CFMx Blog: Gantt Vs. Matrix
CFMx: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone!
Takt Time in Real Time
It’s no secret that human tendency will always gravitate towards the familiar. We like knowing what to expect, how best to succeed and will most often always choose the path of least resistance. Welcome to being human! However, there has been an innumerable amount of research conducted on the growth, productivity, and success that comes from stepping out of your comfort zone. And that’s just what we’re inviting you to do!
Gone are the days when a 30-page detailed Gantt chart can be used as a dashboard to track production progress. This traditional approach is cumbersome and requires significant management and trade resources to update. More useful is a condensed, real-time snapshot of planned and actual production progress that provides actionable insights to avoid bottlenecks and trade stacking. To drive this point home, let’s take a look at an example project. And keep in mind the Gantt chart below is only one page of many while the Clear Flow Matrix (CFMx) displays the entire project production plan on a single page.
CFMx: The New Normal for Lean Construction
Takt Scheduling Made Simple
Okay, we know it looks different but there’s a reason for that! It’s 30 pages of data streamlined into one comprehensive overview. And it’s this streamlined approach that ensures your two driving flows (handoffs and trade production) stay balanced throughout the entire job.
At CFMx, our mission is to transform how takt construction is scheduled – enabling you to deliver projects on time, while utilizing the full talent of your tradesmen. What makes this possible? The CFMx seamlessly condenses the standard Gantt chart into one comprehensive dashboard that identifies all the same specificity and line-item detail. How do we do it? It’s as simple as rotating the waterfall chart on its axis and using this data to establish a series of pacemakers – each one representing a specific trade in the matrix. The same Gantt waterfall information is then placed into the CFMx with a driving axis for both process (handoffs) and operations (trade production) – the two flows required for balanced production. And this allows for ease of set-up and fast updates that take 1/10 of the time of the traditional CPM method.
A Clear Flow for Takt Production
The New Takt Production Matrix
One of the biggest benefits of the CFMx is it’s easily read and updated by everyone in real time – including the project manager, superintendent, and trade foremen. It offers a comprehensive Excel dashboard communicating flow and takt production, measured against the balanced production front (BPF). The BPF is the diagonal output of the current week you see represented in the example above (highlighted in yellow).
Each end of the BPF is anchored in process flow (horizontally) and operations flow (vertically). These are your two drivers for balanced production. Here, time will serve as the natural unit of measure for flow — establishing and maintaining progress throughout the life of your project. A balanced production front will ultimately result in the capacity to identify bottlenecks early, avoid disruptions consistently and satisfy the job requirements entirely – on or before the completion date.
Simple, effective, and efficient: Step out of your comfort zone and take your production to the next level!
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