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Member Connections: 5 Questions with Ragavi Prabaharan

5 Questions with Ragavi Prabaharan, Senior Research Associate at URC Construction

This week on 5 Questions With…, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ragavi Prahabaran, a Senior Research Associate at URC Construction based out of India. Ragavi presented a unique perspective on how Lean was adopted at her organization and how they overcame various hurdles throughout their implementation journey.

1. What hurdles did you encounter when implementing Lean on a project (in your company), and how did you tackle them?

URC Construction began its Lean journey in 2013. Since then, every day has brought new challenges and obstacles in implementing Lean practices across projects. Some of the key challenges we faced were a lack of awareness about Lean and resistance to change. Since Lean is all about the people, getting them to work in ways that are different from their usual methods proved to be quite challenging.

We initially started our Lean implementation with the Last Planner System®, which proved to be a valuable tool and benefited our projects in many ways. However, once the project concluded and the team moved to different projects, they tended to revert to their conventional methods. We believe this was due to a lack of standardized Lean awareness across the organization.

After years of trial and error deploying various strategies such as forming a Lean Board, Lean Committee, and Lean Department, we finally introduced a standardized Lean Deployment framework in 2023. As part of this framework, the project team will now go through the following stages:

Stage 1: Lean Awareness

Duration: 4 months
Agenda: Lean Awareness: Successful completion of NPTEL Lean Construction Basics- module1 course.

Stage 2: Training

Duration: 2 days
Agenda: Kick-off and Training Session: in-person simulation training on Lean principles,
concepts and tools
Evaluation: Feedback forms (or) Plus/Delta session to improve training effectiveness.

Stage 3: Implementation

Duration: 6 to 12 months
Agenda: Implementation of learned Lean principles, concepts and tools.

Primary Lean Tools Implementation

Duration: 6 months

1. Waste Identification:

  • Work Sampling (similar to First Run Studies)
  • Value Stream Mapping (if applicable)

2. Workspace organization: 5S

3. Big Room Creation

4. Execution of weekly Big Room meetings with an agenda

5. Daily Huddle meetings

2. What stories can you share about a successful Lean project (Lean implementation effort) you participated in and what do you think made it work? and 3. In your opinion, what are the biggest benefits of applying Lean and how have they impacted your projects, your teams, or your organization?

Though we have crossed a decade in our Lean journey, we still consider ourselves to be in the early stages and feel it is too soon to share a “successful” Lean project. However, given the opportunity to share our Lean implementation efforts, we would like to highlight a few practices that have brought noticeable success in some of our projects.

Among the various Lean principles, tools, and practices, we personally believe that the “Big Room Approach” and the Daily Stand-Up Meetings have been key successes. The Weekly Big Room Meetings have provided a platform for the project team to meet frequently and have face-to-face discussions about project progress. The Daily Stand-Up Meetings, on the other hand, have allowed the team to address five essential questions each day:

  1. What are we working on?
  2. Where are we working?
  3. How many crew members/workers are on-site?
  4. What are the constraints or needs?
  5. What material deliveries are expected?

These practices have been a significant win for our team. What’s even more encouraging is that the project team has started implementing these practices on their own, without facilitation, after some time.

4. How do you assess if your Lean game is strong; are there metrics or techniques you rely on and can share?

Yes, we do have our KPI’s.

Training and Awareness

  1. Number of Lean awareness sessions or workshops conducted for project teams.
  2. Percentage of project team members trained in Lean basics.

Implementation of Lean Tools

All the following components must be supported with appropriate documentation and records:

  1. Number of Lean tools (e.g., 5S, LPS, Value Stream Mapping, A3 Problem Solving) implemented.
  2. Number of Big Room Meetings conducted independently.
  3. Number of daily huddle meetings conducted independently.
  4. Number of 5S audits conducted.
  5. Number of Work Samplings conducted.
  6. Percentage of project tasks monitored using Lean tools (e.g., Last Planner System).

Waste Reduction

  1. Identification of waste areas (e.g., time, material, or process inefficiencies)
  2. Measurable reduction in waste (e.g., hours saved, material waste reduced): The quantification of waste reduction must be documented and reviewed in consultation with the Project Manager, project team, and R&D lead.
  3. Progress Monitoring
  4. Timely submission of weekly progress reports to the Team Lead.
  5. Accuracy and relevance of data collected for Lean initiatives.

Collaboration

  1. Number of collaborative sessions with project teams to resolve challenges.
  2. Feedback score from project teams on support provided.

Lean Initiative Outcomes

  1. Percentage of Lean initiatives completed within the planned timeline.
  2. Improvement in project metrics, such as productivity, time/ cost reduction or cycle time.

Continuous Improvement

  1. Suggestions or initiatives proposed for continuous improvement.
  2. Number of actionable improvements implemented (e.g., before and after 5S, daily huddle meetings, etc.).

Documentation and Reporting

  1. Quality and completeness of reports on Lean implementation progress.
  2. Submission of at least one case study or learning summary for internal sharing.

Adherence to Deadlines

  1. Meeting deadlines for Lean-related tasks and activities.

Participation and Engagement

  1. Active participation in team meetings, training sessions, and workshops.

These are the metrics we are using to assess our Lean implementation.

5. If someone’s just dipping their toes into Lean, what advice would you offer from lessons you’ve learned?

First of all, kudos to you for believing that Lean is a simplifier, not a troublemaker. Believing in and showing interest, eagerness to learn, and implement are the very first wins, as you’ve started to build your “Lean Mindset.”

Secondly, don’t worry if you fail. After all, Lean is a “Continuous Improvement” process. It will teach you new things and help you learn more from your failures. If you fail, take it as a lesson, document what you’ve learned, and move on to the next stage. There is no failure in Lean, only “Progress”

Lastly, start with small tools like 5S, visual management, implementing waste identification, and of course, don’t forget to implement the “Big Room” approach and “daily stand-up meetings.” These practices will definitely instill the “Lean culture” in your team, even if indirectly. It’s not necessary for your project team to know all the Lean tools to begin this journey.

So, cheer up! You are not alone.

Start it and reap the benefits!

All the best on your Lean Journey.