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EATONFIELD HOMES USED CLIP TO SIGNIFICANTLY CUT THE TIME TAKEN TO START BUILDING AFTER GAINING PLANNING CONSENT, AND TO IMPROVE SITE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING PROCESSES. THE CLIENT: TAI CLWYD THE CONTRACTOR: EATONFIELD HOMES, A MEMBER OF EATONFIELD GROUP PLC. CHRIS LEWIS, CONTRACTS COORDINATOR AT EATONFIELD HOMES, EXPLAINS HOW CLIP HELPED THE COMPANY TO MAKE TIME AND COST SAVINGS BY INTRODUCING CLIP MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES B A C K GR O UN D T O PR O J E CT Eatonfield Homes is a rapidly growing commercial and residential property developer based in Mold, North Wales. During this growth period we are looking to improve productivity and reduce costs, both on and off site, by implementing effective and efficient working practices. These can then become our ‘best practice’ approach and be spread to all projects in the business. work and waste methodology. We then mapped out a process that would give us the shorter pre-construction lead times we were looking for – for example by using standard ways of informing departments when planning consent has been achieved, and what date to start on site. V I S U A L M AN A GE M E NT Lack of project status visibility had been identified as an issue early in the CLIP W H A T A T T RA C T ED U S TO TH E C L I P P R O G RA M M E When we wanted to increase our efficiency between two key stages of construction – from when planning consent is granted to when work begins on site – we decided to get in touch with CLIP because we had heard that they were particularly good at doing this. We also thought that they could help with streamlining our processes and improving control over key phases to reduce waste and improve the distribution of resources. W H A T O U R A I M S A N D E XP E C T A T I O NS W E RE We expected to be able to significantly reduce and stabilise the time it takes to get from planning permission to working on site. Being a young company, we also wanted to experience a number of different management techniques and thereby increase not only the visibility of the build phases, but also the control we had on them. Given CLIP’s reputation in this area, we expected them to be able to help deliver and probably expand on these aims. process; so having set targets for the pre-construction phase, and communicated them to the team, we outlined the tasks we needed to monitor, and set target dates for them. C O L L A B O RA T I V E PL A N NI NG CLIP uses a structured approach to the planning activity that includes everyone involved. Establishing the Meliden Project programme together helped us to fully utilise the team’s skills and experience, identify problems and opportunities at an early stage and more accurately predict completion times. Using this approach at Meliden helped us to tighten up the build schedule and reduce its duration by a month – bringing significant savings on site manager, scaffolding, cabin and plant hire, etc costs. We made widespread use of techniques such as these on site at Meliden. For example, weekly planning schedules – produced in a format designed to meet our particular needs – were prepared the previous week and displayed on a board in H O W T HE CL I P P R OC E S S W OR K E D F O R U S the canteen where it could be added to by the site operatives. A paper copy was With the help of the CLIP engineer, we focussed on two main areas – the pre-construction process and the site management and planning processes. also used in the office where progress could be monitored and assessed at the end of the week, and the schedule then archived, and information used for further improvement. The weekly schedule helped to ensure that everybody knew what We were introduced to a number of CLIP techniques including: P R OC E S S MA P PI N G We visually represented our processes and identified who does what – and when, why and how they do it. This gave everyone involved a shared understanding of how we work, and opportunities to spot elements that could be improved using Construction Lean Improvement Programme (CLIP) BRE, Bucknalls Lane, Watford, Herts WD25 9XX T 01923 664 638 F 01923 664 789 E [email protected] W www.bre.co.uk/clip needed to be done, that the project stayed on schedule and that any problems were quickly highlighted, and addressed. In addition to formalised techniques such as these, discussions between our team and the CLIP engineers provided other helpful advice and ideas that have been of benefit to the firm. ‘CLIP helped us to reduce the overall time we spend on our projects and, as they say, time is money!’ Chris Lewis, Eatonfield Homes H O W W E B EN E F I T E D F R O M T H I S I N I T I A TI V E Collaborative Planning by the Eatonfiled team facilitated by a CLIP engineer Several of the techniques and ideas that we encountered during the Meliden Project have now been incorporated into the systems used by Eatonfield Homes. As a result we have met one of our key targets, by reducing the period from planning consent to starting on site from 20 to 14 weeks. It is early days yet, but there is already evidence that the new process, planning and progress monitoring measures that we have introduced, are increasing the efficiency of our processes and reducing the occurrence of problems. We think that the CLIP activity has been good value for money and would recommend it to others. K EY L E A R N I N G P O I N T S KEY SA VIN G • establish a clear map of the company’s processes so that everyone The period of time between two key stages of construction – the granting has a proper understanding of how its projects are carried out. of planning consent and the start of work on site – was reduced by 30%, • include all of those involved in the project planning phase so that from 20 to 14 weeks. problems can be rectified before they create difficulties, and opportunities can be identified when there is still time to take full advantage of them. • establish a means of monitoring the project’s progress by identifying F U T U RE U S E OF C L I P The CLIP techniques, such as maintaining highly visible records of the status of a each task in the process and attaching completion date targets project (notable in the pre-commencement stages), will continue to be used on to them. future projects and we are confident that they will keep working for us. ‘In addition to formal techniques we learnt during the CLIP programme, the discussions between us and the CLIP engineers This project has been delivered with support from Construction Skills provided other helpful advice and ideas that will be of benefit Management and Supervisory Development Programme. The fund provides to the firm.’ financial backing to encourage innovative ideas that deliver management Chris Lewis, Contracts Coordinator, Eatonfield Homes training benefits across the industry. AN I N TR O D U C T I O N T O C L I P The Construction Lean Improvement Programme, or CLIP for short, is a new approach that aims to boost performance and profitability. Over the last four years CLIP has been adapting lean tools and techniques for use in the construction industry. CLIP has worked successfully with more than 100 construction companies across the construction supply chain, with most achieving productivity improvements of up to 50% in key processes. CLIP works by focusing companies on improving the quality, cost, efficiency and delivery of a product or service, to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. It provides the knowledge and practical skills needed to take the highly theoretical topic of lean construction, and turn it into a practical tool that they can implement effectively. The heart of each company’s CLIP programme consists of a tailored improvement activity built up of our core Masterclass modules. The programme is designed so that a company can pick and choose the range of tools and expertise available in the modules that it needs. In this case study we feature the use of ‘the Lean Processes Masterclass’. This looks at ways of improving quality, cost and delivery by looking in detail at key processes during a 3-9 month programme of intensive improvement activities. Plans are then put in place to roll out improvements through the company. Construction Lean Improvement Programme (CLIP) BRE, Bucknalls Lane, Watford, Herts WD25 9XX T 01923 664 638 F 01923 664 789 E [email protected] W www.bre.co.uk/clip