...How a piece of furniture reinforced the practice of laying out material for increased labor productivity?

I went to Ikea Sunday to buy a wardrobe for some extra storage space in my apartment. Of course it had to be assembled. Jen was helping me with the project.

Here's a photo of the wardrobe partially assembled, oh and Jen taking any oportunity to pose.

As I was assembling the pieces, she was reading the instructions and would have the parts laid out in front of me. I would not have to think about what piece went where, I just had to assemble. This made the assembly process go FAST. However, there were times when she didn't have the parts ready. I'd have to stop, look at the directions, get the parts, then go back to work. When this happened it took me 5 times as long to complete that process when compared to having the parts laid out.

This is a process frequently discussed between project managers, executives and superintendents.  The superintendent should make sure the plumbers and mechanics have all the material laid out in front of them. However, I don't see this process of laying out material followed through as much as it should. 

It bothers me to no end to see installers walking around the job looking for material. After my little furniture assembly project I can only imagine how much more productive the labor would be for a huge hospital construction project if this process was closely followed. It seems this could drastically improve labor productivity.

From now on I'm going to make the process of laying out material a priority. I can do this by:
1. Keeping it on the minds of the supers and foremen.
2. When I walk the project, verify that material is laid out.
3. Show examples of how this increases productivity for skeptics.
4. As always: Inspect what you Expect.