Supply Chain Rhythm: Multidisciplinary Teams Through Collaborative Work Structuring

Abstract

Collaborative work structuring methods are increasingly used in the construction industry to support project teams on delivering their projects on time, within budget and with high quality. By breaking down the work to be done in so-called manageable chunks, work structuring plays an important role in the creation of flow. The optimisation of flow is important due to the fragmented nature of the industry. Despite successful examples of the application of these methods, it is believed that the advantages remain limited to achieving better project results. Where current examples organise working packages around the work of different trades, this paper explores the consequences of a more supply chain-driven approach to collaborative work structuring. It challenges trades to design a “Supply Chain Rhythm”. The results presented in this paper show additional advantages, where multidisciplinairy teams have been created within a project. This way, the configuration of the crew performing the work chunk exceeds the boundaries of organisations or trades, and leads to further optimisation of the work flow.