is in my way!”
- “It doesn’t matter when I start as long as I finish on time.”
And where does it go from here?
More often than not, the Critical Path Method (CPM) gets introduced in an attempt to secure visibility into the absolute last minute that everything can be done in order to adhere to the schedule dates. And while it may work sometimes, it’s ultimately an unnecessary pressure cooker that actually winds up costing you time and money!
How?
Trade stacking leads to overproduction and eventually you have trades working in other zones and out of sequence, ultimately bottlenecking you and everyone else.
With a solution like the Clear Flow Matrix, there is a logical process and operations flow laid out at the very beginning. With this clarity, a schedule can be created that allows all trades to know exactly where they should be and for what duration of time. Smaller crews and smaller handoffs allow for a balanced flow that does not get interrupted by other crews working in your space or preventing you from moving forward.
Smaller crews help ensure only the amount of manpower necessary to finish the task at hand is being used, allowing you to guarantee more direct work during your scheduled operations time. Smaller handoffs over shorter durations also help ensure your efficiency by maintaining a zone that’s always open and available for work, as well as a time schedule that doesn’t have you waiting around for other crews to finish when you could be at another job growing your monthly income.
In short, the CFMx ensures a balance between the workstation cycle times (process flow) and the product handling/associated processing (operations flow), with smaller handoffs and smaller crews – the combination of which sustains balanced production throughout the entire job so you’re never waiting on other crews to finish or overrun with unrealistic expectations at the last minute to follow a CPM schedule governed by last-minute mayhem.
So, what does this ultimately mean for you?
Less stress, less idle time spent waiting and more direct work production!
Oh, and a lot more sanity!!
The solution is Clear!
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