Time is money.
Managing time is one of the most important ways that IFS can help you with your project. As an active member of the Lean Construction Institute, IFS applies The Last Planner ® system to your project. The Last Planner ® system is comprised of:
-
- Master Scheduling: During which we as a team establish critical milestones and identify long lead items and time risks.
-
- “PULL” Planning: This planning is done in phases and utilizes the milestones of the Master Schedule. Working back from these items we identify specific handoffs and operational conflicts. These sessions are done with the project team to ensure that all affected and interested parties are a part of the process.
-
- Work Ready Planning: This planning involves the trades with the goals of confirming that long lead items are identified while looking ahead for any pre-work that may be required be advantageous to do to support smooth installation.
-
- Weekly Work Planning: With the trades this is time taken each week to plan the upcoming week’s work and make commitments to perform tasks in a certain manner and sequence.
- Learning: The last step in each of the scheduling processes is to continue to look at what has been put in place. Noting where we have met the schedule and plan and identifying where we need to make adjustments. We continually look at the reasons for the failure so we can develop and implement corrections and continue learning. The measure used is the percent complete (or PPC). This allows all the members to see how the team is doing in comparison to the plan.
Obviously this process is adjusted as needed to the project and your needs. Smaller projects may not warrant a formal process with all the steps. However, because the process is a part of each IFS Project Manager’s training, the principles are applied so that the benefits can be realized.
