Ep.329 - Steadiness & Flow - An Excerpt from Elevating Construction Superintendents

Jason reads from the Elevating Construction Superintendence book, Principle Two: Steadiness and Flow, explains how superintendents should interact with Takt planning. Creative Trades game: seven participants represent contractors (concrete, steel, facade), 35 chips must move through to last contractor. Players roll dice, pass chips forward. Red team finished in 26 weeks with 380 people and material inventory of 10. Blue team finished in 21 weeks with 280 people and material inventory of 5—5 weeks ahead with 100 fewer people and half the material. Secret: red team had normal 1-6 die (variation), blue team had die that only rolled 2s, 3s, and 4s (steady flow). Lesson: flow has very little variation, when variation eliminated, work flows without getting held up by overwhelming rush of rolling 6 or painful crawl of 1. Industry pushes: "advance schedule whenever possible," "bring all materials now," "I am a pusher," "keep pushing everything." These people try to roll sixes, which later causes mess of ones. Movement equals production is false, movement is waste. Throughput example: four factory machines producing at 4, 2, 4, 4 items per hour. Throughput is not 2, it's actually 1.25 or 1.5 because inventory piles up between first and second machines, manpower allocated to manage inventory, space diminishes, waste increases. Cost difference: 26 weeks with 380 workers = $21.7M; 21 weeks with 280 workers = $12.9M, that's $8.8M difference from lack of flow. "Only flow will shorten durations, decrease costs, respect workers, create balance for families."

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Creative Trades game reveals flow beats pushing: blue team with steady 2-3-4 die finished 5 weeks faster with 100 fewer people and half the material vs red team with random 1-6 die

• Why "movement equals production" is dangerously false: movement is waste, pushing creates variation that requires twice as much material, 100 more people, and 5 more units of inventory

• The throughput trap: factory with machines at 4-2-4-4 items/hour doesn't produce 2/hour, it produces 1.25-1.5/hour because inventory piles up, manpower manages materials, space diminishes

• Real cost of pushing vs flow: 26 weeks with 380 workers costs $21.7M; 21 weeks with 280 workers costs $12.9M, that's $8.8M saved by eliminating variation and creating steady flow

• Why superintendents must protect flow: when supers won't hold dates, trades keep more people and materials on site, production slows because workforce manages/moves/fixes/replaces instead of installing

• The steadiness principle: don't roll sixes and ones when you can roll threes, flow will always reduce materials, manpower, mistakes, and time

"Only flow will shorten durations, decrease costs, respect workers, and create balance for families."

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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