This AWP Quick Start Guide will show you how AWP can:
Take control of your projects and remove the chaos. Start your journey on improving the path of construction.
The aim of Advanced Work Packaging is to ultimately give each Foreman an Installation Work Package (IWP) at the start of each week that is ‘ready to go’.
The scope is identified, the material and tools are available, the prerequisite work is complete, and the scaffold is erected and fit for purpose.
The Superintendent expects the foreman and crew to complete the work within the scheduled time window and estimated hours. The results are typically a 25% increase in productivity and a 10% reduction in the project’s Total Installed Cost. Many streams of contribution lead to this state, and this Quick Start Guide is designed to identify the core components that must be in place to effectively apply Advanced Work Packaging (AWP), Information Management (IM), and Workface Planning (WFP)
The application of AWP needs direction and guidance, much like how Project Management organizations apply models for Safety and Quality. The assignment of a dedicated Champion within the Project Management organization is a critical first step to the development of a culture of productive project execution.
As a Project Management team member, the AWP Champion typically represents the Owner and coordinates deliverables from all project stakeholders impartially, with the singular focus of bringing benefit to the entire project.
As a Project Management team member, the AWP Champion typically represents the Owner and coordinates deliverables from all project stakeholders impartially, with the singular focus of bringing benefit to the entire project.
The AWP Champion functions as the project coach, guiding the implementation of AWP, IM, and WFP procedures. Aligning engineering and procurement with construction needs, developing IM standards and processes, and then developing and applying Workface Planning in the field.
The ideal candidate for this position is a Subject Matter Expert in AWP and Project Management with experience in Construction Management. lnsight-AWP offers this service to our clients, and we often provide the AWP Champion, who then becomes integrated into the Project Management Team as a representative of the Owner
In order for the project stakeholders to follow a set direction there must be a standard to go by. While procedures alone do not make changes happen, they do establish an expectation for compliance and will facilitate audits of the process later in the project. Ideally procedures are specific, detailed and identify: Who, What, When, How and Why, with flow charts and templates.
Importantly the procedures need to address three key areas:
The core components related to 3D Model and Fabrication include:
The creation of a fully attributed 3D model and intelligent data created by the fabricators is already produced on most projects. Obtaining this data and making it available to the WFP team facilitates the planning process and creates a solid platform for communicating project information.
The process that leads to the delivery of this data is typically the inclusion of a contract clause that identifies the data as a deliverable. The project management team then establishes a delivery schedule that ensures the project data is complete and updated.
Typically, the AWP Champion and the Project Management Team facilitate the development of a matrix of attributes for Engineering to guide the population of the 3D model during design. This will allow the construction team to mine the appropriate data during the construction phase.
WFP software is commercially available software that organizes the project data on the platform of the 3D model so that Workface Planners can develop and manage Installation Work Packages (IWPs) in a virtual 3D environment.
The software also facilitates the calculation of Planned Value and can be used to create 4D simulations of IWPs based on the project schedule.
The critical component of the Workface Planning process is the creation of an extra position within the typical construction organization.
The Workface Planner is dedicated to developing plans for the Foreman based upon the execution strategy developed by the Superintendent.
A typical profile for a Workface Planner:
Once you have identified the candidates enroll them into a Workface Planning Training course (to be attended sometime after they have started work). Give each Workface Planner a copy of the book ‘Schedule for Sale’ to read prior to starting work.
Set up a common area with desks, computers, and phones for each Workface Planner.
The approximate ratio of Planners to Field Workers should be 1 to 50 with some consideration for complexity. The complexity of instrumentation requires more planning resources than pouring concrete or earthworks.
The model for Installation Work Packages (IWPs) is based upon this simple question: What does a Foreman need in order to execute work?
The answer then becomes the contents of the IWP.
The generic standard for an Installation Work Package:
Other considerations:
How much work should be in an IWP?
Start with one rotation, approximately 500 hours and then allow the model to develop into a fit for purpose application. Generally speaking smaller packages are better for the Foremen, they are easier to track and guide the execution of a specific sequence.
The process of developing IWPs:
Pick a CWP that is planned for execution in 90 days and ask the Superintendent to sit with the Planner and describe how the work should be dissected and sequenced. The Planner develops the IWPs in the 30 environment and drafts a scope statement for each one, then the Superintendent reviews and approves the dissection and sequence. The Planner then builds each IWP and populates each of the sections based upon the specific scope.
The Project Schedule:
Once a CWP (Level 3 activity) has been dissected into IWPs (level 5 activities) the Workface Planner submits the sequence of IWPs to the Scheduler as the level S schedule for that CWP. The level 5 schedule should then only contain CWPs, IWPs and milestones.
The process of constraint removal and management is the single biggest change from the way that construction is typically executed. The golden rule is that IWP’s must not be released to the field until they are free of constraints and are ‘ready to execute’.
Critical constraints on an IWP are typically Documents, Materials and Scaffold, with Construction Equipment, Project Controls, Safety, Quality and Workforce regarded as secondary constraints that can be addressed in house in a short period of time.
This process is managed through the signatures on the ‘Constraints’ page in the IWP. The Workface Planner is responsible to gather the sign offs as each section of the IWP is satisfied.
When an IWP becomes constraint free the Workface Planner prints a hard copy and submits it to document control for storage. The Workface Planner tracks the development of IWPs in a spreadsheet (Pack-Track) that is shared with the project.
Backlog:
The principle of a sustained backlog is one of the key influences on field productivity. Each Superintendent is responsible to establish and maintain a four week backlog of constraint free IWPs by ensuring that the work is being planned at the same rate that it is being executed with a four week buffer in between the development of a constraint free IWP and the execution of the work.
Three week look ahead:
Each week the Superintendent draws constraint free IWPs from the backlog and enters them into the schedule as level 5 activities to form the three week look ahead.
Execution:
The Superintendent or the General Foreman order the material for each IWP one week prior to the planned execution date and then issue the IWP to the Foreman ahead of the planned start date. The foremen will review the scope and make preparations for the execution.
Lesson Learned: Each IWP must have a ‘use by date’ that shows the Foreman that the work must be completed in this window of time to satisfy the schedule. If there is work that cannot be completed then the window of time may be extended for one or two days. If the work is still not complete then the IWP must be returned to the GF and then to the Planner so that the work can be reorganized and placed into another IWP.
Progress:
The foreman is responsible to execute the work and record the progress daily in the IWP.
Once you have these core principles in place:
Then with a little bit more effort, you can optimize some of the other support systems directly influenced by the organized, sequential execution of work that you get with AWP.
The process of packaging work ahead of time develops a solid foundation for the creation and management of project controls data. Project Controls is essentially:
The Plan:
Actuals:
The answers to all of these questions can be managed through the application of IWPs. The key is to develop CWPs into IWPs no sooner than three months prior to execution {Rolling Wave schedule). Then calculate Planned Value based upon IFC drawings and standard installation rates. Cost code the timesheets with the IWP number and get the Foremen to record physical progress against components in the IWP.
This process produces very accurate, timely data that will roll up to form a single version of the truth.
In a fully functioning Workface Planning system, the Workface Planners will send a Bill Of Materials for each IWP to the Material Management Team up to 8 weeks ahead of the scheduled execution date. This allows the Material Management Team to group deliveries into IWPs as they are received. In a system where a database is being used to track materials the IWPs can be entered into the database and used as the filter to produce reports that ~ show which IWPs are received and ‘ready to go’. This system works very well for Workface Planning and also dramatically improves the efficiency of material delivery while also reducing warehousing costs.
The ideal model for any document control system is to establish a single vault of electronic project documents that all Stakeholders can access, within their permission limits. Engineering enter documents into the online system and Construction Contractors draw them out. It is also the ideal way to facilitate the link between the 3D planning model and the latest revision drawings.
Each of the Workface Planning software suppliers have a product that will facilitate this model for document management.
The end result of having a single online source for documents is that revision control can be managed without any lag between when a drawing revision is issued by Engineering and when the revision is received by the Construction Contractor. An online system also dramatically reduces the labor required to manage documents onsite.
While the primary target of scaffold management is to minimize the delays encountered by field crews, the process of planning scaffolds ahead of time also produces an opportunity to reduce the overall cost of scaffold.
As each Workface Planner develops an IWP they also produce a scaffold request for any scaffolds that will be required to support the scope. Typically this request will reach the scaffold management group at least two week prior to execution. This gives the scaffold management team the time to schedule the erection, track the components utilized and the record the labor required in a scaffold management database. Managing scaffold in this format allows the scaffold team to make educated decisions on what scaffolds to erect and when to tear them down.
The management of construction equipment (cranes, man-lifts and welders etc.) is very similar to Scaffold in that your primary focus should be to ensure that there is enough equipment to satisfy the needs of the IWPs. However, by identifying the probable requirements two weeks ahead of time, the Workface Planners are also helping the equipment manager to develop a schedule for resource sharing that can optimize equipment utilization.
The logic that work needs to be dissected from Construction Work Packages (CWPs) into Installation Work Packages (IWPs) also drives the logic that engineering needs to be delivered in Engineering Work Packages (EWPs) that support the creation of the CWPs.
The optimal path of Construction is a map of the ideal construction sequence by CWP, which once developed can then be used to map the ideal sequence, size and contents of engineering deliverables. This model for the elaboration of scope is the working model of the principle: ‘Start with the end in mind’. The result is that when engineering and procurement are delivered in the right sequence then construction can start much earlier and be far more effective. This is the principle behind ‘Fast Track Construction’.
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