Lean construction - LC under lean thinking

Lean Construction es una filosofía que cambia el pensamiento tradicional de trabajo en el sector construcción por medio de sistemas de gestión innovadores fundamentados en análisis de pérdidas, planificando las actividades con el objetivo de mejorar la productividad en la construcción, eliminando actividades que no aportan para el resultado de la obra.El pensamiento LEAN está constituido por técnicas implementadas en la empresa Toyota para minimizar los desperdicios en la cadena productiva y aumentar el valor de los productos.Este artículo de revisión propone la aplicación del pensamiento LEAN en procesos del sector construcción y se ilustra con un ejemplo tomado de un proceso real que puede ser parte de la interventoría. Lean Construction is a philosophy that changes the traditionalist thoughtin the construction area through innovative management systems based on the analysis of waste, planning activities in order to improve productivity at construction, eliminating activities that do not contribute to the result of the work. Lean Thinking techniques are implemented in Toyota enterprise to minimize waste in the supply chain and increase the value of the products. This review article shows the application of lean thinking processes at the construction area, illustrated with an example taken from a real process that may be part of supervision

Transitional Adaptation model for facilitating technology and expertise mobilisation in Gulf AEC Organisations

The fragmented nature of the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is well recognised, the main issues of which relate to failures in communication, process, productivity and interoperability. These failures have contributed to an increased proliferation of adversarial relationships between the different parties involved in projects, the result of which have deleteriously affected projects. Challenges include a range of issues, from the veracity of design information throughout the project lifecycle, through to supply chain communication. These are global issues. For example, in the Gulf States, the nature and complexity of AEC projects has changed significantly due to increased globalisation and the emergence of enmeshed transnational practices. This has created an overwhelming reliance on the mobilisation and transfer of technology/expertise of professional expatriates, which has influenced the approach taken to traditional design and construction business models, including staff roles and procedures. New knowledge and ways of working are needed to support future projects in the Gulf States. There is also a requirement to capture and codify domain-specific expertise. This paper discusses the need to enhance Qatar’s AEC industry by fostering a smooth transition from its current position, into a more sustainable [replicable] state. The philosophical underpinnings of this paper take into account disparate socio-cultural, environmental and economic impacts of change, in terms of business models, technology, innovation, labour market needs, local laws/bylaws, and legislation. A theoretical growth model is presented for discussion. This builds on the experience of the UK (in particular) in terms of facilitating the mobility and penetration of technology/expertise/change in the AEC sectors. This paper presents a series of recommendations needed to develop a Pervasive Transnational Adaptation model for Qatar and the Gulf States, covering such issues as: ICT adoption, agile project management, technology-transfer, innovation, offsite construction, Public Private Partnerships, capacity building, and international strategic alliances

Information technology in construction: How to realise the benefits?

Advancement in the utilisation of computers has, in recent years, become a major, even dominating research and development target in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. However, in empirical investigations, no major benefits accruingfrom construction IT have been found. Why do the many IT applications, which when separately analysed seem so well justified, fail to produce positive impacts when the totality of the construction project is analysed? The objective of this chapter is to find the explanation for this paradox and to provide initial guidelines as to what should be done to correct the situation

Modular assembly with postponement to improve health, safety & productivity in construction

This paper presents the outcome of an engineering study as part of the design and development of a lean and agile construction system and in particular its supply chain component. This combines modular assembly with a postponement function to be tested on a case study project (not reported here), the objective of which is to improve health, safety and productivity for the company sponsoring the research. The contribution to research is the combination of countermeasures described in this paper that have been developed and incorporated into a wider construction system, in the same way that manufacturing has used this strategy with great success. Also, a further output is the development and use of an innovative method for assembling, transporting and installing mechanical and electrical modules, whereby modularization can be achieved with or without offsite manufacturing capability. The research forecasts a reduction of onsite labor of 35% compared to using traditional methods of construction, with less onsite operatives at risk of injury carrying out simpler assembly tasks within ergonomic mobile work cells. Further research is proposed to measure the benefits of the construction system following its implementation on a case study project

Process and IT (Editorial)

Purpose – This paper’s aim is to provide a fresh perspective on how to address process improvement and information technology (IT) in an integrated fashion in order to improve the efficiency of the construction process. Design/methodology/approach –This paper looks at the problems associated with the “conventional” way of addressing IT within construction, and suggests improvements based on integrating three core organisational resources: people, process and technology. Findings – The existing view that IT on its own brings organisational benefits leads to only marginal improvements in organisational efficiency if not resulting in negative impact. However, by correctly integrating people, process and IT initiatives, significant benefits can be achieved. Originality/value – This paper provides value by providing a conceptualisation for addressing people, process and technology within the construction sector

An exploration of knowledge and understanding – the eighth flow

The argument for understanding Lean construction as a socio-technical field is growing and the need to better consider the role of human beings within construction systems is becoming the dominant factor in project success. Many current attributes of lean already focus on people and on human engagement approaches but the field of lean construction addresses project environments that are often complex and highly variable. The authors argue that the successful delivery of these projects relies on the creation of a common understanding of the project objectives within the diverse value systems of project participants and wider society. Additionally, many of the new ways of working that lean thinking brings already support the creation of a common understanding and could be harnessed to better effect. Based on a literature review and supported by case study examples the authors explore the nature of knowledge and understanding and position them within an eight flow model for construction production. The findings indicate a need to reconsider the development of a common understand for each project due to the tacit nature of experiential knowledge held within the project team and the specificity and complexity of the project environment. As a result effort is required to generate and maintain a common understanding throughout the project duration. The continued attention and action required to maintain this common understanding elevates it to a flow of equal status to those identified in Koskela’s flow production model thus increasing the number of flows to eight. A significant lean construction case study is revisited and examined to identify interventions undertaken to achieve this generation and management of common understanding thus demonstrating that this development already exists, albeit intuitively, as an element of “lean thinking”

Moving on - beyond lean thinking

Lean Thinking is currently often positioned as the underlying theory of lean production among practitioners and academics, although its originators, Womack and Jones, seem not to have presented it as a theory. This paper endeavors to analyze whether Lean Thinking can be viewed as a theory of lean production. For this purpose, a critical assessment of Lean Thinking is carried out. Lean Thinking is argued to lack an adequate conceptualization of production, which has led to imprecise concepts, such as the term “value”. The five principles of Lean Thinking do not orderly cover value generation, and they do not always encapsulate the core topics in their respective areas. The failure to trace the origin of lean concepts and principles reduces the opportunity to justify and explain them. Despite claims for generality, the application area of the five lean principles is limited to the transformation of mass production, with, for instance, one-of-a-kind production and construction being largely out of scope. It is concluded that it is opportune to move on beyond Lean Thinking, towards a generic theory of production, for acquiring a solid foundation for designing, operating and improving production systems

The Impact of ICT on Economic Sectors

As the author could not find a reassuring mathematical and statistical method in the literature for studying the effect of information communication technologyon enterprises, the author suggested a new research andanalysis method that he also used to study the Hungarian economic sectors. The question of what factors have an effecton their net income is vital for enterprises. The highest increment of specific Gross Value Added was produced by thefields of ‘Manufacturing’, ‘Electricity, gas and water supply’,‘Transport, storage and communication’ and ‘Financialintermediation’. With the exception of ‘Electricity, gas andwater supply’, the other economic sectors belong to the groupof underdeveloped branches (below 50%).On the other hand, ‘Construction’, ‘Health and social work’and‘Hotels and restaurants’ can be seen as laggards, so theygot into the lower left part of the coordinate system.‘Agriculture, hunting and forestry’ can also be classified as alaggard economic sector, but as the effect of the compoundindicator on the increment of Gross Value Added was lesssignificant, it can be found in the upper left part of thecoordinate system. Drawing a trend line on the points, it can bemade clear that it shows a positive gradient, that is, the higherthe usage of ICT devices, the higher improvement can bedetected in the specific Gross Value Added

Building information modelling (BIM) implementation and remote construction projects: issues, challenges, and critiques.

The construction industry has been facing a paradigm shift to (i) increase productivity, efficiency, infrastructure value; quality and sustainability (ii) reduce lifecycle costs, lead times and duplications via effective collaboration and communication of stakeholders in construction projects. This paradigm shift is becoming more critical with remote construction projects, which reveals unique and even more complicated challenging problems in relation to communication and management due to the remoteness of the construction sites. On the other hand, Building Informational Modelling (BIM) is offered by some as the panacea to addressing the interdisciplinary inefficiencies in construction projects. Although in many cases the adoption of BIM has numerous potential benefits, it also raises interesting challenges with regards to how BIM integrates the business processes of individual practices. This paper aims to show how BIM adoption for an architectural company helps to mitigate the management and communication problems in remote construction project. The paper adopts a case study methodology, which is a UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project of BIM adoption between the University of Salford, UK and John McCall Architects (JMA), in which the BIM use between the architectural company and the main contractor for a remote construction project is elaborated and justified. Research showed that the key management and communication problems such as poor quality of construction works, unavailability of materials, and ineffective planning and scheduling can largely be mitigated by adopting BIM at the design stage