Scheduling For Field Engineers (Construction Lookahead Planning That Works)

Scheduling for Field Engineers (Construction Lookahead Planning that Works)

In this blog, I’m going to talk to you about a really difficult subject: How a field engineer or a field engineering team can actually stay on schedule. This is hugely important because there are different buffers and timelines that we must deal with. And we also are in the business of keeping work flowing and going.

So, I’m going to show you a pattern back here that I really hope you fall in love with. Let me explain how field engineers stay on schedule.

The Pain of Field Engineers Without a Scheduling System

Here’s what happens when field engineers don’t have a scheduling system. They work 14 hours a day. They fight fires. They scramble. They never get ahead. Activities come up and they’re not ready. Lift drawings aren’t done. Layout isn’t complete. Surveyors aren’t scheduled. And the placement or inspection gets delayed. The crew waits. The schedule slips. And the field engineer is stressed, overwhelmed, and burning out.

Otherwise, you’re going to be working 14 hours a day, and it’s going to be absolutely crazy. That’s why scheduling is crucial for field engineers.

The Last Planner System for Field Engineers

I’m going to start with the Last Planner System. And you’re probably like, “J Money, what in the world is going on?” But let me explain it like this. If you have a macro-level Takt plan, which at least commercial companies are using, field engineers should be familiar with this. Like, for instance, Hensel Phelps uses SIPS, Short Interval Production Schedule. That’s an ancestor of Takt planning.

You’ll have a macro-level Takt plan, and one of these phases will come down and its milestone will be brought down as well, and you’ll do a pull plan. But when you do this pull plan, you will actually gain buffers at the end before the milestone. And then from this, you’re able to filter out what’s called a six-week make ready lookahead plan. That’s a lot of words. And then a weekly work plan. And that weekly work plan is from now to two Fridays from now. And then you’re actually able to filter out what’s called a day plan.

Now, this six-week make ready lookahead plan and the weekly work plan are going to be my main tools.

The Six-Week Lookahead Plan

The six-week make ready lookahead plan for the field engineer will basically keep the diagonal trade flow according to the Takt time, and it will hopefully show out the next four or six weeks. Some contractors do three. They really mean last week, the next three weeks, and then a lookahead week after that. So it could be five. But I like a six-week lookahead.

So, what it will do is it will show activities, but these activities will still be on a flow. It won’t just be a Gantt chart. And you’ll be able to use that to see what work is coming.

The Weekly Work Plan

And then a weekly work plan will be more narrow, and it will have each activity on its own line. Meaning that like if you see a lookahead plan, you would see multiple activities on the same line because you’re still seeing that Takt plan in a flow. But in the weekly work plan, you’ll see everything on its own line item. And this is the commitment schedule. And this is your lookahead. This is to make work ready.

I think that as a field engineer, if I was doing field engineering today, I would probably look more at the lookahead plan and then just make sure that the weekly work plan is tracking in this direction.

Working Back from Placement Dates (Survey Checks and Lift Drawings)

But here’s the bottom line. The situation is typically, let’s just use placement, but field engineers can be prepping for concrete placements, grouting for masonry walls, in-wall overhead ceiling inspections, whatever it is, whatever you’re closing up or placing with concrete or grouting, right? Let’s say that that’s this day.

In some situations, like for instance in Southern California, when you have labor that’s signatory to the union, like for instance, if Hensel Phelps had a field engineering program in SoCal, but you are union on that particular job or as a company, then you might have to involve the surveyors. So if you have to do a survey check or do survey layout right here before this activity, it might take you a couple of days to get them scheduled. And there’s a range of a couple of days here. The field engineers might do their work ahead and have the surveyors check, or the surveyors might do their work and then the field engineers check. Either way, you’re dealing with a timeline.

It’s not all projects where you can just go do the layout and then go make the placement. So, the bottom line is I’m going to take these activities over here and in whatever schedule format the field engineer desires, I’m going to put those required dates for when we are placing, grouting, or closing that overhead soffit or ceiling or doing drywall on the wall. We are going to mark those dates. Then we’re going to work back for anything that we might need, like survey, like having a professional surveyor come out and double-check. And then we’re going to mark the actual day that we do the layout. And even before that, we’re going to mark the day that we need to have our lift drawings done.

So this would be layout, and this would be lift drawings. If you have this kind of a schedule, then you can work on this rhythm.

The Afternoon Huddle (Planning for the Next Day)

That means that every day in the FE bullpen, and hopefully let’s say there’s a desk here, here, here. Let’s say there’s a whiteboard over here. Every day when you come in, and preferably the afternoon before, and let me actually talk about that real quick. On a really good Lean project, the foreman and the superintendent will do their foreman huddle the afternoon before.

And then what can happen is the field engineers, before they go home, can go ahead and huddle and do their scheduling. They can say, “Alright, here are the activities and let’s say this is tomorrow. Okay, well, tomorrow I’ve got to have this lift drawing done and then I’ve got to prepare for this layout and then I’ve got some requests from the day before and that’s my schedule.”

And so what they do is they will take their long-term scheduling, which would be on the left side of the board, and make their day plan for the next day on the right side of the board. And they would come up with a day plan. So, you would have, you know, like let’s say FE1, FE2, FE3. And they have a list of the things that they’re going to do the next day, and they can charge their batteries, which you should probably do anyway. Get any prep work, any permissions. Probably wouldn’t need dig permits. Let’s say you’re in an area where you need a job hazard analysis or you need to get, in the Southeast, they call it, in addition to their MOT, their traffic control signage. Maybe you need certain traffic control. Maybe you need certain permits.

Whatever you need for the tasks in that daytight compartment, you can get the day before so that when you get into this next day and you’re actually out there executing work, you’re not just fighting fires. You know that you’re getting out ahead of key activities, especially if you have these other requirements that would require a buffer.

Here’s the scheduling system for field engineers:

• Six-week lookahead and weekly work plan as base tools: Six-week lookahead shows diagonal trade flow according to Takt time with activities on flow (not just Gantt chart). Weekly work plan is commitment schedule from now to two Fridays from now with each activity on its own line.
• Mark placement dates and work back: Put required dates for placements, grouting, or closing overhead soffits/ceilings on the schedule. Work back for survey checks (couple days buffer in union situations). Mark layout day. Mark lift drawing completion day before layout.
• Afternoon huddle for next day planning: Field engineers huddle afternoon before (after foreman huddle). Take long-term scheduling from left side of board, make day plan for next day on right side. FE1, FE2, FE3 list tasks for next day. Charge batteries, get prep work, permissions, JHA, traffic control, permits for daytight compartments.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

So, I know this is a lot. I am always told to never summarize on a YouTube video, but I’m just going to tell you: six-week lookahead and weekly work plan is your base tool, gets plugged into the schedule which is on your board in your FE bullpen area. You work the activities back to trigger key activities for you, understanding that you might need other interfaces or experts, especially like the Southern California union surveyor example. And then you huddle the afternoon before the next day, and you come up with activities or assignments FE by FE that will enable you to execute within what’s called daytight compartments.

This scheduling is crucial. Otherwise, you’re going to be working 14 hours a day, and it’s going to be absolutely crazy.

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Set up a scheduling board in your FE bullpen. Left side: six-week lookahead and weekly work plan with placement dates marked and activities worked back for survey checks, layout, and lift drawings. Right side: day plan for next day created in afternoon huddle. Huddle every afternoon before. Charge batteries, get permissions, prep work for daytight compartments. That’s how you stay on schedule without working 14 hours a day. As we say at Elevate, field engineer scheduling: six-week lookahead and weekly work plan, work back from placement dates, mark lift drawings and layout, huddle afternoon before. That’s the system.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the two main scheduling tools for field engineers?

Six-week make ready lookahead plan (shows diagonal trade flow according to Takt time with activities on flow) and weekly work plan (commitment schedule from now to two Fridays from now with each activity on its own line).

Why work back from placement dates?

Because you need buffers for survey checks (couple days in union situations), time for layout, and time to complete lift drawings before layout. Mark placement date, work back for survey, mark layout day, mark lift drawing completion day.

When should field engineers huddle for scheduling?

Afternoon before the next day, after the foreman and superintendent do their afternoon foreman huddle. Take long-term scheduling from left side of board, make day plan for next day on right side with tasks per FE.

What are daytight compartments?

Tasks you can get done in one day with all prep work, permissions, JHA, traffic control, and permits gathered the afternoon before. So when you start the next day, you’re executing work, not fighting fires.

Why is scheduling crucial for field engineers?

Because without a scheduling system, field engineers work 14 hours a day fighting fires, never getting ahead. With six-week lookahead, weekly work plan, activities worked back, and afternoon huddles, field engineers execute within daytight compartments without burnout.