I’m so excited for this series. The Takt Production System was recently trademarked, so when you write it, you get to put the little R on the end. We’re writing a book about the Takt Production System as a follow-up to the book on takt planning and integrated control, and the information we’ve gathered has made it so simple that I think it can be explained pretty well verbally. This first episode kicks it off with programs and projects.
Short answer: Takt works for any size of work, including mega projects, data centers, and campus programs. Identify your program and the projects within it, and schedule the projects one by one, not the program all at once. Use three levels: a program master schedule, project master takt plans, and phase takt plans, with Last Planner filtering down from the phase level.
What Is the Takt Production System?
Here’s the description I typically use. The Takt Production System is a scheduling system that maps flow through rhythm, continuity, and consistency on a time beat, or takt, through zones, with time on the top and location, or the value-receiving unit, on the left. The system stabilizes the project so you can optimize it. It’s made on one page, showing all three types of flow in construction. It lets you level work and create buffers so you can absorb interruptions, variation, and delays. It pairs with Last Planner to involve the trade foremen and creates the backbone of your production systems and the alignment of all project resources. Takt is the central theme of all lean scheduling systems in construction. See The Takt Production System: Scheduling That Maps Flow Through Rhythm.
What Are the Components?
Turning lean scheduling into an easily understandable system has been quite difficult to systematize, but we have it done now. Here’s the outline of the 12 takt planning components, and then takt steering and control has six more.
| Takt planning components | Takt steering and control components |
|---|---|
| 1. Programs and projects | Roadblocks |
| 2. Milestones | Constraints |
| 3. Phases | Resources |
| 4. Zones | Delay management |
| 5. Takt time | Steering and control |
| 6. Trains and trade flow | KPIs and reporting |
| 7. Production laws | |
| 8. Buffers | |
| 9. Interconnections | |
| 10. Path of critical flow | |
| 11. Independent activities | |
| 12. First and Last Planner coordination |
We’re going to give you the whole kit and caboodle. I’ll talk more than I read, because I’m not bored by this at all. It’s super exciting, and I really think it applies to everything else you do.
Will Takt Work on a Mega Project?
A lot of folks ask, I’m on a mega project, or a big data center, or a campus program. How do we implement takt planning? The concern is, if I’m on a larger program, will takt even work? Is takt only at the phase level, and it won’t summarize up? My response is unequivocal. Takt is 100% appropriate for mega projects, $250 million projects, and smaller $500,000 projects, all of them. To go to that level, we have to zoom out and talk about the program. Read Lean Requirements for a Mega Project.
What Is a Program?
When I was considering PMI certification, I looked into the PMBOK, the Project Management Body of Knowledge, and the layers of organization above projects. The base level is projects, and that’s project management. Above that is program management, and programs are a grouping of projects. Above that is project portfolio management, which manages multiple programs. Then the business unit strategy summarizes the portfolio, and then the overall organization strategy. We need to focus on the program and project levels.
A program is a collection of projects. For visualization, it could be a set of campus projects, a massive data center with multiple large buildings, an airport, or any collection of projects. Picture an entire campus with project A all the way through project G. The program summarizes them. To begin your takt construction journey, identify your projects and schedule them one by one, not by program all at once.
What Are the Three Schedule Levels?
| Level | What it shows | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Program master schedule | Each sub-project’s phases summarized into individual bars, with the interconnections between projects, to calculate the overall path to complete the program | The general or field director over the whole program |
| Project master takt plan | All phases for the project, the start and end milestones, and the overall strategy | Project superintendent and PM |
| Phase takt plan | The production schedule within a large phase or area | Assistant superintendents or supers, with their trade partners |
If I were a superintendent over the entire program, I’d have no problem summarizing the phases of each project into a program master schedule, showing how all the projects tie together so they finish and link properly. For example, if a building needs to come online and is tied to a central plant, I want to see that those two are tied together, and that the central plant is up, operational, and commissioned to feed the building with heating, cooling, and power. I’d dig deep with the PMs and supers on each project to make sure they’ll hit their milestones, and manage the overall program in that schedule.
Under the program, projects A through G each have a normal project master takt plan. A project superintendent and PM can manage within those parameters, hit their milestones, know when they’re supposed to be done, and allocate resources to hit the overall goals of the program master schedule.
Take project G. On mega projects, you typically have big projects with large phases overseen by a superintendent or assistant superintendent. You may have phase takt plans that break down the macro for each phase, which the assistant supers or supers run with their trade partners. The phase takt plan is used when assistant superintendents need to manage the production schedule within their own meeting systems, crew leaders, and short-interval planning. From there, you filter out your six-week make-ready look-ahead, weekly work plan, and day plan, and implement all your other Last Planner systems.
What About CPM?
If you have to summarize any of this in CPM, I’d recommend what I call a phase summary, which looks a whole lot like the program master schedule. I don’t care if you do the program master schedule in CPM software or in Excel. But I do care what you do the project master takt plan and phase takt plans in. Read Takt & CPM – Takt Production System for Students.
Why Does This Matter?
I want you to know that this is all fractal and it can be reported easily. For each project, you identify milestones, and once you have them, you can start planning. Frame your milestones within the projects, not at the program level. The direction goes from the project master takt plans up to the program master schedule, and the phase takt plans run back and forth and maintain alignment. A little manual alignment of milestones doesn’t bother me at all. It’s a whole lot quicker than maintaining an automated system with thousands and thousands of activities.
So here is the challenge. Identify the program, then the projects, then the phases that might need to be supervised at a production level, and map them out. That’s when you can start your takt planning journey.
Bottom line: Always identify your program and the projects within it, so you start your planning at the right milestones.
If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.
On we go.
Takt Production System series:
This is the first episode of the series.
Next: Milestones
FAQ
What is the Takt Production System?
A scheduling system that maps flow through rhythm, continuity, and consistency on a time beat, or takt, through zones, with time on the top and location or the value-receiving unit on the left. It stabilizes the project so you can optimize it, shows all three types of flow on one page, and pairs with Last Planner.
Does takt work on mega projects and programs?
Yes. Takt is 100% appropriate for mega projects, $250 million projects, and $500,000 projects. Summarize each project’s phases into a program master schedule that shows the interconnections between projects.
What are the three schedule levels in a takt program?
The program master schedule summarizes each project’s phases and the interconnections across the program. The project master takt plan shows all phases, start and end milestones, and strategy for one project. The phase takt plan is what assistant superintendents run with their trade partners, and short-interval Last Planner plans filter down from it.
People Also Read:
The Takt Production System: Bringing Toyota’s TPS to Construction
Mega-Project Questions – Part 1
Creating Your Macro-Level Takt Plan
How Takt Ties to Other Systems
If you want to learn more we have:
-Takt Virtual Training: (Takt Virtual Training)
-Check out our YouTube channel for more info: (Elevate Construction on YouTube)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Elevate Construction Podcast)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Training Programs and Certifications)
-The Takt Book: (The Takt Book on Amazon)
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