W.T. Rich is a leading construction manager in the Massachusetts public building sector with a strong reputation for delivering high-profile, complex public buildings. Their portfolio spans K–12 schools, higher education, public safety, state-owned / municipal buildings and historic restoration. In pursuit of more collaborative and reliable planning methods, W.T. Rich began exploring the Last Planner System®, starting with sticky note pull planning.
W.T. Rich was founded on the principles of honesty, transparency, and integrity; values that naturally align with Lean practices such as collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement. This shared foundation positioned the company to successfully adopt Lean methods and drive more effective planning across its projects.
Identifying the Need for a Digital Solution
While the initial use of sticky note pull plans helped strengthen collaboration, the approach quickly revealed its limitations.
“We were very committed to trying Lean, and we were actually encouraged to just use sticky notes,” recalls Jon Rich, W.T. Rich CEO. “Post-it notes can fall off, and people can move them without anyone knowing. We wanted a software-based system, primarily around pull planning.”
To fully optimize the benefits of Lean, the team evaluated a number of digital collaborative planning solutions. W.T. Rich selected Touchplan for its strong support of the Last Planner System®, its intuitive visual interface featuring color-coded task organization, and its ability to provide metrics that offered real-time visibility into project performance.
“We were looking for a more professional, organized format that simulated the sticky note process but also tracked data like PPC and reasons for missed promises,” says Brian Paradee, Senior Project Manager at W.T Rich. “Touchplan checked all the boxes.”
Selecting Hunnewell as the Pilot Project
W.T. Rich selected the Hunnewell Elementary School project as the pilot for digitizing their Lean planning processes. The 77,000-square-foot project had a tight 15.5-month schedule and a collaborative team ready to embrace Lean. The project’s design included repeated classroom pods and clearly defined functional zones, which made it easier for the team to break the project into distinct areas. This allowed them to establish a clear pace and logical sequence for the work.
“We wanted to give Lean a real shot, and Hunnewell was the right project to try it on,” says Jon Rich, W.T. Rich CEO.
Driving Successful Implementation
W.T. Rich fully integrated Touchplan from day one of construction, establishing it as the foundation for all planning activities. Senior Project Manager Brian Paradee was the internal Touchplan champion, responsible for training and ongoing support.
“It’s not just about using a platform, it’s about changing how we plan,” says Paradee. “With Touchplan, we built in a more consistent pace and structure that made sense to the team.”
Touchplan supported every phase of the Last Planner System including pull planning, lookahead planning, weekly work planning, and daily huddles. The team divided the building into zones, such as classroom pods and specialty areas, and assigned color-coded swim lanes for trades and tasks. Touchplan helped crews track where they were needed, when, and for how long.
“Each level of planning is captured clearly in Touchplan and transitions well to support the right coordination at the right time,” adds Paradee.
Rolling Out Touchplan
W.T. Rich ensured smooth adoption of Touchplan by embedding it directly into project workflows and setting clear expectations for both internal teams and trade partners.
“For the projects where we’ve chosen to implement Lean, beginning with Hunnewell, using Touchplan is inherently required,” explains Jon Rich. “You need a reliable way to facilitate pull planning, weekly work planning, and make-ready meetings, and Touchplan enables all of that.”
To reinforce this commitment, W.T. Rich included Touchplan participation in project specifications. Subcontractors were required to attend make-ready meetings and use the platform as part of their project responsibilities.
Paradee led onboarding and coordination, helping trade partners understand how to build planning tickets, manage sequencing, and track their progress in Touchplan.
“We weren’t just enforcing compliance,” added Jon Rich. “We showed how it helped teams avoid surprises and maintain better control over their work.”
During the pull planning phase, W.T. Rich used Touchplan to establish a repeatable sequence of work across defined zones. In the lookahead phase, the team identified constraints, monitored procurement timelines, and ensured all prerequisites were in place so work could begin. Weekly make-ready meetings and daily huddles helped maintain alignment and momentum across the team.
“You get all the right information at the right time through the process,” Paradee notes. “The make-readies are productive with Touchplan because they give you real substance to talk about. People are really using it to say, ‘This is what you were supposed to do last week, and this is what you’ve got coming up.”
Flexibility Through Buffer Zones
Early in the Hunnewell Elementary project, W.T. Rich built a full-scale mock-up classroom to review IT layout and functionality. This proactive approach gave the school’s IT director the opportunity to assess the space firsthand, which led to a number of late-stage design changes, particularly around classroom technology.
To accommodate these adjustments without disrupting the overall schedule, the team used Touchplan to create strategic buffers. They scheduled non-critical spaces like mechanical and specialty rooms later in the project, allowing them to shift resources when needed. “We kept specialty areas on the back end and used those as buffers,” explained Brian Paradee. “If there was ever a kink in the main schedule, we always had these spaces to work on.”
This approach allowed W.T. Rich to maintain workforce continuity and avoid costly downtime. Even when primary work areas were paused for design revisions, trade partners stayed active and productive in other parts of the building.
Setting the Standard for Future Projects
Building on the success at Hunnewell, W.T. Rich expanded the use of Touchplan across additional public projects, including schools, fire stations, and airport facilities. The company’s expansion of Touchplan highlights how to effectively adopt Lean planning across teams and projects.
“We learned that rolling out Touchplan requires more than just providing the software,” says Rich. “You need strong champions to provide targeted training and a shared commitment to the Lean mindset.”
At Hunnewell Elementary School, W.T. Rich used Touchplan to unify planning efforts across all teams, establishing a consistent, collaborative process that kept the entire project moving forward with clarity and purpose. As a result, the Hunnewell project was delivered on schedule, and achieved high owner satisfaction. Internally, it became a model project for execution and planning.
“I think everybody on our team, which includes industry veterans, would say that’s the most well-executed schedule they’ve ever been a part of,” says Paradee.
Hunnewell’s success confirms W.T. Rich’s belief that Lean practices, powered by Touchplan, deliver greater collaboration and precision on complex projects. Building on this momentum, the company is deepening its commitment to Lean planning to improve project performance and lead innovation in public sector construction.
