00:00Welcome to this explainer from Unified Consulting Solutions, where we simplify complexity and amplify performance.
00:06You know, have you ever looked at a construction project and just wondered why so many of them seem to go over budget and fly right past their deadline?
00:13Well, today, we're going to pull back the curtain on two incredibly powerful concepts that can fix that.
00:17Tax time and cycle time. And the best part? We're going to do it all without a single complex formula.
00:22So here's our game plan for today. We're going to start by looking at the chaos of traditional construction.
00:27You know, face it head on. Then we'll really dig into cycle time and tack time.
00:32What I like to call the true heartbeat of any successful project.
00:36We'll see them in action with a fantastic real world example.
00:39Check out the simple tools that make it all happen.
00:41And then we'll wrap up with the incredible benefits you can bring to your own work.
00:45You know, my goal for you today is pretty simple, but it's powerful.
00:49By the time we're done here, you'll get what a workflow rhythm truly is.
00:52And you'll see why it's the secret sauce missing in most projects.
00:56You'll be able to spot the difference between what's actually happening on your site, that's your cycle time,
01:00and what needs to happen to hit your deadline, that's the tack time.
01:04And most importantly, you'll see how getting these two in sync is the key to going from constant firefighting
01:15And to start, we really have to understand the problem we're trying to solve.
01:19The staggering unpredictability that just plagues the construction industry.
01:22And the very real, very high costs that come along with it.
01:26So let's start with a number that should make you pause.
01:29A staggering 70% of construction projects, 70%, fail to meet their original schedule or budget.
01:36I mean, just let that sink in for a moment.
01:39Imagine planning a huge project, knowing there's a 7 out of 10 chance it's going to fall behind.
01:44This isn't just about a few bad days, folks.
01:47This is a systemic issue, and it's built right into the traditional way we work.
01:51And the price tag for all this chaos?
01:54It's astronomical.
01:56We are talking about $1.6 trillion wasted globally every single year.
02:03And that's just on rework alone.
02:04That's money, time, and precious materials completely down the drain.
02:09Not because we lack skilled workers, but because the workflow itself is fundamentally broken.
02:14Now, this next number, this one is so important.
02:18It's called Percent Plan Complete, or PPC.
02:21Think of it as a reliability score for our weekly plans.
02:24And on a typical project, it's only 54%.
02:27That means that almost half the work we promise to get done in a week, well, it just doesn't happen.
02:33Now imagine the domino effect, right?
02:35The electricians show up on Monday ready to work, but the drywall crew couldn't finish.
02:38So what do the electricians do?
02:40They wait.
02:41And that isn't just a small delay.
02:43That right there is the very definition of chaos on a job site.
02:47So all of this leads us to the big question, the one that our whole discussion today is based on.
02:53What if we could do something different?
02:56What if there was a way to replace all that chaos and unpredictability with a steady, predictable beat that everyone on the project could hear and follow?
03:04So how do we find this rhythm?
03:06Well, the solution starts with understanding two really key ideas.
03:11Now, these aren't just buzzwords, I promise.
03:13Think of them as two sides of the same coin, the coin that defines a project's rhythm.
03:18It's very heartbeat.
03:20Okay, first up, cycle time.
03:22The easiest way to think about this is to picture a stopwatch.
03:26It's the actual time it takes the team to complete a task, from the moment they start until the moment they finish.
03:31How long to frame one room?
03:33How long to install the ductwork in one area?
03:36That time you measure, that's your cycle time.
03:38It's the reality of what is happening on the ground.
03:42Now, tack time.
03:42Tack time is completely different.
03:44You don't measure this on site.
03:46You actually calculate it based on the most important thing, the customer's deadline.
03:50It is the pace you must maintain to finish on time.
03:53So if cycle time is what is happening, tack time is the project's drumbeat, that steady rhythm telling everyone exactly how fast they need to march to hit that final milestone together.
04:03And right here on this slide, this is where it all comes together.
04:07This is the core tension of every single project.
04:11On one side, you've got your cycle time, our measured reality, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
04:15On the other side, you have tack time, the non-negotiable target we absolutely must hit for our client.
04:21The entire game of lean project management is about bridging that gap between what is happening and what must happen.
04:29So here's the crucial point.
04:30The whole goal of lean construction is to make our processes so efficient, so streamlined, so waste-free,
04:36that our actual work pace, our cycle time, can consistently match or even better, beat the required rhythm of the project's tack time.
04:44Okay, that's the theory.
04:46But what does this actually look like in the real world?
04:49Let's jump into a practical example.
04:51And see how this way of thinking can lead to a truly dramatic transformation.
04:56So let's imagine a project.
04:58Maybe a 10-story building.
05:00So 10 identical zones.
05:02Now, if we manage this the traditional way, every trade works at its own pace.
05:06Maybe the framing crew is super fast, but the plumbing crew is a bit slower.
05:10The result?
05:11Total chaos.
05:12You get waiting, rework, finger-pointing, and it stretches what should be a straightforward project into a 50-week marathon.
05:18But now, now let's apply tacked thinking.
05:22We set a rhythm, a consistent four-week drumbeat for every single trade in every single zone.
05:28This creates something we call a tacked train.
05:32The structural crew?
05:33They're the first car on the train.
05:34They have four weeks to finish their work in zone one.
05:38The second they're done and move to zone two, the MEP crew, the second car, pulls right into zone one.
05:44There is no waiting.
05:45This train of trades just moves smoothly, predictably, from one zone to the next, all marching to the exact same beat.
05:52And the result of this simple shift in thinking, it is just staggering.
05:58By replacing that chaos with a synchronized, predictable rhythm, that 50-week project is now finished in just 14 weeks.
06:06I mean, think about that.
06:07A schedule reduction of over 70%.
06:10And this wasn't done with magic or by forcing people to work faster.
06:13It was done by getting everyone to simply march to the same beat.
06:17Okay, that sounds amazing, right?
06:21But how do the teams on the ground actually keep this rhythm going, day in and day out?
06:26How do you keep that talk train on the tracks?
06:28Well, the answer is you have to make the rhythm visible to absolutely everyone.
06:33The key is this simple but incredibly powerful tool called a tacked board.
06:39Now, this isn't just another schedule you tack to the wall.
06:41No, no.
06:42It's the project's visual control center.
06:44It shows everyone exactly which trade should be in which zone at any given time.
06:50And if one car on our tacked train starts to fall behind, it becomes immediately obvious to the entire team.
06:56And they can all swarm the problem together to get it right back on track.
06:59The impact of this shift from chaotic work to a predictable, rhythmic flow, it's profound.
07:05And it goes maybe on just finishing the project faster.
07:08So what are the real benefits here?
07:10Well, first, we gain massive predictability, which directly attacks that 70% failure rate we talked about at the start.
07:17We create smooth, reliable handoffs between our teams, which builds trust and real collaboration.
07:22We systematically get rid of the waste of waiting and rework.
07:25And here's a crucial point people often miss.
07:27Quality actually goes up because in a calm, rhythmic system, nobody is ever forced to rush their work.
07:33So let's just quickly recap what we've covered together.
07:37We've seen that every project has this potential for a stable rhythm.
07:41We've learned the difference between cycle time, what's really happening, and tack time, the pace we need to hit.
07:46And we saw through a really powerful example how lining up these two simple ideas creates incredible predictability and amazing success.
07:54You know, if you remember just one thing from our time together today, let it be this.
08:00Tacked thinking isn't about working harder or faster in these uncontrolled bursts.
08:04It's a fundamental shift in how we see and manage the work itself, from a bunch of disconnected tasks to one flowing, rhythmic, and predictable system.
08:14Thank you so much for joining us for this explainer.
08:16If this has sparked your interest, please know the learning doesn't have to stop here.
08:20We would love to invite you to connect with a whole community of lean practitioners led by Dr. Mary Mutu Kay at Unified Consulting Solutions.
08:27The link to join our LinkedIn community is right there in the description below.
08:30We would love to see you there.
08:32And for those of you who really want to dive even deeper into the research and the brilliant minds behind all these powerful ideas,
08:39we've listed the key resources and studies that helped inform this explainer.
08:43Thank you again for your time and attention today.
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