A Scalable Model for Lean Planning
Phase 2 of Turner-Yates’ battery manufacturing megaproject demonstrates what happens when the right team, the Last Planner System® (LPS), and Touchplan, the best-in-class digital planning solution, converge. Turner–Yates, a joint venture between two of the nation’s leading builders, partnered with Touchplan to create a unified planning environment that scaled across both organizations and their trade partners.
By replacing fragmented spreadsheets and recurring meetings with a customized system guided by minimum functional standards, the team cut weekly planning time by over 100 hours and increased workflow and resource planning efficiency. This approach established a reliable, repeatable framework for Lean planning on a megaproject scale.
Uniting Industry Leadership on a Proven Foundation
The Turner–Yates joint venture combined two construction leaders whose complementary expertise gave them a distinctive advantage for the first phase of the project. Both companies previously worked individually with the client, a leading battery manufacturer, on a large-scale gigafactory project, giving each company unique insight into the expectations of advanced manufacturing environments.
Yates contributed decades of experience delivering fast-track battery and automotive facilities nationwide, including more than 35 million square feet of projects with cleanroom classifications. Turner, the largest general builder in the U.S., brought deep local resources and strong relationships with trade partners across the Midwest. Together, the joint venture balanced regional strengths with national expertise to provide the best possible value in production and cost.
Supply chain and design partnerships strengthened this foundation. By combining national buying power and supplier networks, Turner–Yates secured critical materials at the best possible cost and speed-to-market. Both firms had also partnered extensively with SSOE, a global architecture, engineering, and construction management firm specializing in advanced manufacturing. Collectively, Turner, Yates, and SSOE had completed more than 225 projects, establishing a proven foundation of trust and efficiency that carried directly into the project.
Phase 2 Complexities
The first phase of the battery manufacturing megaproject progressed at an ambitious pace but revealed significant planning challenges. Relying on spreadsheets, siloed data, and more than 12 weekly meetings across 10 superintendents, the team spent over 120 hours each week working to achieve what the field needed most: clear task sequencing, accurate crew assignments, timely constraint resolution, and shared visibility across trades.
As planning for Phase 2 began, the team recognized the need for a better approach. The new phase embodied all the hallmarks of a complex megaproject—thousands of interdependent tasks, dozens of trades, volatile supply chains, and elevated safety risks—making the application of lessons learned from Phase 1 all the more critical. The scale and risk demanded a more deliberate, integrated strategy to ensure clarity, agility, and consistent execution.
The New Approach: A Collaborative, Field-Driven Process
To meet these challenges, Shane Blanchard, Lean Manager at Turner, and Yates’ Director of Sustainability and Lean spearheaded a new approach. Guided by more than 100 stakeholder interviews, they introduced a customized deployment of Touchplan structured around minimum functional standards and Conditions of Satisfaction frameworks. They also incorporated critical safety insights from both companies, ensuring the system addressed both operational and environmental health priorities.
This deployment replaced fragmented tools with a centralized platform and created a common planning language that united trade partners and field leaders. Planning efforts consolidated into five short, focused sessions per week, freeing superintendents to spend more time in the field and less in the trailer. The number of weekly planning meetings dropped by 70 percent, saving more than 100 hours each week.
The cultural impact was equally significant. The new system fostered high-performing, self-regulating Last Planner teams built on trust and accountability. Subcontractors gained true ownership of lookaheads and production planning, with clearly defined scope, responsibilities, and timing. Planning shifted from a top-down exercise to a collaborative, field-driven process.
C.W. Keene, General Superintendent at Yates Construction, described the difference:
“Touchplan allows me to see what’s planned, then field walk to validate. Getting my eyes on the work and its relation to what was planned allows me to right-size resources or course-correct when needed.”
He called the system an evolution of workflow, crew flow, and resource planning—one that was easier to follow, adaptable to project rhythms, and essential for managing the complexities of megaproject work.
Trade Partners Take Ownership
Trade partners quickly saw the benefits of this transformation. Mark One Electric, responsible for power, telecom, fire alarm, and security systems, leveraged Touchplan to maintain six-week lookaheads and proactively resolve constraints. “There’s no guesswork,” said Nate Dresnick, Touchplan Administrator at Mark One Electric. “You already know what we’re doing next and on what date with manpower and EHS considerations.”
The Waldinger Corporation, contributing over $70 million in sheet metal and electrode scope, adopted Touchplan despite its field leaders having no prior experience. Within days, foremen were using the platform in weekly and two-week look-ahead meetings to assess readiness, allocate labor, and coordinate with other trades. As Senior Project Manager, Jim Keck, explained, “If I have 15 guys standing around, that is a huge problem. Touchplan helps prevent that.”
Turning Planning into Performance
The improvements for Phase 2 were measurable and profound:
- Weekly planning meetings were cut by 70%, saving more than 100 hours each week.
- Constraint management hours decreased by 23%.
- Time required to secure reliable commitments dropped by 26%.
- A train-the-trainer framework enabled repeatable system deployment across teams and projects.
- LPS was implemented in a simple, scalable way that was accessible to all stakeholders.
- More than 40 trade partners aligned under a single system allowed the project team to build trust, consistency, and clarity on a megaproject scale.
Beyond Software: A Trusted Partner
Touchplan’s role extended far beyond providing a platform. Working directly with Turner–Yates, the team co-developed mandatory custom fields that required planners and trade partners to enter critical information such as task owner, manpower, materials, and safety considerations before a ticket could be saved. This enforced minimum functional standards across hundreds of users and ensured planning data was consistent and complete. Beyond this, Touchplan simplified data entry, allowing field teams to quickly update look-ahead schedules and progress, and introduced workflow visualizations that provided clear, real-time views of sequencing and constraints. Combined with high-touch customer success support, these capabilities created a planning system that aligned with Turner–Yates’ goals and kept all stakeholders engaged.
In the context of a joint venture like Turner–Yates, where alignment across systems, culture, and execution is essential, Touchplan provided a unifying framework. It synchronized workflows across organizations and reinforced engagement from field leaders to executive teams.
“Touchplan is far more effective because it does more in less time with fewer steps,” says Blanchard. “It is not just a software—it is a new way of executing. A new way to be a heavy hitter.”
Visibility that Drives Safety and Growth
On a megaproject with controlled access zones, overhead work, and high-risk logistics, safety depended on coordination at scale. Touchplan’s swim lane views made it clear where and when crews would work, turning safety into a shared responsibility across all trades. “Controlled access zones are critical to creating predictable trade workflows, and Touchplan helps us visualize who’s going to be where and when the handoff can occur,” said Jason Wold, Yates Construction’s Vice President and Division Manager.
The platform’s simplicity also enabled scalability. By keeping the system intuitive and rooted in the principles of minimum functional standards, adoption spread quickly through peer learning. As Blanchard explained: “If I can teach one person to use it, they can teach the next. That’s how we scale and generate buy-in and critical thinking.”
Conclusion: A Blueprint for Scalable Lean Construction
Phase 2 shows what is possible when strong teams, disciplined Lean leadership, and the right digital solutions align. Turner–Yates and their trade partners transformed one of the industry’s most complex builds into a model of collaboration, accountability, and predictable performance.
Touchplan replaced fragmented spreadsheets and lengthy meetings with a unified system that gave every participant clarity, shared visibility, and confidence. Meetings dropped sharply, planning became field-driven, and measurable gains in efficiency, safety, and team culture followed—creating a repeatable framework for projects of any size or complexity.
The real achievement lies not just in what was built but in how it was built. With Lean practices, empowered teams, and Touchplan as the central planning engine, Turner–Yates delivered more than a megaproject—they delivered a new standard for high-stakes construction.
