Godrej Construction: Lean All the Way

With increasing exposure to the Lean philosophy by implementation of Lean tools at project sites Godrej Construction was successfully able to meet a range of objectives, which was otherwise not possible, explains KAEZAD KARANJAWALA.

Godrej Construction (GC) started its Lean journey in 2011 by becoming one of the first charter member companies of ILCE where it got exposure to Lean practices by collaborating with many like-minded leading construction companies such as Shapoorji, L&T, Afcons, Tata, Arcop, URC, etc and IIT-M as its knowledge partner. For GC it has been a steady, progressive journey with increasing exposure to the Lean philosophy by implementation of Lean tools at project sites for initialising Lean culture across the organisation by involving its cross functional teams of projects, design, engineering, procurement, safety across projects. A few illustrative case studies are presented below.

Case Study 1 - Construction of Tower A6 - 20 storeyed, residential projects at Vikroli, Mumbai

In the year 2011, with guidance from ILCE, GC decided to drive partnering initiative using the Lean philosophy of collaboration with our vendors in the construction of Tower A6, a 20- storeyed tower at Godrej Garden Enclave, Vikhroli, Mumbai. GC organised ‘partners meet’ with its vendors and the senior management and conducted various team building games and competitions with themes based on Lean construction, involving contractors and sub-contractors a collaborative planning and scheduling methodology was evolved which enabled smoothening of workflow of onsite activities using Lean tools. However, since Lean was applied only at the finishing stage of the project, substantial benefits could not be achieved.

Case Study 2 - Construction of industrial plant, Ambernath

GC also applied the Lean partnership philosophy at its next project for the organisation’s business unit (2012). A workshop was conducted to evolve an appropriate project charter by involving all concerned stakeholders to get their commitment to deliver project on time and within the budget. The project was named “Project Delight”. It captured key objectives of all stakeholders namely safety first, positive attitude, team spirit – have fun, effective communication, proactive approach, care for environment and society and profit for all.

Case Study 3 - Construction of Godrej Platinum High Rise Towers, Mumbai

Having gained a better understanding of certain Lean principles, the organization was now ready to enhance Lean implementation on our next project - Construction of the Godrej Platinum Towers B1, B2, B3 and B4 from the early construction stage of the project. Lean tools such as Collaborative Planning System; Work Sampling, Value Stream Mapping, etc. were applied across various trades for effective conflict resolution and reduction of the non-value-added activities. GC also conducted a Lean Culture building session involving the HR teams, with the help of Professor N. Raghavan of IIT-M.

The following are some examples of the Lean tools implemented on this project:

Case Study 4 - Construction of industrial park project, Khalapur

The organisation’s ultra-mega project under the Maharashtra Industrial Policy 2013 is spread across more than 300 acres of land with an estimated built-up construction area of 3.3 million sq.ft in two Phases. Phase I was 1.7mn built-up area where in Lean methodologies were deployed. GC decided to drive Lean to the next level from design management to project delivery for ensuring effective handling of multiple stakeholders’ expectations. Challenges in this project were multiple customers and the complexities in their requirements, communication management between multiple stakeholders, frequent changes in design which were requested by the customers.

To overcome these challenges, the organisation deployed collaborative planning system which was highly useful for effective communication within the teams, and it ensured decision making at the right time by involving senior management. A project based Lean organisation structure was prepared comprising Lean mentor, Lean champions, Lean coordinator and project engineers.

The concept of Big Room Meetings was institutionalised to review Percentage Plan Complete (PPC) charts which were prepared to bring about commitment-based culture on the project, identify root causes, and develop Corrective and Prevention Action (CAPA), Review Look Ahead Plans were reviewed for constraint identification and their resolution. Unresolved issues which needed senior management intervention were taken up in another forum “Steering Committee” which comprised of project head, section heads and functional head who were actively involved in the project.

5S Implementation: With the help of several trainings from IIT-M Professors, GC got started on its 5S implementation journey with all project teams and vendors at the Khalapur site. 5S Audits were conducted regularly which helped understanding the progress of the 5S initiative. 5S involves recurring training to the construction team and having a dedicated 5S champion to drive the initiative.

Some recent initiatives: -

(A) Partners Meet-Synergy
GC’s Procurement & Contracts Team conducts partner’s meet to realign its partners to its Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values (PVMV) and provide an enabling environment for becoming credible partners.

(B) ILCE trainings with IIT-M using games and simulations:
GC requested IIT-M to conduct trainings for its employees using games and simulations. Senior professors and many volunteers from IIT-M created a special training module for Godrej employees.

Online simulation games using P2SL computer simulation helped teams get quick understanding of the impact of various modes when deployed at construction sites in easy-to-understand visual charts.

This training was supported by a physical meeting to verify the understanding of concepts learnt during online sessions and to get additional clarity. Teams highly appreciated this training which helped them to learn Lean using interesting games, team exercises. Based on the positive feedback and success of this pilot training using games and simulation, ILCE will be conducting similar trainings for the employees of other charter member companies soon.

(C) ILCE supply chain trainings with IIT -M
GC understood that to reap the benefits of Lean there should be a complete alignment with its supply chain, partners as also suppliers to ensure the project is a success. Hence GC approached professors from IIT-M to curate special Lean trainings for its partners and suppliers on Lean practices and its benefits. The first such training was held recently in Mumbai and conducted by ILCE Directors and IIT Professors for 50 key partners who were a mix of material suppliers, service providers, technology and knowledge consultants etc. There was a lot of interest, enthusiasm and engagement as GC partners discussed the challenges they faced and sought solutions with others and the faculty.