The Cost of Variation

Do you have too many things going on on your project at one time? Should you limit your work in progress? In this flow series episode, Jason unpacks why one-piece flow and limiting work in progress make you a ton of money, even though most superintendents resist these concepts. You'll learn the Tucson project recovery story (sent everyone home, got a plan, brought them back one by one in flow order), the envelope game demonstration (one-piece flow wins every time even though batching looks busier), examples of one-piece flow in construction and office work, the three types of buffers (inventory, capacity, time), why overproduction and excess inventory are the mother and father of all wastes, and when it's okay to get ahead vs when it's damaging.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• One-piece flow beats batching: Envelope game proves it every time, fold/stuff/lick/stamp one envelope completely vs batching all folding/all stuffing looks busier but takes longer; same principle on projects

• Site work in phases not all at once: Don't grade 500 acres and maintain it, bring out less equipment, better trained operators, work out ahead in one-piece flow; compare costs before claiming "we have to do it all at once"

• Three buffers you need: Inventory buffers (bar joist early if scarce, drywall 1-2 days if reliable), capacity buffers (mental capacity to plan/prevent roadblocks), time buffers

• Overproduction creates all wastes: Overproduction and excess inventory are mother/father of all other wastes (transportation, motion, defects, over processing, waiting), we lose money in the in-betweens not when crews are working

• When overproducing is damaging: Can get rained on, have to maintain, weather sensitive, can get damaged, brings team out of balance and disallows proactive roadblock removal; early foundations okay (low risk, one contractor) vs interiors with 20 contractors (high risk)

"When a superintendent dispatches a trade partner into an area too soon, they stretch supervision, lose production, have less materials, more chaos, more quality problems, more materials in the way, costs go up, profits go down, using more unqualified people, everyone sandbags, areas get damaged sitting empty, team isn't focused on planning or removing roadblocks. That superintendent just created so much variation it's hard to recover from."

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Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels:

· Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg

· LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt

· LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured

· LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnsw