Lean in construction industry
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Abstract
The construction industry is one of the largest and most markable industries worldwide. As most of the professions, the construction industry has some chronic problems such as low productivity, poor safety, inferior working conditions, and insufficient quality
These problems are serious diseases which should be managed. They cannot be eliminated completely but can be reduced and handled by specific tools and engagements. Due to the large extend of this industry, there are many aspects which can be optimized and developed. One of the most important challenges in this industry is the wastage. To maintain a sustainable and justified project, it is necessary to apply some approaches seeking towards a decreased amount of wastage. One of the approaches and groundbreaking tools is LEAN.
LEAN construction is a phenomenon inspired by LEAN Management. The arise of LEAN in the construction industry emerged first time in the 1990’s in the West, since there were seen huge success and optimization in the manufacturing industry
The core idea of LEAN is to maximize value and eliminate or minimize waste, regardless of which area it is applied to, even if it is a single process. This makes the LEAN thinking one of the best in creating value for the customers and their needs. With other words LEAN is an efficient management technique which strives to meet the customer in eye level and offer them an instant customized product or service LEAN thinking operates overall with 5 key principles that aims to optimize and develop projects: (1) Value, (2) Value stream, (3) flow, (4) pull, (5) perfection
History
The arise and development of Lean found place in the Japanese car company Toyota. This new phenomenon revolutionized the manufacturing industry, particularly the production of automobiles. The trend was first introduced by John Krafick in the 1988, while the definition of Lean was first time given in the 1996 by James Womack and Daniel Jones.
Toyota production system had a completely different process than the mass production system of Henry Ford automobiles. Toyota production line was based on two concepts; “Jidoka” and “Just-in-time” . The first mentioned is translated to “automation with a human touch” which means, that each time a problem emerge, the whole production line will stop, to prevent defect objects. The second is based on a production system, that only produce what is needed. The arise of Lean left an imprint on the manufacturing industry, since Lean had a potential of reducing wastes and optimize processes. Lean construction was developed in the 1990’s by Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell. The development of Lean was created to improve the management of construction projects. This was done because there was seen common and similar challenges in the manufacturing sector as construction industry.
