The Department of Construction Technologies recently held a day-long Lean Planning training seminar on the UVU campus. Led by new department chair, Rob Warcup, the training was requested by the Utah Division of Facilities and Construction Management and the UVU Facilities Management teams. The training provided an interactive simulation intended to streamline construction projects; reducing time, inefficiencies, resources, and budgets.
“The benefit is that it is hands-on learning and participants feel the effects of lean on a project in a nonthreatening, fun environment,” said Warcup. “This helps them internalize the concepts so that when they conduct a pull-planning session on a real project they are comfortable doing so and know what to expect.”
This 7 hour training session held in the UVU library on the main Orem campus involved five hours of hands-on Villego simulation training. Three groups built a Lego structure with traditional planning in round one, then they built a similar structure again with Lean Planning in round two. They discussed the differences together throughout the day. Each team improved their results through lean planning by at least 300%.
“This was a great opportunity for these industry professionals to sharpen their mental tools,” said Warcup. “I was happy to see how seriously they took the insights from this training and I think it will make a big difference for them and their organizations moving forward.”
The seminar provided a tremendous opportunity for interaction for the 30+ men and women who participated. The ultimate goal was to more effectively plan a project in a collaborative Lean environment. Studies show that lean planning typically achieves a 36% increase in schedule reliability over traditional scheduling.
“It turned out to be a real eye-opener for me,” said one participant who asked to remain anonymous. “I’m pretty sure my company thought I already knew this stuff, but I picked up so many awesome tips and tricks I’m gonna look like a genius at work now.”
Photos from the training session can be seen at: