Lean Construction

Lean construction is different way of thinking about construction—whole system, value oriented, involving all in making improvements, eliminating waste and creating value for customers and end-users.

It requires a willingness to learn and to learn by making mistakes - so blame cultures and organisations run on command & control lines will fail to get it.

Benefits

1. less hassle - this is a collaborative process, good planning is part of what we do.
   

2. more learning within projects and carried between projects
   

3. faster delivery - designs are more buildable as the production design emerges alongside the project design
   

4. more value for money
   

5. safer
   

These documents give more information about lean thinking applied to the end-to-end construction process

1. What does it mean to be lean.pdf
   

2. What-is-Integrated-Project-Delivery.pdf  or  What-is-Lean-Project-Delivery.pdf
   

3. section 12 of More-than-materials-Construction-Logistics-ECCL.pdf
   

4. why do projects on a lean basis? - read this article by Macomber and Howell
   

Getting started with lean

Lean is a journey.  There is no destination – you are in competition with the company that you know you can become and that is continually changing and developing.  As Dr. W Edwards Deming said “it doesn’t matter when you begin, so long as you start today.”  For ideas on how to get started click here.

What is lean construction?

While most are agreed that lean is a journey, the rest is the subject of a continuing debate among both academics and practitioners.

The definition we work with involves:

1. systems thinking
   

2. collaboration
   

3. involving everyone
   

4. focus on value creation for the customer/end-user
   

5. enabling work to flow
   

6. consistency of purpose
   

7. principled and scientific approach
   

8. continual improvement
   

9. optimisation of the whole
   

10. learning
    

Lean tools are part of what we do but we are clear that lean tools on their own do not make a process lean.

Among the lean tools we use are:

1. Last Planner®
   

2. 5S [5C]
   

3. 5 Why
   

4. Control Charts
   

5. Process Flowcharts
   

6. waste elimination