Applying lean thinking in construction and performance improvement
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss principles, methods, and implementation phases of lean construction showing the waste in construction and how it could be minimized, and also develop methodology for process evaluation and define areas for improvement based on lean approach principles.
Abstract: The productivity of the construction industry worldwide has been declining over the past 40 years. One approach for improving the situation is using lean construction. Lean construction results from the application of a new form of production management to construction. Essential features of lean construction include a clear set of objectives for the delivery process, aimed at maximizing performance for the customer at the project level, concurrent design, construction, and the application of project control throughout the life cycle of the project from design to delivery. An increasing number of construction academics and professionals have been storming the ramparts of conventional construction management in an effort to deliver better value to owners while making real profits. As a result, lean-based tools have emerged and have been successfully applied to simple and complex construction projects. In general, lean construction projects are easier to manage, safer, completed sooner, and cost less and are of better quality. Significant research remains to complete the translation to construction of lean thinking in Egypt. This research will discuss principles, methods, and implementation phases of lean construction showing the waste in construction and how it could be minimized. The Last Planner System technique, which is an important application of the lean construction concepts and methodologies and is more prevalent, proved that it could enhance the construction management practices in various aspects. Also, it is intended to develop methodology for process evaluation and define areas for improvement based on lean approach principles.
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TL;DR: A systematic review of published literature in Scopus, Science Direct and Google Scholar to identify and categorize the different lean practices implemented in the construction industry and the benefits derivable from them is presented in this article.
131 citations
Cites background from "Applying lean thinking in construct..."
...In view of the foregoing and the fact that in the delivery of building and infrastructure projects, the key operations include design, planning, construction with management, control and monitoring being the key activities [15], the 32 LCPs identified have been categorised into four main groups based on areas of their possible implementation in the design, planning and construction of building and infrastructure projects....
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...Furthermore, some authors [3,15] [49]; have also explained that LPS has been widely implemented in the construction industry because its effectiveness can be measured by increment in the percentage of plan completed (PPC) or reduction in the percent expected time overun (PET) on projects....
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...Added to this are reworks, which have been identified as key sources of waste in construction leading to both cost and time overruns [15,64]....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the main problems of construction management were identified and possibilities to solve them are discussed and a model for decision making in construction management by using multi-criteria methods was created and applied to real case study.
110 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive systematic review of studies on identification of factors affecting construction productivity published during the last three decades has been conducted, with the focus on productivity improvement efforts in the construction industry.
Abstract: A significant amount of work has been performed in the area of identification of factors affecting construction productivity. Previous studies have tried to determine the most important factors affecting construction productivity in different countries for a long time. As a result of continuous effort in this direction, researchers have identified a wide range of factors. While the subject area has matured, no general agreement could be made on the factors affecting construction productivity. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to undertake a comprehensive systematic review of mainstream studies on factors affecting construction productivity published in the last 30 years (1986–2016).,A total of 46 articles from different sources such as journals, conference proceedings, dissertation and PhD theses were identified and thoroughly reviewed.,Gaps in research and practices are discussed and directions for future research have been proposed. The literature review indicates that despite noticeable differences in the socio-economic conditions across both developed countries and developing countries, an overall reasonable consensus exists on few significant factors impeding productivity. These are, namely, non-availability of materials, inadequate supervision, skill shortage, lack of proper tools and equipment and incomplete drawing and specifications. Nevertheless, implications of technology, site amenities, process studies, project culture, and impacts of physiological and psychological factors were not adequately covered in existing literature. The study also found that traditional construction projects have remained the main focus of these studies while green construction projects have been generally overlooked.,The review does not include studies that report productivity at the organisational or industry level as well as total factor productivity. The scope of the review is limited to work on identification of factors affecting productivity at the activity level in construction projects.,The outcomes of this study would help researchers and practitioners by providing the findings of previous studies in a concise manner. It is also expected that presenting a deeper and wider perspective of the research work performed until now will direct a more focussed approach on productivity improvement efforts in the construction industry.,This review paper undertakes a comprehensive systematic review of studies on identification of factors affecting construction productivity published during the last three decades.
105 citations
TL;DR: Modular construction uses building modules manufactured inside the controlled environment of factories to be transported and assembled on site as discussed by the authors, which can be considered as a homing device for a vehicle.
Abstract: Modular construction uses building modules manufactured inside the controlled environment of factories to be transported and assembled on site. Modular construction can be considered as a h...
94 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an 11-level hierarchal model was developed by implementing interpretive structural modelling (ISM) methodology to delineate these barriers into the categories of "driving", "linkage", and "dependent".
92 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: A 5-million-dollar 5-year study on the future of the automobile industry was conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as mentioned in this paper, which was based on the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP).
Abstract: This book is based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 5-million-dollar 5-year study on the future of the automobile. Designated the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP), the MIT study explored the differences between mass production and lean production in the automobile industry. Lean production, pioneered by Eiji Toyoda and Taiichi Ohno at the Toyota Motor Company in Japan, combines the advantages of craft and mass production, while avoiding the high cost of the former and the rigidity of the latter. Toward this end, lean producers employ teams of multiskilled workers at all levels of the organization and use highly flexible, increasingly automated machines to produce volumes of products in enormous variety. Lean production (a term coined by IMVP researcher John Krafcik) is "lean" because it uses less of everything compared with mass production. Also, it requires keeping far less than half the needed inventory on site, results in many fewer defects, and produces a greater and ever growing variety of products. Lean production changes how people work. Most will find their jobs more challenging and will become more productive, but, at the same time, they may find their work more stressful. Lean production calls for learning far more professional skills (than in mass production) and applying these creatively in a team setting (rather than a rigid hierarchy). This book is organized in three sections. The first, "The Origins of Lean Production," traces the evolution of lean production. The second, "The Elements of Lean Production," looks at how lean production works in factory operations, product development, supply-system coordination, customer relations and as a total lean enterprise. Finally, in the third section, "Diffusing Lean Production," the authors examine how lean production is spreading across the world and to other industries and, in the process, is revolutionizing how people live and work. Also examined are the barriers that are preventing companies and countries from becoming lean. Creative ways leanness can be achieved are suggested.
6,104 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: Womack, Jones, and Roos as discussed by the authors published The Machine that changed the world in 1990, and applied the principles of lean production to the automotive industry, including product development, supplier management, sales, service and production.
Abstract: When James Womack, Daniel Jones, and Daniel Roos wrote THE MACHINE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD in 1990, Japanese automakers, and Toyota in particular, were making a strong showing by applying the principles of lean production. However, the full power of lean principles was unproven, and they had not been applied outside of the auto industry. Today, the power of lean production has been conclusively proved by Toyota's unparalleled success, and the concepts have been widely applied in many industries. Based on MIT's pioneering global study of industrial competition, THE MACHINE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD offers a groundbreaking analysis of the entire lean business system, including product development, supplier management, sales, service, and production - an analysis even more relevant today as GM and Ford struggle to survive and a wide range of British abd American companies embrace lean production. A new Foreword by the authors brings the story up to date and details how their predictions were right. As a result, this reissue of a classic is as insightful and instructive today as when it was first published.
2,257 citations
"Applying lean thinking in construct..." refers background in this paper
...reduction nature of the Toyota production system and to contrast it with craft and mass forms of production [2]....
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Book•
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: In the decade since its launch in the fall of 1990, The Machine That Changed the World has sold more than 600,000 copies in 11 languages and has introduced a whole generation of managers and engineers to lean thinking.
Abstract: This volume carefully traces the rise of the Toyota system from its take-off point in Ford's mass production system to its spread across the world, starting with the NUMMI joint venture with General Motors in California and now advancing in Europe, Latin America, and East Asia as well. It then identifies and describes the advantages of this system, which needs less of everything including time, human effort, inventories, and investment to produce products with fewer defects in smaller volumes at lower costs for fragmenting markets. The Machine That Changed the World even gave the system its name: lean.In the decade since its launch in the fall of 1990, The Machine That Changed the World has sold more than 600,000 copies in 11 languages and has introduced a whole generation of managers and engineers to lean thinking. No lean library is complete without this groundbreaking book. "The fundamentals of this system are applicable to every industry across the globea[and] will have a profound effect on human society. It will truly change the world." - New York Times Paperback / 1990 / 323 pages
1,770 citations
01 Jan 1992
1,495 citations
"Applying lean thinking in construct..." refers background in this paper
...Basically, Koskela [3] has been looking for the evidences of waste and value loss due to (1) Quality of works; (2) Constructability; (3) Material management; (4) Non-productive time; and (5) Safety issues....
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...Since 1992, Koskela [3] has reported the adaptation of lean production concepts in the construction industry and presented a production management paradigm where production was conceptualized in three complementary ways, namely as (1) Transformation; (2) Flow; and (3) Value generation (TFV) theory of production....
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...Koskela [3] has summarized lean thinking into eleven principles which are (1) Reduce the share of non-value adding activities (waste); (2) Increase output value through systematic consideration of customer requirements; (3) Reduce variability; (4) Reduce cycle times; (5) Simplify by minimizing the number of steps, parts and linkages; (6) Increase output flexibility; (7) Increase process transparency; (8) Focus control on the complete process; (9) Build continuous improvement into the process; (10) Balance flow improvement with conversion improvement; and (11) Benchmark....
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...The prevailing perspective (mental model) in construction considers project work as a collection of (activities) rather than a flow [3]....
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...The introduction of new production philosophies in construction requires new measures of performance Koskela [3], such as waste, value, cycle time or variability....
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TL;DR: In this article, a person-interview survey of 450 randomly selected private residential project owners and developers in 27 representative districts in metropolitan Kuwait formed the database for the study, and the socio-economic traits of the owners/developers and the pre-construction family planning, the design and the construction phases of the sample projects were presented.
Abstract: Time‐delays and cost‐increases associated with the construction of private residential projects in the State of Kuwait are determined. A person‐interview survey of 450 randomly selected private residential project owners and developers in 27 representative districts in metropolitan Kuwait formed the database for the study. The socio‐economic traits of the owners/developers, and the pre‐construction family planning, the design, and the construction phases of the sample projects are presented. Estimates of time‐delays and cost‐increases are made, and their causes identified. The three main causes of time‐delays included changing orders, owners' financial constraints and owners' lack of experience in the construction business. Regarding cost overruns, the three main causes were identified as contractor‐related problems, material‐related problems and, again, owners' financial constraints. A number of recommendations end the paper. The minimization of time delays and cost overruns in private residential projec...
450 citations