Problem guide
The shop doesn't know what the field needs next
The shop does not know what the field needs next because the install schedule lives with project managers and crews, while the shop works from its own list of open orders. Give the shop the field's upcoming dates for every shop-built item, agree on a need-by date for each, and review the two lists together every week.
What it usually looks like
A project manager moves an install up a week because the general contractor finished early. He tells the crew lead on site and updates his own schedule. The shop still has the handrail sections for that job due the following Friday and is working on a job due sooner. On Monday the crew arrives and has nothing to set. The project manager calls the shop, which stops what it is doing to rush the rail. Meanwhile a set of stair stringers finished two weeks early sits in the yard, waiting on a job that slipped.
Signs you have this problem
- Crews show up on site and the shop-built material is not ready
- Finished assemblies sit in the yard for weeks while the job that needs them is not ready
- Project managers call the shop to ask when something will be done
- The shop learns about a field schedule change after it has already built the item
- Rush shop work comes from field problems that were known days earlier
What usually causes it
- The field schedule and the shop's work list are kept separately and never comparedThe field-to-office split
- Changes in the field are passed to the shop by phone, if at allThe handoff gap
- Nobody can see which shop items are due for which field datesThe invisible queue
What to try this week
- Match two weeks of missesFor two weeks, write down every time the field waited on the shop, or the shop built something the field did not need yet. Note the job, the item and when each side learned the date.
- Put a need-by date on shop ordersAsk the project manager for the date the item must be on site, not a general due date. Write that date on the shop order and sort the shop list by it.
- Hold a short weekly lineupOnce a week, put the field's next few weeks of installs next to the shop's open work. Walk each item and confirm its need-by date. Keep it short and standing.
- Name a field-to-shop contactPick one person on each side who passes schedule changes the same day. Log each change so the next lineup starts from the latest dates.
Where do-it-yourself stops
These steps line the shop up with the field once a week and catch many misses. Between meetings the two schedules still drift apart, and every change still depends on someone remembering to call. A lasting fix is a tool built around your own project schedules and shop orders, so a change in the field shows up in the shop's work list the day it happens. That is what a Workflow Spec designs.
Questions people ask
Why does the shop build in the wrong order for the field?
Because the shop only sees due dates on orders, while the real dates live in the field schedule. When the field moves, the shop never hears.
Is a due date not the same as a need-by date?
Often not. A due date is set when the order is written. A need-by date comes from the current install schedule and changes when the field changes.
Who should own passing changes to the shop?
The project manager for each job, with one contact in the shop who receives them. Write both names down so nobody assumes the other called.
What about items that are built too early?
They take up space, get damaged and tie up material. Log them as well as late items. Both come from the same missing information.
How do we know what the mismatch costs?
Count crew hours lost waiting on shop items and rush shop work over a few weeks, then price them with your own labor rates.
Next step
How we fix this
This guide is how to find it and work around it. If it keeps coming back, the fix is usually a tool built around how your crew already works.
Fox & Santiago, Genesee, Idaho. Home territory: the Inland Northwest, where we respond fastest. We fly anywhere in the United States for paid engagements.