Case Fira: Efficient and straightforward pipeline renovation with clear schedule management

Pipeline renovations often contain unexpected surprises that result in delays, require quick reactions, and increase costs.

Finnish construction company, Fira, has taken on the challenge of turning pipeline renovations into project management masterpieces. This was proved in practice at a recent apartment building pipeline renovation project in Helsinki: the use of Sitedrive facilitated a straightforward, cost-efficient renovation process and ensured clear communication between all parties involved.

The success was achieved through the following elements:

• Careful planning of production served as the foundation of both scheduling and material logistics.
• Sitedrive’s takt plan visualization, that allows for planning and managing schedules at an activity level.
• Preparing all possible materials beforehand.
• Monitoring the conditions of the site using sensors.

The goal was to minimize the discomfort of the residents

The renovation project involved three apartment buildings, comprising a total of 63 apartments. Fira is dedicated to delivering a positive service experience and minimizing the inconvenience to residents during renovations. One of their primary goals was to ensure that the residents could return home as scheduled.
That is why Fira invests in careful planning and management of the schedules, as well as active communication with the residents.

“We completed the renovations with two-hour takt time, using Sitedrive’s takt time application that supported our work excellently. The application made scheduling easy and helped us track progress with clear visualizations.”

– Jaakko Viitanen, Site Manager at Fira

Effective production management and schedule planning ensured success

Effective planning is crucial in renovation projects as it ensures not only efficient throughput times but also cost control. With proper planning, you can minimize unnecessary work, waiting times, and materials that go to waste. A well-structured schedule is a vital factor in the success of a construction site, and Fira understands this.

In this project, the schedules were planned and managed using Sitedrive. Its interface is easy to use and offers flexible drill-down on different precision levels, which was well-suited for planning and executing a pipeline renovation that included the full bathroom.

The cornerstone of takt production is the takt plan, which helps to create and visualize an accurate schedule for all 63 bathrooms as a location-takt time matrix. This approach turns each bathroom into a mini construction site, allowing Fira to apply the same plan to each one.

Using preassembling sped up the pace of the project

Fira’s speedy project completion rate is partly thanks to their use of preassembling. This allows each phase to be executed quickly, enabling workers to move efficiently from one space to another and repeat the same work performance. As a result, another worker can take over the previous zone, leading to faster throughput times overall.

In this particular project, all measurements and sawings were prepared in advance and then delivered to the bathrooms for installation.

Have a look at how efficiently the lower roof frame was installed using this technique.

Or you can watch the video here

Sitedrive’s schedule management ensures construction production flow

It’s not enough to just plan site schedules: you also need to manage them to ensure they are developed and followed through. Fira and Sitedrive share the same philosophy: the site schedule is not just for reporting but the primary tool for production management. It allows you to:

• Create detailed task lists and assign them using Sitedrive, with minute-by-minute accuracy.
• Mark tasks as ready to keep readiness levels updated and transparent for all.
• Easily report and document any obstacles or issues that may arise.
• Learn from your schedules and develop them: in this pipeline renovation, after completing the first set of bathrooms, it was easy to see if the schedule needed any changes. This ensured renovating the rest of the bathrooms was as efficient as possible.

A good site schedule enables real-time tracking of site progression, shifting focus from reporting to leading the site: Documentation of readiness levels and obstacles becomes a standard part of daily work.

It’s much easier to manage a site when you have a real-time situational picture of its progress. This ensures everyone is informed and misunderstandings are prevented. Also, it helps to prevent surprises from derailing the entire schedule, as you can react to them instantly. A realistic and easily readable schedule is a valuable tool for leading the work and ensuring everyone is working towards common goals.

>> This pipeline renovation was documented on a live feed. See how one bathroom is renovated in an instant

Usage of sensors helped to monitor and stabilize the conditions on the site

Construction sites are never entirely safe from surrounding conditions. However, having more information about them helps to react buffer. For instance, during this renovation project, Fira utilized sensors that transmitted data to Sitedrive about the humidity level, temperature, and particulate matter in the room.

This all helps to make informed decisions: the first two data points ensured the conditions were optimal for the waterproofing and the tiling materials to dry. The third data point guaranteed the worker’s health by maintaining safe working conditions. In case the percentages increased, the site management could take corrective action quickly. Similarly, if the dryers were set too high, they could be adjusted to save electricity.

The outcome: pipeline renovation that was efficient in terms of cost, time, and resources

Fira was able to complete a bathroom renovation in just two weeks, from the initial concrete stage to a fully finished product. The project was completed on schedule and that always makes the residents happy. Fira’s open communication throughout the renovation process ensured that they were informed and provided with helpful advice when needed.

On the other hand, Fira can be satisfied that the costs remained under control and the workers were able to move on to the next projects as planned. A working plan is also a huge benefit for the workers as it helps to eliminate errors and conflicts. This is because everyone can see which task comes next and who has ownership of the space at any given time.

Would you like your construction projects to run as smoothly as this one? Get to know Sitedrive

Sitedrive makes planning, developing, and managing site schedules easy. You can view and refine your schedules in Gantt, takt, or general schedules. Even better, you can use all views but update just one, as changes are automatically saved in all views.

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