The problem
A key customer told us we were missing milestones on its projects. That covered tools, fixtures, special purpose machines and automation. The customer needed every project on time, with no delays.
What ENCO did
We took it seriously, and changed how we plan and run projects.
- Critical Chain. We took ideas from Eli Goldratt. We stopped work being left to the last minute. We removed the spare time hidden in single tasks, and kept one buffer for the whole project - at least 50% of the base time. We track which team uses the buffer, so each team owns its time.
- Rank A, B, C. We learned this from Toyota. Rank A plans the milestones. Rank B plans the work for each milestone in short blocks of 4 hours. Rank C is the recovery plan when a key milestone slips.
- Our own software. We built cloud software to run Rank A, B, C, so every project is tracked live.
- An Obeya room. One shared space where the teams meet, solve problems and decide fast.
The result
Every project is now tracked live against its milestones.
No project deadline has been missed for years, and the work is 100% to spec.
Over 80% of our customers have stayed with us across four decades.
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