The hospital project in the Stavanger region of Norway covers around 100,000 square metres and is due for completion in 2024. Its planning follows lean principles. At the construction industry’s largest digitalisation conference worldwide, Autodesk named it the world’s best digital construction project.
Starting point
The project has to meet several critical requirements at once: a tight schedule, complex construction activities and the coordination of many stakeholders and subcontractors. With a build period of just five years and more than 22,000 individual activities running in parallel, time for planning and execution is short.
Planning by the week, not by the month
Conventional project planning works in cycles of several weeks or months. For the dynamics of this project that was not flexible enough. A lean-based planning system with short intervals of one week was introduced instead.
Plans are reviewed weekly and adjusted to changed conditions and unforeseen problems. Bottlenecks and delays show up early and can be contained.
One tool, one language
The second step was a unified planning tool tailored to the project. All tasks and activities are shown in it as “trains” and “wagons”. Because every participant works with the same tool, everyone speaks the same language. That makes coordination considerably easier.
Conclusion
Short planning intervals and a shared planning tool have given the project a flexible and robust structure. The case shows that lean principles, best practices from other industries and digital tools can deliver above-average results even in a traditional industry such as construction.