Gantt charts and location-based scheduling both play crucial roles in construction project management. But which one should you use?
Gantt is ideal for high-level planning, while location-based scheduling helps optimise workflows on-site.
In reality, it’s not about choosing one over the other – both are essential for different aspects of the project.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to combine them and flexibly use both methods within the same project. We’ll also demonstrate how to do this with Sitedrive.
Here’s what we’ll explain:
Gantt charts – as much as we love them – don’t always tell the whole story of what’s happening on-site. They don’t reveal how efficiently space is being used or where potential bottlenecks might occur. This can lead to scheduling conflicts and delays.
Location-based scheduling, on the other hand, adds more dimension by focusing on specific areas within the building. It helps optimise the use of space and resources, making it easier to spot and address inefficiencies and problems, like safety concerns. By structuring the schedule around locations, it becomes clearer who needs to be where and when reducing clashes and keeping the project moving smoothly.
That’s why you should use both. Gantt gives you the big picture, while location-based scheduling ensures everything runs efficiently on-site.
Using Sitedrive, you can combine Gantt and location-based scheduling (or, in its most advanced form, Takt scheduling) to get the best of both worlds.
Here are three practical ways to do it. 👇
You can also standardise your scheduling by saving your work sequences to the Library, both in Gantt and Takt view, and reuse them in future projects.
Using Takt view will visualize your schedule and simplify it so that you can identify waste and empty spaces. This allows you to prevent work overlaps, reduce waiting times for crews on-site, and simplify scheduling.
If you feel more comfortable using Gantt charts, you can lean into it more.
Using Takt view alongside Gantt saves you time and ensures consistency across locations.
If you use quantity-based scheduling on Sitedrive, you can
Here, the Takt view helps you track work at a granular level.
Weekly planning can also include a lot of supporting one-off tasks that are often not added to the schedule but are still happening on-site. By making these tasks visible on the schedule, we can clearly see where and when these tasks should be carried out to avoid possible blockages.
This helps you improve safety planning and material deliveries as location-based scheduling allows everyone to see where specific activities are taking place, and potential hazards can be more easily identified and mitigated.
Contractor meetings can benefit from both Gantt and Takt modes.
In short: both.
Both methods are useful for site planning and management.
✅ The big picture: Start with Gantt to outline the overall project phases and timelines.
✅ Tracking: Use Gantt for weekly planning, progress monitoring, and making changes to multiple tasks at once.
✅ Adding work phases.
✅ Contractor meetings to monitor progress.
✅ The details: After you have created the big picture with Gantt, use Takt to break down project phases into specific work sequences and locations.
✅ Recurring tasks: If a work sequence repeats in multiple locations (e.g., an apartment in an apartment building), define it once in Takt and then replicate it. This saves time and ensures consistency.
✅ Refining Gantt schedules: If you prefer to initially create your schedule in Gantt, use Takt to review, refine, and optimize it for specific areas.
✅ Visualizing: Use Takt view for daily management and visualizing workflows.
✅ Monitoring progress in specific locations.
✅ Adding work packages for work phases.
✅ Contractor meetings to highlight potential bottlenecks.
Optimise efficiency with Sitedrive – you’ll always have one production schedule where you can use different scheduling methods for different purposes.
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