Lean construction
Lean construction is a project management approach aimed at enhancing efficiency and reducing waste within the construction industry. Originating from the principles of lean manufacturing, which was developed by Toyota post-World War II, lean construction emphasizes maximizing value and customer satisfaction while minimizing waste. This methodology utilizes a systems-based approach that challenges traditional construction practices, focusing on optimizing the overall process rather than managing individual activities in isolation.
The core objectives of lean construction include improving worker productivity, ensuring high quality, and cutting costs. Key areas of waste addressed by this approach include transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, over-processing, overproduction, and defects. By streamlining these factors, lean construction seeks to create a more efficient workflow that benefits both producers and consumers.
Although lean construction has gained traction and shown benefits in the industry, it has not completely replaced traditional project management methods. Its principles, however, have been successfully applied beyond construction, influencing practices in various sectors, including entrepreneurship and manufacturing. Overall, lean construction represents a significant shift toward a more integrated and efficient way of managing construction projects.
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Lean construction
Lean construction, also known as integrated project delivery, is a project management approach that was developed to combat poor resource management, reduced efficiency, reduced safety, and subpar budget management in the construction industry. Lean construction utilizes a systems-based approach known as the siloed-management model. Lean construction focuses on increasing the efficiency of the construction process to increase profit, minimize waste, improve worker safety, and improve customer satisfaction. The core objective of lean construction is to maximize value and customer satisfaction while minimizing waste. The five steps of this process are to optimize the whole, remove waste, focus on the process and flow, generate value, and facilitate continuous improvement.
Brief History
The basis of lean manufacturing came from Toyota. In the 1930s after World War II, Kiichiro Toyoda and other Toyota executives found that it was possible to create an efficient production system, like Henry Ford’s assembly line for the Model T, with the ability to offer a wide variety of products. This system focused on optimizing product flow throughout the manufacturing process, which minimized waste, cut costs, increased product variety, ensured consistent quality, and decreased the amount of time needed for customers to receive their product after an order. Toyota’s production system relies on two core principles: “jidoka,” or automation with a human touch, and just-in-time, which mandates that each process should produce only enough for what is needed by the next process in a continuous flow with minimal waste, and high efficiency. Toyota’s production process was the progenitor of the lean manufacturing process, lean thinking, and subsequently, lean construction.
The International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) invented the term lean construction in 1993. Lean construction applies lean manufacturing principles and the lean philosophy, or lean thinking, to the field of construction, which strives to cut down wastes while increasing the amount of value given to consumers. The Lean Construction Institute (LCI) was founded in 1997 by Greg Howell and Glenn Ballard. Initially, the goal of utilizing the lean manufacturing method in the construction industry was to improve worker productivity, which was exceptionally low.
Lean construction addressed the root causes of inefficient and erratic workflow on a system-wide level, unlike the traditional project management method of addressing individual activities, which failed to produce benefits. Howell and Ballard realized that like the manufacturing industry, defective widgets will result in the downstream effect of unpredictable, and often severely compromised, workflow. They prioritized quality over quantity and made it imperative to produce higher quality products by enforcing a policy of ceasing production in response to mistakes instead of releasing defective products or assignments; this was a radical challenge to traditional construction practices.
Overview
The two core objectives of lean construction are to minimize waste and maximize customer satisfaction by increasing the amount of value customers receive by offering them lower costs and higher quality products. Lean construction minimizes waste by optimizing time and resource management along the production process. The seven main areas of waste for construction projects include transport, inventory, motion, waiting, over-processing, overproduction, and defects. Lean construction can eliminate waste on each of these fronts.
Lean construction cuts down on transport, or the unnecessary movement of materials, which risks damage to products, wastes time, and reduces profits. Applying lean thinking to inventory management involves eliminating excess materials in storage. This can drastically reduce handling costs and storage space, resulting in better cash flow and lower prices for the customer. In the context of lean construction, motion is defined by the unnecessary and inefficient movement that must be taken to accommodate lackluster production practices and mistakes. Motion is a symptom of poor product management and can successfully be addressed by the implementation of lean manufacturing practices. Waiting refers to periods of inactivity as a result of a failure to complete part of the production process in a timely fashion, resulting in more wasted time downstream and possibly derailing the entire project. Over-processing describes wasted time and resources on useless activities such as excessive handling and unnecessary communication. Over-processing is a symptom of defective products or assignments and the downstream accommodations that they require. Overproduction causes inventory backup due to excess product production. Overproduction can occur because of excessively fast production. It results in problems with inventory management and is often a symptom of poor communication and subpar manufacturing processes. Defects result in wasted resources because they must be repaired or reconstructed, leading to significantly reduced productivity and production efficiency.
The principles of lean project management have spread well beyond the scope of the construction industry. Lean thinking also benefits entrepreneurs, manufacturing companies, and even government institutions. Lean construction has proven itself to be of great benefit to the construction industry, although it has not surpassed traditional project management methods in the field of construction. According to the LCI, the construction industry can derive substantial benefits from lean thinking and manufacturing practices.
Bibliography
“A Brief History of Lean.” Lean.org, 2017, www.lean.org/WhatsLean/History.cfm. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Brown, David, and Julia Tell. "Lean Construction: Principles, Implementation & Benefits." Procore, 15 Nov. 2024, www.procore.com/library/lean-construction. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
“Lean Construction in 3 Minutes.” Leading Edge Group Videos, Leading Edge Group, 2019, www.leadingedgegroup.com/videos/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Modig, Niklas, and Pär Åhlström. This Is Lean: Resolving the Efficiency Paradox. Rheologica Publishing, 2017. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
“What Is Lean?” Lean.org, Lean Enterprise Institute, 2018, www.lean.org/WhatsLean/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.
Womack, James P., et al. The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production—Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Revolutionizing World Industry. Simon & Schuster, 2007. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.