Field Productivity - The Improvement Pyramid

Few things will improve the competitiveness of a contractor more than materially improving field productivity.

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An improvement of a few minutes per day to actual installation time compounded monthly is worth about $800K per year for a $25M contractor. What is it worth to you?

Field Productivity: The Improvement Pyramid. Start with the Foundation of basic field productivity techniques & improvements. Then progress up to Virtual Construction and Prefabrication including full modularization. Next, integrate your supply chain at the workflow and technology levels then fully integrate with the whole project team providing synergies from supply chain through architect in alignment with the project owner's business strategies.

Look at improvements to field productivity as 4 major stages of a pyramid and start with the foundation:

  1. Basic field productivity techniques and improvements focused on creating the “Perfect Day” for the field by relentlessly focusing on the 6 Pillars of Productivity. This foundation will amplify every other layer of the pyramid. 
  2. Virtual Construction and Prefabrication when done correctly will dramatically improve productivity. Done incorrectly they will create an unbelievable amount of stress on the team as well as waste.  
  3. Supply Chain integration at the levels of risk management, workflows and technology can eliminate significant waste while improving the schedule.  
  4. From the project owner and general contractor side integrating all trade partners and leveraging lean construction techniques is really the top of the pyramid. Like all other layers, if done well the improvements are amazing. Done poorly and failures are just as big.  

Improving Field Productivity Workshop


Field Productivity - The Improvement Pyramid
Field labor is the often the biggest variable on a construction project - making it the biggest risk and opportunity....

Field Productivity - The Improvement Pyramid
Field labor is the often the biggest variable on a construction project - making it the biggest risk and opportunity....

Planning - Integrating the 4 Key Responsibilities
Effective planning combined with regular feedback (at least weekly) combined with a structured look at how to improve each week is the key to integrating the four key responsibilities of a Foreman.
Impacted Productivity - Five Elements of Making a Good Case
Contractors are continually faced with costly impacts to their labor productivity and schedule with many beyond their direct control. The best Project Managers know how to identify, communicate, and mitigate these impacts.
Simple Math of Labor Savings
What would it be worth for your company to improve your field productivity? There is an incredible amount of low-hanging fruit to be picked when it comes to improving labor productivity.