Lean construction – Principles and application

Abstract:

A brief summary of the key points of your article. The abstract should not exceed about 250-300 words. It should consist of the summary of your article, as well as a table of contents with bullet points explaining the content of each section. Please already include key references in the abstract.

The essence of lean project management methodology is to maximize value and minimize waste, preferably eliminate waste. The goal is to achieve as much value to the costumer as possible with as little waste as possible. The lean technique is especially suitable for complex projects and has therefore proven to be an effective for construction project since it was first used in the industry in the mid-1990s. It is designed to reduce the time, effort and materials required for the project; this is done by reducing waste. Lean construction has 8 different forms of waste: transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overprocessing, overproduction, defects, and human potential. By minimizing these forms of waste, the benefits of lean production will appear. The timeframe of the project will be shortened because of more effective and flexible work. Total cost and increased profit such also be achieved. The lean method is optimal for environmental benefits since the method is formed to minimize excess materials. To implement lean construction the principles of lean must be considered. These are the basics of lean thinking and are considered in all industries where lean can be utilized. There are 5 principles: defining value, mapping the value stream, creating a flow, establishing a pull, and to pursue perfection. In lean construction all the parties of a project are considered, from the constructures to the owner. This is to ensure that the right tools and method is being used for all the parts of the project. To optimize productivity and save work hours everybody involved in the project is put at specific task of their specification. This causes companies to stick to project that they are especially suited for and gives them a comparative advantage.

• Abstract • Big Idea o Lean principles o 8 wastes o Substainability • Application o Different forms o Singapore example • Limitations • Bibliography Big idea: describe the tool, concept or theory and explain its purpose. The section should reflect the current state of the art on the topic Singapore article can add to the paragraphs

Big idea

Intro:

Lean construction stems from lean production which was developed by Toyota production system during the 1950s. Engineer Ohno in Toyota was committed to minimize waste as a contrast to the craft and mass forms of production. Lean production was developed to save time, money, and materials. In 1992 a seminal report by Lauri Koskela started the adaption of the lean principles to the construction industry. One could say that the adaption is still ongoing today. (AIC) Lean construction does accept the same goal as lean production, but it is specified for the construction market. The main difference is the forms of waste involved. Also, lean construction advocates the view of both product and process development at the same time. The main principles that separate the lean management in construction compared to traditional management is a clear set of objectives for the delivery process, that it is aimed to maximize the performance for the costumer, also at the project level. And that lean applies production control throughout the life of the project, as a result of the simultaneous consideration of product and process development. (Singapore)

Theory:

Lean production first developed by Koskela came as a product of an in-depth review of the production paradigms that dominated in the manufacturing industry. There were three competing paradigms: craft, mass, and lean production. By reviewing these paradigms, also including the value management perspective, Koskela came up with the theory which would be the framework of lean construction; the “Transformation-Flow-Value”-theory (TFV). This was a theory implementing the efficacious qualities of the production paradigms transformed into a construction-perspective. The implementation of the TFV concept into construction management allows for the transformation of raw materials into standing structures while at the same time maximizing the flow of materials and value to the costumer. (AIC)

Flow: The flow view in TFV stems from the paradigms mass and lean production. The viewing of production as flow of materials and information led to the principle of waste. The principle of minimizing waste should result in a better workflow and be more sustainable. In lean construction there is defined 8 forms of waste: transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overprocessing, overproduction, defects, and human potential. Minimizing or even better eliminating these wastes is a key aspect of lean construction. By doing so nothing that adds value to a project will be considered and the result is cut of cost and more efficiency. (AIC)

The 8 wastes: (PEAB)

Transport: Transport is a waste in the sense of the expenses and that it does not directly bring value to a project by itself. Therefore, should transport be held to a minimum. Transportation is also bad for the environment which support that it should be held to a minimum.

Inventory: Excess inventory is a waste when it is not processed. This also transfers to all resources surrounding the excess inventory. This could be storage, capital, transportation etc. Motion: Every motion a worker must do to finish a task that is not necessary. This could be everything from having to re-stack items, going to get something, even walking.

Waiting: Any reason for a worker to be using time by waiting is a waste. This could be due to waiting for the next step of the process, a tool, an item, etc. All time when a worker is not working is time that should be used for the advancement of the project.

Overprocessing: Overprocessing is when there is taken unnecessary steps to reaching a goal. It could also be ineffective processing; this could be in the form of using bad tools or even making products of a higher quality than what is needed.

Overproduction: Producing more items than needed is an obvious waste. Items take up storage and accounts for unnecessary transportation of the items. Overproduction is also a waste of the cost of the production which could be used somewhere the money was more needed.

Defects: The production of defect items is a waste because it forces the production of a repair item, which again is unnecessary use of time and money.

Human potential: By not listening to all employees and working groups a project could be losing time, ideas, skills, improvements and learning opportunities.

Related to the principle of waste-removal is variability reduction. The reduction of variability grants for the increase of predictability and reduces cycle times. This makes it easier to do project planning and makes room for less expectancies. Koskela stated that the reduction of variability also increases customer satisfaction and decrease the volume of non-value-adding activities. Examples of variability in the context of construction could be late deliveries, defect tools, wrong design of materials, etc. (Abdelhamid & Everett, 2002) A stunt in the workflow is therefore affected by variability. The methods that can be used to reduce variability are plan buffers, surge piles and flexible capacity. These methods are developed to reduce variability without removing it completely. Today the most used method is plan buffers, which is the concept of always having a backlog of work for all working groups involved. Flexible capacity however is the concept of using resources in more than one way, this can be done by having working groups trained to work with the same resources.

Value: Value is a special component of Koskelas TFV-theory. This part of the theory is all about creation and generation of value. The reason why is special is because this is where the TFV-theory stands out the most compared to other production theories. It makes TFV broader and more robust and is the reason why a production theory can be the framework of a management method in the construction industry. This value-component is not included in lean production which is not necessarily costumer�value driven, as lean construction is. Value is a term that could be difficult to define, it is also a term that have the possibility of changing with time. According to the Lean construction Institute is value generated when costumer capabilities are expanded, creating new needs and purposes, and the facility better fulfills the purposes of customers/producers and demands of other stakeholders. The goal of lean construction is to minimize the difference between a client’s desired value and the value that is realized. This is done by the consideration of the product and the process value management at the same time, this approach is called value-based management. Product value is split into market value and utility value. Process value on the other hand is a unit for the ethical value of the provider. Value generation is perhaps the area of lean construction that is most open for research and improvement. Lean construction allows projects to avoid mistakes rather than having to fix mistakes. Sustainability(?):

Application: provide guidance on how to use the tool, concept, or theory and when it is applicable

A common misunderstanding of lean construction is that is a way to implement lean production to construction projects. This is not the case and projects that do this will not succeed. This because the already used processes are founded on weak principles and practices. To use lean construction the right way is to use tools and developed processes for the purpose of implementing the lean constructions principles to the project. Lean construction can be implemented in small construction projects as well as in large-scale construction projects. For doing this there are some critical elements that has to be considered, according to Howell (1999) (AIC) these are:

a) Clear set of objectives to be established for the delivery process. Customer needs and requirements are well understood.

b) Process concurrently, to give more value to the customer needs - this process of parallel design helps positive iteration within the process and negative iteration is reduced.

c) Shifting design work along the supply chain to reduce the variation and match the work content.

d) Work structuring of the entire process increases value and reduces waste at the project delivery level. Efforts to improve performance at the planning level increases performance at project level. Singapore example: (?)

Limitations: critically reflect on the tool/concept/theory and its application context. What can it do, what can it not do? Under what circumstances should it be used, and when not? How does it compare to the “status quo” of the standards – is it part of it, or does it extent them? Discuss your article in the context of key readings / resources provided in class. Substantiate your claims with literature

Barriers in implementation of LC:

There are some barriers related to lean construction. They can be generalized into 7 categories: managerial, technical, human attitude, the process of LC, educational, government and financial barriers.

One of the main barriers is managerial barriers when implementing lean construction. Lean construction is dependent on carefully executed logistics which must go through the top management of the company. Also, the communication between the stakeholders and the different groups in the company must be good. Without these criteria’s a project will suffer from disruption and ineffectiveness.

When it comes to the technical barriers is buildable designs and the certainty of the production process two of the biggest. When a design is not buildable the plans need to be revised, which obviously takes a lot of time and money. Therefore, it is recommended that all stakeholders should be involved form the beginning to make sure that the project is buildable and that the process is feasible.

Human attitude is one of the main barriers of lean construction, this mostly in the physical implementation stage. What is meant by attitude in this setting is the tendency regarding intent, commitment and co-operation that needs to be presented within the stakeholder if lean construction management is going to be implemented successfully. If this drive of wanting the project to be successful by lean principles isn’t there, the project will not succeed. The process of implementing lean construction is regarded as a barrier. This is because it was found that projects tended to take a long time implementing the management system. There was needed many meetings and discussions. When these meetings also were poorly managed time flew by. This was found to be a problem in the pre-construction phase. If the project managed to implement lean construction successfully the project generated profit and helped the company’s reputation.

Education is regarded as a barrier because it was discovery that the stakeholders involved in a project did not have enough knowledge about the execution of lean construction. The training to be able to understand the principles of the lean way of thinking as well as how to implement it in construction is of course vital. The responsibility of having this training is the top managements. The last main barrier of lean construction is government and financial barriers. This due to inflation, additional construction cost and poor salaries. Also, the lack of incentives or reward systems and sufficient sources of funding is a barrier for lean construction in particular and construction in general. Provision of contingency cost is a solution to prevent construction projects from inflation or additional cost due to instability of the construction market. (Substainability)

Wiki page discussion Annotated bibliography: Provide key references (3-10), where a reader can find additional information on the subject. The article MUST make appropriate references to the and reference material provided in class – either incorporating it as a source, or critically discussing aspects that are missing from it but covered by this article. Summarize and outline the relevance of each reference to the topic (around 100 words per reference). The bibliography is not counted in the suggested 3000 word target length of the article. • file:///C:/Users/nikla/Downloads/AIC_Lean_Paper.pdf • https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/277811/1-s2.0-S1877042813X00333/1-s2.0- S1877042813020776/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security�Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHcaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIBbCS1UAfVji%2B%2FL0NxEE5lTJ6QZj %2FSDKsbEiU%2FpW5jMMAiEA0rsSSbTaNztlbXEwrHmQBwE%2BXLZOpllbCcOoJ0P0Qi8qgwQI wP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARAEGgwwNTkwMDM1NDY4NjUiDElqm6eD5Pjcg sz6qyrXA79%2BEVr2QAtGgBc09OpCDhgBfWJ88zTBSDsl9BkTt2yqnpvsCs29qBH73pnUI7OJq%2F 9FrCjtQ9lLszPz%2BTxAadCNVcKLeY%2BOWyKAuTGANaKkW6RpNyVzIcQTdiza5D9e7WHxTWjLb Q72Cc6WIa1hbbeoTycGlXEPdma23vAIzFschFI6bOJT23wd5FRC9qxkL9rCKFRLq7ScB7YUS6L6oA XR0qcgvdTTuyrlH%2B0iU%2FK8T%2BzPTvps83fAxVrIEt1tTvj9zegw0YV2lOlEfsr0jYjiGVm89IGm9 I8I4iG23pjty88vy3KXTahJ9sThBIWCOSEa68%2B8nLLdqnV05QXN%2BUelAPfPEi2FzDYI3RQIL9tu tkdVVXvKZ%2FoqEGZLsWcbPftsPOR%2FpM39OQrvvKlgaSRcbdSVs%2Bvu5MkwF2vu0YwE4eG6 KK%2Ff%2Ft%2FxWFLfxKM3IIpiFmpOuPfdkRm%2FysQs7PWfsfNxy4HL8rR7rixa1U8ael2TzcjM8S ES7rdLcAOPqGRcPbQNJhNF3D2YJfqdg4xU81KxkeMhAmFhuiFf5p9Y%2Fuju%2FrHVVuTiPuUGR xDUrzKCrLUNpNWEUiMCS478Yv0J1b%2FO6jy5XW08jLprlA3MGT7f0FlyFTD8mbSQBjqlAXLK1y8 sK9McWoS9%2BcEgsDu6qZ%2F2PKESDbMfjKBJwzySmOpya6RFrGCsCZRxS1pBSBkX6eeCQdXJJ QowQUoYc9OsX1SD%2B%2F8mtDgX4O2JOrN14aCf07d6RlSU%2BliZ8d%2BmD%2BX584gR9uKY ynZ1scL9Wa3TTTYnPN2AUAVIO0m5YsZB7qE3OLZrnjvhkaJzYjmNQStqChvyX4fJCYrUZGCucV0Ap ni%2FUQ%3D%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz�Date=20220216T152520Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz�Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYV4XAJQMN%2F20220216%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X�Amz�Signature=614310b0afd4812f92b73328a714832fec53a813a61f79327e54d953555303ef&hash =c0bc684c9337f90cfb0947ad16607e7d779e94aaa39fd422d31faa0df06be299&host=68042c9 43591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S187704281302077 6&tid=spdf-30e1096e-d0a9-4d7e-ad23- 3c0b2fa57f87&sid=b246c86c813b894c805b1750b70e4f57f8b7gxrqb&type=client&ua=4c0002 56005d00015504&rr=6de7c9bc1afd7383 • https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm%3A978-981-287-014-8%2F1.pdf • https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/8108633/10.1.1.115.5518-with-cover-page�v2.pdf?Expires=1645094342&Signature=N6oEJSVaVBE9E4b�goMx09cWzuHNiNtb1to1lyyB9NGr3QiPJ4pU-FePmTCkoeBN6aZTRQrJ-NfLeUEE�wHdbsbJJGc4hZDw7jsrGhStd2iqePZdXekUDYWHRiw8FnO4Eyt0ooJwEKUruvvf6~P9Gf6sWnB37 mr4CvXRRZYIiKzv7B3VgC0xwgmRRofn7txcf4TLyToYDQR5m3FTABceC82nVOfpe7G21hNfmnV4 o1Z9qjIONkuRZeqJESCOYpO5maPWzjwre1B4CMtZVU6DW3LLFfPY-8jsymPK9RkX5DKp9- eM1qaVkmw6rooYtv~6kxkZBXrNKaZq0u626ARrmg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA • file:///C:/Users/nikla/Downloads/Ch14.pd