A set of tools and methodologies designed for faster project delivery
Below is a brief overview of each technique, categorized by their originating philosophy.
Systems Dynamics
Allocc’s PFATs under Systems Dynamics focus on making the invisible forces in a project visible and manageable. Techniques like buffer management, flow scorecards, and burn-down charts track how work is progressing over time and warn when critical paths are at risk. Systems Dynamics PFATs help project teams see how changes ripple across the system — from a delayed design to its downstream impact on procurement and construction.
These PFATs turn complex, time-based interactions into something teams can monitor in real time. What-if simulation engines, subsystem execution buffers, and dynamic flow prioritization let managers adjust course before issues escalate. The goal is to replace firefighting with foresight — controlling the flow of work like adjusting valves in a giant pipeline.
Subsystem Execution Buffers
Creates protective time cushions around key parts of the project. These buffers absorb shocks from delays in upstream tasks so that the critical path keeps flowing.
Buffer Burn-Down Charts
A simple visual that shows how fast a buffer is being consumed. Teams can see at a glance if they’re on track or at risk of eroding their safety time too soon.
Dynamic Flow Prioritization
A technique that constantly reassesses where attention should go based on what’s slowing the system at any given moment. It helps teams focus on what’s urgent and matters most to overall flow.
What-If Simulation Engine
Lets teams test different scenarios (e.g. “What if vendor X is late?” or “What if we fast-track this subsystem?”) to see how it would affect the project’s timeline. Helps make smarter decisions before acting.
Execution Health Heatmaps / Scorecards
Real-time dashboards that highlight where the system is flowing smoothly and where it’s getting stuck. Provides an overview of flow health across the whole project.
Path-Based Flow Scorecards
Scorecards that track progress along critical chains or paths within the system, helping ensure each path stays healthy and doesn’t block overall project speed.
Subsystem Gating & Readiness Checks
Ensures that each subsystem only moves forward when it is genuinely ready — with engineering, materials, and construction complete — to prevent premature handovers and rework.
Daily TTC (Time-to-Completion) Reporting
Forces teams to estimate and update how long tasks will really take, every day. Helps detect delays early and keeps flow visible at the ground level.
Material & Equipment Flow Simulation
Simulates the timing of materials and equipment movements to spot potential logjams before they occur and adjust delivery plans to keep work moving.
These PFATs help make project flow visible, measurable, and manageable over time, so small delays don’t spiral into major setbacks — and so the whole system keeps moving as one.
Systems Thinking
The PFATs in Systems Thinking help teams shift from isolated, task-focused views to seeing the whole project as one interconnected organism. Techniques like cross-discipline interface trackers, goal alignment charters, and ecosystem operating models ensure that teams, departments, and external partners work together toward the same objectives.
These PFATs encourage harmony across functions: design, procurement, construction, and commissioning are aligned through tools like strategy & tactic trees, consistency checks, and client specs translators. They create clarity at handoffs and interfaces, making sure the overall system flows without parts working at cross purposes.
Cross-Discipline Interface Tracker
Maps and monitors where different disciplines (engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning) must connect. It ensures that handoffs and interfaces are managed so no one is working at cross purposes.
Ecosystem Operating Model Generator
Defines how all the major players (client, EPC, vendors, subcontractors) interact as one unified system — setting rules for decision-making, collaboration, and conflict resolution to reduce friction.
External Strategy & Tactic Trees
Creates a shared roadmap that shows how the work of external partners aligns with project goals — ensuring that everyone from vendors to regulators is pulling in the same direction.
Goal Alignment Charter
A tool that helps teams agree on the project’s true success criteria (e.g. subsystem readiness, commissioning dates) rather than competing personal or departmental targets.
Client Specs to Project Translator
Turns client requirements into clear, structured standards that guide design and construction, so the whole team builds to the same vision.
Proposal-to-Project Continuity Tools
Ensures that what was promised in the proposal matches what is actually planned and built, reducing disconnects that cause rework or delays.
Consistency Check Engine (Contract, Specs, Design)
Continuously compares contract terms, client specs, and current designs to detect and resolve mismatches early, so the system stays coherent.
Integration Module (External Systems)
Brings together data from all the tools (like ERP, BIM, Primavera) into one system of truth so decisions are based on complete, consistent information.
Pathfinder Teams & Deliverables Planning
Forms dedicated teams that focus on early, high-impact deliverables that unlock flow for everyone else — keeping the system moving efficiently.
Model Reviews (Agile, Incremental)
Replaces old-style 30-60-90% model reviews with frequent, smaller reviews tied to system flow, allowing faster feedback and fewer disconnects.
These PFATs help align every part of the project — people, data, and processes — into one connected system that moves together instead of working at odds.
Theory of Constraints / Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)
The PFATs here are about finding the true bottleneck in your project — the point that determines how fast the whole system can go — and making sure nothing slows it down. Critical chain schedules, buffer management, and pathfinder plans keep attention focused on what really controls delivery time.
Subsystem gating, quick reaction forces, and vendor impact forecasting are PFATs that protect the critical path and make sure the constraint is always flowing. The techniques combine planning discipline with real-time alerting so teams can prevent delays rather than react to them.
Critical Chain Schedule Conversion
Transforms traditional project schedules into critical chain schedules that focus on the real bottleneck paths and protect them with well-placed buffers. This keeps attention on what truly controls project speed.
Subsystem Execution Buffers
Places time buffers around key system elements (like piping, electrical, or commissioning subsystems) so that small delays in upstream tasks don’t halt the entire critical path.
Buffer Management & Burn-Down Tracking
Monitors how safety buffers are being used as the project progresses. Teams get early warnings if they’re burning through protection time too quickly, giving them a chance to act before it’s too late.
Pathfinder Deliverables & Plans
Identifies and fast-tracks early deliverables that unlock critical work for others. Keeps the constraint moving by making sure nothing important is waiting on upstream work.
Quick Reaction Force (Issue Resolution)
Deploys a focused, cross-functional team to clear blockages on or near the constraint as soon as they arise — ensuring the bottleneck keeps flowing.
Vendor Impact Forecasting
Simulates how vendor delays could affect the project’s constraint path, so teams can intervene early, change plans, or escalate as needed to protect critical flow.
Subsystem Gating / Readiness Checks
Ensures no subsystem is released for the next stage (construction, commissioning) until it’s truly ready, protecting the constraint from being fed with incomplete or faulty inputs.
Daily Time-to-Completion (TTC) Reporting
Requires teams working on or near the constraint to report accurate TTC estimates daily, creating high visibility and focus on the work that matters most.
Dynamic Flow Prioritization
Constantly adjusts what gets priority on site or in the office, so the constraint stays unblocked and receives the resources and attention it needs.
These PFATs find the true bottleneck, protect it, and keep it flowing — so the whole project moves as fast as its weakest link allows.
Lean Six Sigma
Lean Six Sigma PFATs in Allocc are about cutting waste, smoothing processes, and getting things right the first time. Workflow optimization layers, early warnings and reminders, and feedback loop acceleration eliminate unnecessary steps and speed up approvals or clarifications.
Other PFATs like lists management, document activation and compliance trackers, and spec compliance engines ensure teams work with clean, current data — avoiding rework and errors. These techniques help deliver a faster, cleaner execution where every step adds value.
Subsystem Execution Buffers
Creates protective time cushions around key parts of the project. These buffers absorb shocks from delays in upstream tasks so that the critical path keeps flowing.
Buffer Burn-Down Charts
A simple visual that shows how fast a buffer is being consumed. Teams can see at a glance if they’re on track or at risk of eroding their safety time too soon.
Dynamic Flow Prioritization
A technique that constantly reassesses where attention should go based on what’s slowing the system at any given moment. It helps teams focus on what’s urgent and matters most to overall flow.
What-If Simulation Engine
Lets teams test different scenarios (e.g. “What if vendor X is late?” or “What if we fast-track this subsystem?”) to see how it would affect the project’s timeline. Helps make smarter decisions before acting.
Execution Health Heatmaps / Scorecards
Real-time dashboards that highlight where the system is flowing smoothly and where it’s getting stuck. Provides an overview of flow health across the whole project.
Path-Based Flow Scorecards
Scorecards that track progress along critical chains or paths within the system, helping ensure each path stays healthy and doesn’t block overall project speed.
Subsystem Gating & Readiness Checks
Ensures that each subsystem only moves forward when it is genuinely ready — with engineering, materials, and construction complete — to prevent premature handovers and rework.
Daily TTC (Time-to-Completion) Reporting
Forces teams to estimate and update how long tasks will really take, every day. Helps detect delays early and keeps flow visible at the ground level.
Material & Equipment Flow Simulation
Simulates the timing of materials and equipment movements to spot potential logjams before they occur and adjust delivery plans to keep work moving.
These PFATs eliminate waste, reduce errors, and streamline workflows so the project moves faster and cleaner — with less waiting, rework, or confusion.
Organizational Behavior
PFATs in this category tackle the human side of execution — helping teams adapt, align, and act with shared purpose. Tools like the inertia heatmap, and belief-mapping (evaporating cloud) help identify where culture, habits, or resistance slow progress.
These PFATs guide teams toward flow-friendly behaviors, using transparency (e.g. trust score tracking), smart incentives, and accountability loops. The goal is to move the whole organization from individual or siloed efforts to a unified force driving project success.
Behavior & Adherence Monitoring
Tracks whether teams are following the plan, acting on recommendations, and addressing risks. Creates accountability by linking decisions and actions to outcomes.
Inertia Heatmap
A tool that visually highlights where resistance to change, slow decisions, or old habits are holding back progress — helping leaders see where to focus coaching or support.
Flow-Aligned Incentives
Shifts rewards and recognition to focus on actions that unblock work, protect flow, and accelerate readiness — not just “staying busy” or ticking off tasks.
Trust Score Tracking
Measures how well teams are collaborating, sharing information, and keeping commitments. Helps identify where trust gaps may be slowing work down.
Evaporating Cloud (Belief-Barrier Mapping)
A thinking tool that helps teams surface and resolve hidden conflicts in priorities or assumptions — so people can move past mental barriers to faster action.
Quick Reaction Force (Behavioral Response Team)
A dedicated team empowered to step in and help unblock interpersonal or organizational friction when it threatens project flow.
Adherence Index & Feedback Loop
Provides clear feedback on how well teams are sticking to the agreed methods and priorities, creating learning loops that strengthen flow-friendly behaviors over time.
These PFATs help teams move as one — breaking through habits, resistance, and misalignment so everyone rows in the same direction, at the same speed.
Execution Economics
Execution Economics PFATs connect time and money so teams can see the true cost of delays and waste. The hourly cost of delay counter makes the financial impact of slow decisions or stalled work visible in real time. Dynamic flow prioritization ensures that what matters most economically gets the focus.
Vendor impact forecasting and what-if simulations let teams understand the downstream financial effects of different actions. Together, these PFATs help drive urgency and smarter choices — so the project not only finishes faster but also protects its financial value.
Hourly Cost of Delay Counter
Displays in real time how much money the project loses every hour due to delays. This creates immediate urgency by showing teams the financial impact of inaction or slow decisions.
Vendor Impact Forecasting
Predicts how supplier or vendor delays will affect the project’s schedule and cost — so teams can take early action to prevent expensive ripple effects.
Dynamic Flow Prioritization (Economics Lens)
Adjusts priorities continuously so that work with the highest economic impact (e.g., critical to commissioning or revenue start) gets the resources and attention it needs.
What-If Simulation Engine (Cost Focus)
Lets teams test different scenarios — like accelerating a system or delaying an area — and see the cost impact before making a decision.
Buffer Management (Cost-Aware)
Not just about time — this PFAT tracks the financial exposure tied to buffer erosion, so teams can see how time loss links directly to money loss.
Execution Health Heatmaps (Economic View)
Highlights where execution slowdowns are likely to cause financial damage, helping leaders focus recovery efforts where they protect the most value.
These PFATs make the hidden cost of delays visible — so teams act faster, smarter, and always with value protection in mind.
Digital Twin / Data-Driven Execution
PFATs in this category bring the power of live data and digital models into project execution. The what-if simulation engine, flow scorecards, and execution health heatmaps create a virtual view of the project — showing teams what’s happening now and what’s likely to happen next.
Digital twin PFATs like the integration module and Animus Sentinella monitoring layer connect data across systems, ensuring decisions are based on real-time facts rather than guesswork. They give teams a powerful toolset to steer the project dynamically, adjusting as conditions change.
What-If Simulation Engine (Digital Twin Core)
Creates a live virtual model of the project that lets teams test “what-if” scenarios — like changing the sequence of work or adjusting delivery dates — and see the impact before committing to action.
Flow Scorecards and Health Heatmaps
Provides real-time dashboards that show how well the project’s subsystems are flowing, where risks are growing, and where teams should focus to keep things moving.
Execution Risk Scanning & Proactive Alerts
Uses live data to spot patterns that signal trouble ahead (like workload imbalances or repeated late deliveries) — then automatically alerts the right people with suggestions to fix it.
Animus Sentinella Monitoring Layer
Tracks decision patterns, adherence to plans, and the follow-through on recommendations, creating a feedback loop that feeds into the digital twin for smarter future guidance.
Integration Module (External Systems Data)
Links data from different platforms (e.g. ERP, BIM, Primavera) into one coherent picture. This eliminates gaps and ensures decisions are based on a full, consistent view of reality.
Materials Intelligence & Forecasting Engine
Uses data on materials flow and vendor performance to predict shortages, delays, or risks — giving teams time to adjust and prevent work stoppages.
Daily TTC Reporting and Analysis
Feeds actual time-to-completion data into the digital model so it stays current and predictive — not just a static plan but a living guide.
These PFATs turn the project into a living digital twin — helping teams steer with real-time facts instead of guesswork, and make faster, better decisions.
