Background
Fullerton College is an Instructional Building, part of a University Campus in California. The project is around 76,000 sq. ft. in overall area, which also includes a Central Plant Unit (CPU) building. The Instructional Building is a 3-floor structure, divided into 4 zones (A to D), each housing a set of lecture halls, corridors, meeting rooms, and service units. The entire structure surrounded an open-to-sky central courtyard.
Challenges
- The project faced COVID-19 pandemic repercussions with extended work stoppage; teams had to strategically plan recovery while maintaining substantial completion dates
- Manual collaborative planning sessions in closed rooms with suppliers and superintendents using master schedules created barriers under COVID physical proximity restrictions, directly impacting team communications
- Progress monitoring required extensive hours updating schedules by manually collecting site updates
Solution
VisiLean was integrated into BNBuilders' workflow for the Fullerton College project:
P6 Integration — Integrated production plans with Primavera P6 top-level plans, enabling teams to break down into detailed manageable tasks with critical information updates feeding back to P6.
BIM Visualisation — Schedule integration with BIM visualization allowed teams to monitor actual construction status; constraints linked to tasks helped identify resolution requirements.
Mobile App Access — Scheduling integrated with existing BIM models enabled mobile app access for onsite teams, allowing seamless progress updates tied back to BIM models.
Outcomes & Impact
- PPC of 92% achieved through March 2021 (average of 5 weeks)
- Completed 6 weeks ahead of schedule despite COVID-19 disruptions
- Successfully recovered the site-shutdown period through strategic lean planning
Key Learnings
- Digital lean tools enable effective collaborative planning even under COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions
- Integration with P6 and BIM provides the detailed visibility needed for schedule recovery
- Mobile app access for onsite teams is critical for maintaining real-time progress updates
