WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS RESPONSE?

JIT is normally considered a scheduling issue - but in the Leadenhall building film - it was their only way to succeed. Do you think that they could have succeeded without extreme planning and the appropriate software tools that they devised to manage the project?

I do not believe that the project could have been completed without extreme planning and the appropriate software tools. The team faced multiple constraints, including time, crew size, and the limited working space for the crew, which was only ten feet wider than the building itself (PBS, 2014).

For such a massive building, the time constraints were considerable, having only 26 months to complete, and already giving the first tenants a move-in date (PBS, 2014). Given such strict time constraints, any delay, no matter how small, could result in catastrophic changes to the completion date, as well as cost the investing company valuable time and money, estimated to be hundreds of thousands of dollars per week (PBS, 2014).

To work around this obstacle, there was extreme planning that went into the construction of this building, including time-frames of delivery, prefabrication of each part, and to the installation of every part, down to the last bolt. 3D engineering was also utilized to mitigate delays. With this technology, engineers were able to run complete simulations of the building 37 times on a virtual platform (PBS, 2014).

Much of the project would have been virtually impossible to complete in such a short amount of time had it not been for the extreme and careful planning of the construction staff and the engineers, as well as the utilization of all of the innovative software tools at their disposal.

Where else could this 'technology' be applied?

This technology can be applied to any project; especially those with extreme time constraints. This could include any modern building projects. Having access to 3D engineering in particular will bring a whole new aspect to project management, and working around time constraints.

I imagine that this type of technology could be applied to future building projects in any city, as cities are becoming increasingly crowded due to the copious amounts of buildings. This technology allowed the crew to work more quickly, efficiently, and with less people, saving valuable time and money, so I imagine this technology will find itself being applied at higher rates as time goes by.

Will this be the future method for building within cities around the world?

This will absolutely be the future method of building within cities around the world. This is an extremely fast-paced world, and, as mentioned in the above paragraph, this technology allows the project to be completed in a quick and efficient manner, and with fewer people, thus minimizing money lost, and maximizing profits. Financiers want to get their buildings up and running as quickly as possible in order to begin their business efforts, and start maximizing profits. For example, the first tenants of the Leadenhall Building had already had their move-in date before the building even began (PBS, 2014). This will likely become commonplace in future construction endeavors around the world in order to expand the most in the least amount of time.

What was interesting about the process?

One thing that I thought was interesting was the prefabrication process. I think that it was a genius idea in order to save time and effort at the construction site. It had been mentioned that the prefabrication made it less a construction process, and more of a jigsaw puzzle for the workers to put together (PBS, 2014).

Next, would be their ability to complete this job with so little crew members, and the level of communication and planning that would have to exist between the shift managers at the construction site in order to understand what was done, and what needs to be done next. From my own personal experience, I understand how lack of communication can completely derail a project or an effort, so it is very impressive to me that everyone understood their tasks, and communicated them well.

Lastly, the ability to do 3D planning and simulations prior to the construction of the building was very impressive. The engineers ran 37 complete virtual planning simulations prior to beginning construction, working out all of the issues before-hand to avoid any delays (PBS, 2014). This is something that is impressive as far as technology goes. Being able to finish this process virtually, and work out all of the kinks is a game-changer, and is definitely something that we will see in future projects.