Lean in building and construction industry

Lean is a production management-based approach to effective planning and slim production. It is based on eliminating unnecessary waste in the value chain and proper use of resources through good planning, and not initiate activities before the customer has placed his order. This way of thinking originated from automotive and Hajime Ohba, former General Manager of Toyota Supplier Support Center. He said that it is "madness to do things the same way you've always done and expect improvement in results". Toyota has since 1948 developed what we know today as the philosophy of "Lean".

The building and construction industry has shown lower efficiency improvements over time then the rest of the industry. A project become more complex and unpredictable, with a greater focus on doing things quick and cheap. In order to handle this development Lean Construction evolved in the 1990s.