Case study 02 · Bolt pocket infilling
Five times the output on a critical-path task
Two simple changes took bolt pocket infilling from about 6,000 a month to 30,000, taking 17 weeks off the programme.
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The project
The scale we were working at
Our role
Continuous improvement, embedded in the operation
Rather than a one-off review, we worked as an embedded improvement team. Effort went where the critical path and the potential savings were greatest, agreed with the operations team as priorities changed.
After the first improvement meeting with the client, we put a deployment plan in place, with templates to capture every improvement and lesson learned along the way.
How we worked
01
See the work
Observe processes at the workface and classify every step as value-adding, value-enabling or waste.
02
Challenge the specification
Question steps that add nothing for the client, with designers and the quality and materials teams.
03
Trial before rolling out
Prove changes through controlled trials, then update methods and train the teams.
04
Plan the flow
Pull planning, short-interval control and T-minus sessions to remove waste between activities.
05
Learn and share
Capture lessons learned and report progress to the client through a regular improvement report.
159 days
of extra processing removed in 2023 alone. Work that added nothing the client valued was the single biggest source of waste we found.
Case studies
Four improvements, told in full
Each one starts with the problem on site and ends with what changed.
Also delivered
More improvements from the programme
Concrete crack repairs
Observing an injection repair process showed only 22% of the time was value-adding. A curing trial proved both resin coats could go on the same day, so each repair could finish about 50% faster.
Single point inspection
A new inspection and test plan, developed with the quality team, released four site engineers from inspection duties, with expected savings of more than £200K.
Lessons-learned library
Every improvement was written up as a lesson learned, so other projects could find, remove and control the same wastes.
Client and project details have been anonymised. Project scale figures are from public sources; results are drawn from the engagement’s own reporting, and expected or potential savings are labelled as such.
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