Solyndra Fab 2

Rudolph and Sletten completes the Solyndra Fab 2 Manufacturing Facility in Fremont, California at a speed befitting the high-tech clean energy industry. Construction on the 600,000 square foot building began in September 2009; the structure was ready for equipment installation 10 months later. The unprecedented pace was accomplished through a Lean integrated project delivery in collaboration with the design program manager, CH2MHill, and the key trade partners.

“The new facility is fantastic, and stands prominently as a flagship clean-tech project for the Bay Area, the state and even the country as was highlighted by the mid-project visit by President Obama. By meeting our deadline, the team has allowed us to meet strong customer demand, lower manufacturing costs, and provide thousands of local jobs.” Ben Bierman,
Executive Vice President,
Solyndra

The design and construction team implemented Lean integrated principles and methods that adapted and evolved to meet expectations. Solyndra, Rudolph and Sletten, CH2MHill and the trade partners formed a collaborative and agile team motivated to accomplish Solyndra’s business goals.

Their Lean approach employed five key components:

• Target value design and schedule
• Integration between design and field production team for foundation systems
• Bridging from 60% MEP design to design-build and team’s onsite co-location.
• Large assembly offsite fabrication and robust production design.
• Last Planner ™ reverse phase scheduling

“The project team’s ability to complete the design, logistics and schedule planning, and mobilizing trade partners to finish the $270 million construction project in a period of less than 11 months is a remarkable achievement. At the height of construction we were accomplishing more than $1 million of construction per day.” Kevin Fettig,
Vice President,
Rudolph and Sletten

Early in the design phase, Rudolph and Sletten and CH2MHill worked together to validate design concepts in relationship to cost. A feedback loop of design and cost studies evolved to provide real-time budget estimates. The project was delivered within the original target value budget and without compromise to the manufacturing production requirements.

A mat foundation design, up to 7 feet in thickness, consisting of 70,000 cubic yards of concrete and 8,000 tons of rebar was completed in 4 months. CH2MHill, Degenkolb structural engineers and Rudolph and Sletten maintained a constant dialogue to develop the details and installation sequences for the site preparation, rebar and concrete placement. Meeting daily to resolve questions and make key decisions, the design and construction team formulated efficient information process flows eliminating waste in the submittal and shop drawing reviews.

CH2MHill visually described the complex mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) infrastructure systems by using Building Information Modeling (BIM). The MEP trade partners, Kinetics, CMI and Rosendin mobilized in October 2009 to complete the design and construction BIM. The team began installing piping and ductwork in February 2010.

At the start of the transition from the 60% design bridging documents to the trade partners’ design-build effort, Rudolph and Sletten conducted a full-day offsite session of dialogue with the entire construction team members to create a structure for effective collaboration.

“Participants learned quickly that removing information silos and barriers, solving problems rapidly, and eliminating waste by engaging in face-to face daily dialogue and decision-making were essential to success,” said Fettig. “Having everyone onsite streamlined the problem resolution and decision-making process required to meet the tight schedule.”

BIM allowed for significant offsite fabrication of large assemblies. Several hundred feet of piping rack sections (40 feet in length) were fabricated offsite, shipped to the jobsite, lifted into place and connected. The coordination of this just-in-time supply chain was made possible by using BIM and establishing a schedule flow that put piping rack sections into place on the day they were delivered.

The team held reverse phase scheduling sessions, aided by the BIM visual workplace, to reach consensus on schedule logic and milestone dates. The “Last Planners” conducted detailed conversations that clarified the relationships between the trade partners’ workflows.

“This collective decision making process, given the dynamic pace and complexity of the project, developed commitments that were critical to achieve the on time project completion,” stated Fettig. “The participant’s learned quickly that this agile network of commitments, fostered through the reverse phase scheduling sessions, opened the flow of communication vital to the project’s success.”

Learn more about the project, watch the Solyndra Fab 2 video.