CASE STUDY

1
DELIVERING LEAN INTERVENTION

• CASE STUDY HIGHWAYS AGENCY A46 Widmerpool to
  Newark
• HEADLINE
• Lean intervention was undertaken on the A46
  project which identified future savings of
  between 0.88m and 7.73m for an investment of
  18k.
• THE CHALLENGE
• CWC were engaged by the Highways Agency to
  undertake a Lean Intervention on the A46
  Project. The project was a large design and
  build road widening project with a value of
  340m.
• The main criteria were to ensure that the design
  was compatible with site activities , that no
  construction work was done without signed off
  design and to achieve maximum output in dry
  weather for earthworks.
• THE APPROACH
• A Steering Group and Core Improvement Team (CIT)
  was set up with members from CWC, The Highways
  Agency, Balfour Beattie, Scott Wilson and John
  Jones.
• High level process mapping was undertaken by the
  CIT for Design and Earthworks.
• Complexity of steps and potential bottlenecks
  were identified.
• Workshops and brainstorming sessions were held
  to discuss issues.
• Drawings status were established, tracked and
  compared with the construction programme

•  
• OUTCOME AND SAVINGS
• It was identified that the design programme was
  not known to the site team. Collaborative
  planning would improve the sequencing of
  drawings, minimise rework on site and improve
  communication.
• Excavator utilisation was identified as a key
  indicator of utilisation and performance. A major
  cause of downtime was insufficient trucks for
  excavators resulting in them being left idle.
  There is a potential to shift more earth if truck
  numbers are adjusted to ensure excavators can
  continue at optimum output.
• If truck numbers had been increased, the same
  amount of earth could have been moved in less
  days resulting in a saving of 9 days and between
  70262 and 616262 depending on the amount of
  earthworks on the critical path.
•  
• FUTURE SAVINGS
• For the remaining programme, if Truck
  Optimisation is undertaken, 113 days will be
  saved with potential savings of between 0.88m
  and 7.73m for an investment of 18k.
• Excavator utilisation varied over days measured.
  Improved utilisation will reveal further
  savings. 
• Addressing causes of delays in dumper truck will
  result in both time and financial savings.
• Truck movement recording system tracked by GPS,
  and automatic data collection will reduce the
  need for data collection and manual manipulation
  of data.
• THE DELIVERY TEAM
• CWC team included Joe Dowling, Tony Ives and
  Emily Mitchell.