Agile Construction for the Electrical Contractor Book

Part I Introduction 1

Chapter 1 What Is Agile Construction? 5

Chapter 2 Productivity and Production 8

Production 8

Productivity 8

Production versus Productivity 10

System Productivity 11

Individual Productivity 14

Measuring Production and Productivity 15

Managing the Productivity 16

Chapter 3 Making It Visible 21

What Is Variation? 23

How to See the Variation 24

Control Signals 26

How to Read the Signals 30

Variation in Construction 34

Job-to-Job Variation 35

Estimate-to-Job Variation 37

Estimate-to-Estimate Variation 41

Chapter 4 Making Money 43

Financial Models 43

Variable Cost Financial Model 44

Fixed Cost Financial Model 45

Where Does the Money Come From? 47

Negotiated Profits 47

Increased Productivity 48

Reduced Cost of Cash Flow 50

Productivity and Safety 55

Part II Tools for Becoming an Agile Company 57

Chapter 5 Project Planning 59

General Contractor's Scheduled Plan 61

Work Breakdown Structure 61

Prejob Planning and Layout Phase 61

Buying the Job (Procurement Phase) 63

Installation Phase 64

Closure Phase 65

Electrical Scheduled Plan 66

Three-Week Scheduled Plan 66

Chapter 6 Operational Tools for Agility 71

Job Productivity Assurance and Control 72

Special Causes versus Common Causes 80

Case Studies 83

Short Interval Scheduling 84

Case Study 91

Agile Procurement 93

Case Study 96

Estimation Analysis Enhancement 97

Data Analysis to Improve Estimation Accuracy 100

Accounting Feedback to Estimation 106

Case Study 110

Using the Tools 112

Chapter 7 Corporate Tools for Agile Construction 121

Agile Procurement: Vendor Partnership 121

Work in Progress 126

How to Create a WIP 129

Productivity-Based WIP Reporting 135

Customer Positioning and Control 136

Part III Strategy for Agile 139

Market Realities 139

How to Build an Agile Company: Strategic Planning 146

Chapter 8 The Supporting Structure for Agile Companies 149

Company Infrastructure 149

System Design: Simplicity and Function 150

Organizational Learning: Continual Learning Culture 152

Process Models: Visibility of Systems and Processes 154

Team Technology: Dimensions of Information Flow Control and Communications 155

Methods, Algorithms, and Tools (Technologies) 157

Corporate Memory 158

Chapter 9 Processes 161

Process versus Procedure 161

Strategic Breakthrough Process Improvement 163

Identify: Recognize and Define 164

Characterize: Measure and Synthesize 166

Optimize: Improve and Manage 170

Utilize: Standardize and Integrate 174

Process of Project Management 175

Management Planning Functions 176

Project Team Planning Functions 177

Project Team Management Functions 178

Process of Procurement 180

Procurement Plan 181

Procurement Scheduling 182

Material Delivery to the Job Site 183

Job Site Material Movement and Storage 184

Material Returns 186

Lessons Learned 187

Process of Estimation 187

Identification 189

Risk Management 190

Feedback Loop 191

Conclusion 192

Appendix A Safety Data 193

Data Collection 193

Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses 193

Hours Worked 193

Fatalities 195

Nature of Injury 195

Data Analysis 198

Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses 198

Fatalities 204

Comparison to Other Industry 206

Causes of Injury 206

References 209

Appendix B Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycles 210

Appendix C Process Mapping 213

Appendix D Job Planning and Estimation Flowchart 218

References and Resources 225

Index 229