Background & Challenge

Community regeneration specialists, Keepmoat had for sometime been experimenting with the application of “Lean Techniques” and were keen to invest in an approach that would be more sustainable and have greater impact than had previously been achieved. Looking inside the construction sector and to some of the more well known consultancies, they opted for the Revive Associates proposition.

Solution

The Revive team initially worked with Bramall Construction, part of the Keepmoat Group and began by Value Stream Mapping the business at a high-level to identify where processes could be improved.

Implementation

The team introduced business level and site ‘control rooms’ which are a mechanism for identifying issues and concerns in key areas such as health and safety, quality, delivery and cost. The control rooms make issues highly visible in order for them to be resolved effectively. Data from site control rooms feed into the business control room to allow strategic decisions to be made and for the busines processes to be continually improved. An important characteristic of the control room culture is an environment of ‘no blame, no excuse’. This encourages ownership and openness when issues arise. The team also introduced the eight discipline (8D) problem solving process which is a robust and systematic tool that helps avoid common errors which often occur during problem solving.

Result

The team worked closely with the Site Team at Bramall’s scheme of 91 Code 6 homes in West Yorkshire. The scheme is currently running to schedule with a marked reduction in waste. Keepmoat selected Bramall to trial this is now being rolled out to other Keepmoat delivery companies.

Dave Hughes, Keepmoat Efficiency Director, commented: “From first meeting Revive projected a fresh and realistic proposition. They’re not advisors but doers. They quickly became part of our team, sat in our office, alongside and working with our people”

Links

Reviving the Bramall Way - The Keepmoat Voice 2010
Bramall’s scheme of 91 Code 6 homes in West Yorkshire