The 14 Things – Site Utilization

Site Utilization: Logistics Planning Done Right

Here’s one of the fourteen key things you should check to make sure a project site is going well: site utilization. How are you going to utilize the site? And let me just go ahead and start out with a hard truth. If the project site is clean, they have control. If it’s not clean, they don’t have control. Cleanliness is the first thing. Nothing else can happen unless we get the site perfectly, beautifully, and operationally stable when it comes to cleanliness.

And after that, the site must be designed, not discovered.

The Pain of Discovering Instead of Designing

Let me just go ahead and start out with a little bit of a story. You’ve already heard me talk about the general superintendent out here in Phoenix on the City North project that ran logistics so beautifully. I mean, everything was set up. He had a company-owned water truck. He had pump trucks at the ready, a beautiful laydown yard, really nice trailer complex, a purchasing agent. I mean, everything was just detailed to the nth degree. It was so great. That was my first indication that logistics were hugely important.

Fast forward a number of years, I was at a stadium renovation in Illinois and a really great general superintendent, who I think is now vice president of field operations, walked us through how they were running the site there. And everything was just absolutely beautiful. It was clean, it was safe, it was organized. But it was designed.

It was literally like when I was going through the walk for how he was talking about logistics and how workers would access the restrooms and that there were key pick points and times throughout the day where they could access it and how he created a little queuing area for the staging because there was some variation in how often they could bring it in and how he designed the production rates for getting things in and out, meaning how I would say transportation rates probably is a better term, how they could get things in and out and how he was going to sequence things underneath where the rakers were, where they were doing a structural upgrade so that it was completely safe.

I was like, “Oh my gosh, I wonder if this is what it would be like to talk to Frank Crowe when building the Hoover Dam. This is design.” I almost halfway expected him to have an old plan table with a compass and protractor and sketching things out like an old-timey architect on the table and hand calculating things. He just sounded so professional. It was designed. It wasn’t just planned.

That’s where I came up with the nineteen logistical rules. I just wrote down everything that he said and it’s been an anchor ever since.

Here’s what designed looks like versus discovered. Designed means you plan where the trailers go before you place them. You plan where the laydown areas go before you stage materials. You plan the crane zones before you lift. You plan the queuing areas before deliveries arrive. Discovered means you’re reacting. You place the trailer, then realize it won’t work. You stage materials, then realize the crane can’t reach. You schedule deliveries, then realize there’s nowhere to queue them. That’s chaos. And chaos wastes time, money, and team capacity.

The Six Critical Elements of Site Utilization

My point with this is that when we’re checking a project site, in addition to safety, we have to make sure that we’re really tracking how the site is utilized from a logistical standpoint. Here are some things that a general super, senior super, project superintendent, or project management professionals would check when going to the project site.

Element One: Cleanliness (This Is Number One)

Number one, and this is number one, and if you don’t believe me that it’s number one, check out Paul Akers or check out some of my previous topics when it comes to cleanliness. Cleanliness is the first thing. Nothing else can happen unless we get the site perfectly, beautifully, and operationally stable when it comes to cleanliness.

Let me just say this. This is a hard truth, but I don’t mean it to be a hard truth or to land hard. This is a litmus test. If the project site is clean, they have control. If it’s not clean, they don’t have control.

The good thing about cleanliness is that it is the hardest thing to maintain. If the project site is clean, you know the project site has influence and has operational control of the project site. If they don’t, you know they have no control, that basically the project is just happening to them.

When you’re out there on the site, check that:

• Pathways are clear, lit, and protected
• Scrap and packaging is getting removed daily (hopefully we’re not bringing it in in the first place)
• There are visual standards, visible standards
• Materials are stacked and stored on dunnage, beautiful on a grid, on a level laydown (not a bunch of leaning towers on the mud)
• Floors are being protected and maintained in finished areas
• People are cleaning as they go
• There’s a system to get trash out of the building (dumpsters, trash cans, standards)

You’re going to check for that first. If that’s not there, that’s the first thing you fix, because nothing else is going to work.

Element Two: Site Designed, Not Discovered

The second one is beautiful to me. Is the site designed, not discovered? What I mean by that is, it’s like, “Oh, let’s park the trailer over here. Oh, crap, that won’t work. We have a retention basin. Let’s move the trailer. Oh, let’s go ahead and put the trade partner Connexes over here. Oh, no, that won’t work. We actually needed that for the crane.” They’re discovering things as they’re going. That is not the way to do it because you’re going to waste so much time and money, and it’s going to be a nightmare, not to mention the team’s capacity. That is going to end in disaster.

So, when you’re out on the project site, you’re wanting to know:

• There’s a logistical queuing area
• There’s a place for material inspections from the project delivery team
• There’s a working logistical system, visual system for scheduling deliveries, and knowing where they go with the crane, the hoist operator, and the forklift operators
• Each of your operators are keeping their areas clean, safe, and organized
• The logistics plan is being utilized and posted on the wall, and digital for that matter, and it’s always current
• Everybody knows where to stage, where to store, where not to
• Laydown areas are remarkable and protected so that things aren’t getting damaged
• Access points, gates, and routes match the current phase and are set up to get people, equipment, and resources to the place of work

Is it designed, not just discovered?

Element Three: Material Flow Value Stream

The other thing is the material flow, where we receive, stage when necessary, and then move to the point of install, install and remove waste. This value stream is designed. So:

• Are deliveries arriving without chaos?
• Are carts, pallets, pre-kitted assemblies, bins, and carts ready to go, knowing how they’re going to get through the hoist, the elevators, and the doors, and marked to know what zone they’re going to?
• Are crews in a flow and scheduled so they’re not waiting on materials?
• Are we double-handling things? Are we touching it three to four times?

We need to make sure that all of these systems are working.

Element Four: Vertical and Horizontal Transportation

The other thing is vertical transportation. From a site utilization standpoint, especially on vertical projects, or horizontal, you’ve got to do an analysis with the crane and with the hoist to make sure that there’s enough capacity to feed the structure and the exterior and the floors, and that you know how to do that on a schedule.

Like for instance, it’s not first come, first serve on the crane schedule when you’re doing structure. You’ve probably got to prioritize concrete or steel, and then it’s first come, first serve after that.

On horizontal projects as well, if I drive from Arizona to California, I see hundreds of miles of work open, needlessly wasted, just complete garbage. They’re wasting time going back and forth. They’re wasting time with diesel. They’re wasting time with transportation. They’re wasting time coming back and having to fix final grade. They’re coming back and having to waste time with their erosion protection, with their fencing, with their K-rail.

I bet the amount of K-rail or Jersey barrier that we have between Arizona and California, just from the things that I’ve seen, just what it costs to put that up needlessly, could probably fund a couple hundred-million-dollar projects itself.

We’ve got to get in the habit, for whatever is reasonable down to your most limiting constraint, of working in smaller segments on those horizontal projects to where we’re not opening up hundreds of miles of work and wasting millions of dollars in needless costs. We have to make sure that vertical and horizontal transportation and batching capacity are all analyzed.

Element Five: Pathways Are Sacred

We have to also understand that when we’re talking about site utilization, pathways are sacred, not only for the access of materials, but for access of human beings. If we can get people to the work and materials to the place of work, we can build it.

Element Six: Laydown and Staging Governed Like Real Estate

Number six: laydown and staging are governed like real estate. I’m talking leveled with base, with power, with water, tents where you need it, where it comes in and it’s queued, and field engineers have laid out a grid and everything is beautifully organized. And so, it’s one hundred percent the way the standard must be.

And so, these are some of the things that you’ll check when it comes to site utilization. But if it’s not going well, you’ve got to look at it and start there, especially with cleanliness, because nothing else can be successful if that’s not there. 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 Superintendents

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Walk your project site and check these six elements. Is the site clean? If not, fix it first. Is the site designed or are you discovering problems as you go? Is the material flow value stream working? Is vertical and horizontal transportation analyzed and scheduled? Are pathways clear and protected? Are laydown and staging areas governed like real estate?

If any of these are missing, you don’t have control. The project is happening to you. Design the site. Don’t discover it. Start with cleanliness. Build from there. As we say at Elevate, if the site is clean, they have control. If not, they don’t. Site utilization starts with cleanliness and ends with design. Check it. Fix it. Flow it.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is cleanliness the first thing to check for site utilization?

Because it’s a litmus test. If the site is clean, they have control. If not, the project is happening to them. Cleanliness is the hardest thing to maintain. If they can keep it clean, they have operational control and influence over the project. If not, nothing else will work.

What does “designed, not discovered” mean?

It means you plan where trailers, laydown areas, crane zones, and queuing areas go before you place them. Discovered means you’re reacting placing the trailer, then realizing it won’t work. Designed means you analyze, plan, and execute. Discovered means you waste time, money, and capacity.

Why is vertical and horizontal transportation critical?

Because you need enough capacity to feed the structure, exterior, and floors on schedule. On vertical projects, you analyze crane and hoist capacity. On horizontal projects, you don’t open hundreds of miles of work needlessly. You work in smaller segments to avoid wasting time, diesel, transportation, and rework.

What does “pathways are sacred” mean?

It means pathways for people and materials must be clear, lit, and protected at all times. If you can get people to the work and materials to the place of work, you can build it. If pathways are blocked, flow stops.

How should laydown and staging areas be governed?

Like real estate. Leveled with base, with power, with water, tents where needed, queued, and laid out on a grid by field engineers. Everything beautifully organized. One hundred percent the standard. Not piles of materials on the mud.