Key Objective: A single point where land is tracked from opportunity to finished development and beyond.
“Working with Quiet Storm on this project was well structured, as it ensured we factored in all known considerations within the initial scope. Once the scope was approved and the projects first iteration was delivered, it gave the key stakeholders across the business a different perspective. For the first time they could understand all interrelated activities along the critical path of a development. This improved perspective enabled further enhancements to be identified and implemented.
“All stakeholders see this as a huge step forward in the way we manage developments from cradle to grave, because it has eliminated grey areas of responsibility and accountability. This software will continually evolve as we strive to drive efficiency and process improvements. With every development it’s helping the business build a bank of knowledge, based upon objective assessments of past experiences. This is a valuable tool which holds the knowledge to inform our approach, decision making, and risk assessments throughout the critical path of a development.”
Ross Baylis, Health, Safety & Environmental Director, Davidsons Developments
Davidsons Homes is a family owned and managed company, which specialises in building with over three generations of experience, knowledge, and success in homebuilding. With an unwavering dedication to quality, Davidsons Homes has an unrivalled reputation as one of the country’s leading housebuilders and place makers.
Issues: The profitability of building houses relies upon multiple facets of the business’ operations, as well as outside contractors and authorities performing tasks against forecasted timescales. It’s essential a developer can track the critical path, to ensure any aspects which fail to deliver on expectations are highlighted in a timely fashion is essential to avoid overspend.
The outline critical path charting the cradle to grave delivery of a development is common to most house builders. However, the details of the specific processes and how they are managed is the secret sauce of the specific house builder.
Because how it is managed and cost controlled, is critical to the success of the development and profitability of the business.
Basic overview of the critical path
The land first needs to be procured, this itself is a complex process, with multiple formats to either secure an option, through to directly purchasing a phase of a development. Some of this information is highly sensitive in the early stages of negotiation, but whatever the circumstances, there is a series of processes required. These start with determining the feasibility and how to maximise profitability of any site being considered. Right through to managing the health and safety compliance and insurance liabilities related to owning land awaiting development.
The next key stage is planning, and this relies upon multiple factors, including outside the businesses control, so it’s the least predictable element of the process. It incorporates every aspect of the development to be documented, from utilities and transport considerations, through to scheme designs and post development management of common areas and roads. It’s passed by a local authority and can be subject to political influences, which means it can involve several months of negotiations and amends to get final planning permission.
Once planning has been granted the next step is scheduling of the start of the development. This stage is critical to the success of the development as the multiple stages all need to happen in sequence. Even with the best preparation there can be unforeseen issues once a development starts, from adverse weather to unforeseen ground conditions. The effect of anything which affects the programme needs to be communicated to all stakeholders, so the impact can be assessed.
Upon the completed infrastructure is in place, the build and sales can get underway. Again, any element which impacts the projected timescales needs to be reported, communicated to all stakeholders, and the impact assessed.
Once the last plot being sold, a handover of common areas (green space, paths, and roads) to either a local authority or management company marks the sites closure.
The incumbent solution
The key departments within the business each used spreadsheets to manage the various project elements. Although each department had developed sophisticated timeline projections, they didn’t interact with other departments. The failing of multiple spreadsheets methodology was there wasn’t ‘one truth’ because it was impossible to view the holistic process.
This caused three obvious problems:
a) When initial planning, the timings of the interrelated processes could not be ‘war gamed’ in real-time to plan a proposed development timeline.
b) When in development, if timings slipped, or gained time on a specific element, it was almost impossible to see the effects, so the impact couldn’t be assessed or managed to the advantage of the business.
c) The system couldn’t record the projected critical path against the real-time project timelines. This meant it was difficult to review a development objectively, learn from experiences, and make process improvements.
Resolution: The project was scoped so that all stages could be pre-programmed with the most likely base times specific to a development being considered. Each department was responsible for its projections and although initial projections were stored, these could dynamically be impacted manually, or by shifts in stages upstream. These changes were used to influence the forecasted completion.
The completion of stages is recorded, and notes can be added to any stages to add context to explain any disparity with the forecasted completion. This provided the business with the following benefits:
1) A ‘one truth’ on the status of all key stages in the critical path
2) Projected timings could be war gamed to ensure all stakeholders were happy with their forecasted commitments.
3) Once in development, if timings changed on a specific element, the effects were immediately visible, this enabled the impact to be assessed and managed.
4) The completion dates of each key stage were recorded and could be compared to the projected critical path. This enabled the senior management team to objectively review an entire programme, and any identify any areas requiring process improvement.
5) The new system helps identify waste and optimise efficiency across a very complex, interdepartmental programme of activities.
2021 – ongoing