Critical Evaluation Of Process System Using Lean Principles

Traditional management process/system

The role of technology in today’s life cannot be overemphasized. The technology has not only revolutionized the way people communicate, share information, travel or work but also the way they do business. Construction industry is one of the industries that have significantly been disrupted by modern technology mainly because it is largely affected by waste (Hosseini et al., 2012). By using technology, stakeholders in the construction industry are now able to complete projects more quickly, efficiently, cost-effectively and sustainability. One major aspects of technology is that it is replacing traditional methods or practices of executing construction projects. The traditional management methods or systems are also not sufficient because of the rapid changes in societal or client needs and environmental conditions.

The current situation at the company is that most of its operations are performed and managed using traditional processes. This system has numerous drawbacks including the following, which are affecting the company now:

Traditional management system does not enable efficient and timely sharing of information among stakeholders involved in a project thus leading to delays. In most cases, stakeholders have to meet physically so that they can discuss important matters regardless of their urgency. This generally consumes a lot of time and increases project delivery time.   

One of the key aspects of traditional management systems is poor communication. Traditional management teams are usually segregated making it difficult to share information accurately from top to bottom levels of management. The information is usually distorted along the chain leading to different interpretations (Johnson, 2017).

With traditional management system, stakeholders do not usually share a common goal and hence they fail to commit themselves to ensure total attainment of this goal. This is mainly because the system separates various stages of the construction project, i.e. pre-construction stage, construction stage and post-construction stage. There is no proper coordination and collaboration among the teams working at different stages because they all work independently (Kokemuller, 2014). This locks out key stakeholders from contributing their ideas in the first stages of the project. Poor coordination and collaboration also leads to poor working relationships because the system cannot detect and resolve conflicts appropriately.It also results to delayed and poor decision making.

Traditional management system does not have a strategy of detecting, identifying and correcting errors. As a result of this, most errors (such as design errors) are usually carried forward to later stages of the project. By the time they are identified, it is very costly and time consuming to correct them.  

This is another major issue with traditional management systems. This system does not enable accurate and efficient allocation and utilization of resources. For this reason, it is very common to find that the estimates done are below the actual costs of the project. In addition, the numerous delays and errors associated with traditional management system translate into increased costs of the project.

New construction management practices are being developed nowadays and companies take advantage by adopting them as long as they will improve their efficiency and productivity. However, traditional management systems are very rigid to adopt any new changes irrespective of how efficient or beneficial they are to the company (DMA Team, 2015).

Increased project delivery time

The final quality of projects managed by traditional systems is usually low because these systems do not have comprehensive techniques of monitoring and controlling quality at each stage of the construction project. The low quality of final products translates into higher costs of the products throughout their lifecycle.

This is the final and greatest drawback of traditional management system because if the client is not satisfied with the final product then it means that the whole process has failed and all resources used were wasted.In most cases, the client is unsatisfied due to increased project delivery time, low quality product, and higher costs than estimated. Most importantly is that traditional management system does not focus on the client needs. The team does not take time to understand what the client wants and therefore ends up creating products that not fully meet the client’s needs (Mossman, Ballard and Pasquire, 2010).

Currently, the company uses a systematic planning and management system for execution of its construction projects. The system comprises of a master schedule for plants, materials and personnel. This master schedule shows the allocation of resources at various stages of the construction project from start to finish. There are also shorter term plans derived from the master schedule. The shorter term plans are usually weekly plans showing how resources are allocated for all activities being performed during the week.

The master plan is being used sometimes but it is not followed appropriately. For instance, parties involved do not follow the activities defined in the weekly plans. Most of the weekly activities are never completed as required and this leads to increased project delivery times, budget overruns, poor quality work, and failure to achieve the project goals and objectives.

There is also very poor coordination and collaboration between the design team and construction team. In most cases, contractors have to wait until they win the bid before they can start any production. It seems that the company does not realize that one of the main benefits of involving contractors in the design stage is so that they can start production as earlier as possible so as to reduce project delivery time and costs.

The company is also using an inefficient procurement strategy, which is based on the lowest price. According to the company’s tight financial control, all materials and work packages are procured for their lowest prices. This is wrong because the lowest prices usually compromise the quality of materials used and work done. In the long run, this procurement strategy costs the company a lot of money. The company is also running into losses because of purchasing materials in bulk so as to get discounts.

The working environment is also quite unfavorable for many subcontractors working with the company. Subcontracts usually complain of being strained on site to work with very tight budgets. The company does not have a platform where subcontractors can share their experiences and challenges they are facing. These subcontractors end up working under these challenging environments, which affect the quality of their work.

Poor communication

The company’s site personnel work for very long hours and they are constantly solving problems on the site, which affect their overall productivity. It is likely that one of the reasons why the personnel are exhausted is because they are not motivated and their efforts to work for long hours are not appreciated appropriately by the company.

The project deliver method that the company is using is design-build, which has lower profitability than average in the construction industry.This method presents several disadvantages to the company including: higher risks, conflicts, contract management, etc. (Pabor and Pennington, 2012; Sierra Companies, 2012).

The volume of physical wastes that are generated on site is very huge. These wastes show inappropriate allocation and use of resources by the company. The company also does numerous reworks such as defect rectification after handover and subcontractors are also forced to do extra works that cost them more. These cost leakages affect the company’s profit margins and also hinders the company from realizing its tight financial control goals.

The idea of lean production started after the Second World War and was initiated by Toyota in Japan (Lean Enterprise Institute, 2017). Between 1945 and 1970, Toyota developed and applied Toyota Production System (TPS), which was overseen by Engineer Taiichi Ohno (Carnegie Mellon University, (n.d.)).The research team at Toyota made up the term lean that aimed at reducing waste, improving production and increasing customer value (Forbes and Ahmed, 2010). In 1970s, lean production became the most efficient method of production across the world. Following the benefits that lean production had in the manufacturing industry, other industries also started adopting lean thinking and principles.

TPS comprises of 14 principles that are categorized into four major groups: philosophy, process, people and partners, and problem solving, as shown in Figure 1 below. The company should establish a long-term philosophy by aiming to move to the next level, generating value of the economy, society and customer, and being responsible for their management decisions and actions. This can be achieved by investigating problems personally so as to understand them better (Genchi Genbutsu), making informed decisions after analyzing all possible solutions, and learning throughout via continuous improvements (Kaizen) and persistent reflection (hansei) (Kumar, 2013).

According to Gleeson and Townend (2007), the International Group for Lean Construction devised the term lean construction in 1993 during its first meeting. Basically, lean construction originated from lean production. This was after stakeholders in the construction industry realized that most of the problems they faced were the same as those faced in manufacturing industry. Since 1993 until today, lean construction has become a new paradigm that used to manage construction projects. Many countries such as the UK, U.S., Australia, Denmark, Chile, China and Brazil, among others have also established legal frameworks for promoting adoption of lean construction.

Application of lean principles has gained significant traction in the construction industry over the past two decades mainly because of their benefits. The basic concept of lean construction is to minimize waste and maximize the client’s value (Construction Excellence, 2015; Jones, 2016; Mackie, 2017). This concept is based on lean manufacturing that was adopted by TPS to reduce waste and increase production after the Second World War. Nevertheless, application of lean principles in the construction industry has been faced by a variety of challenges. One of the challenges is that the environment in which construction takes place is not always controlled, making it difficult to develop and achieve reliable and predictable workflows.

Poor coordination and collaboration

There are five key lean steps that can be applied in almost any industry, such as construction, manufacturing, health, agricultural, education, etc.

The first lean step is to specify value. It is important for the company to understand the value that the customer wants or expects from the project. This value is what determines the amount of money that customers are willing to pay for the project or the commitment they are ready to make. The company should also establish the drive behind the customers’ value. In other words, the company should find answers to questions such as the problems that the product will solve;the timelines for product design, production and delivery; and the specific features that the customer wants in the product (Mimeo, 2016).This value should be determined from the perspective of the customer. Once the company specifies and understands the value needed by the customer, it becomes easier to start working on the project with the main goal being to achieve this value. The company can use this to develop approaches of eliminating wastes and reducing costs so as to increase its profit margins (BMA Inc., 2008). In general, specifying value from the perspective of the customer helps the company to determine the end goal of the project.

After specifying the value for the project, the next step is to identify and map/draw all the processes and steps that are necessary to transform specific raw materials into final products. This encompasses all processes and steps involved at varied stages and departments related to the project including planning, design, procurement, human resource, production, administration, customer service and delivery. The basic concept of value stream is to map or draw a chart showing the flow of materials from the source until they are transformed into final products. This helps in identifying any steps or processes that do not create or add value to the product and eliminate them because they are just a waste of resources.The mapping is done by analyzing product limitations, inefficiencies, delays and value-creating processes. The mapping of value stream is also referred to as reengineering process because it entails filtering the process of transforming raw materials into final products (Crawford, 2016). The process also helps the company to have a better understanding of the entire project implementation process because each step is comprehensively scrutinized to determine its usefulness and contribution to the final product value.  

After identifying necessary steps to create value, the next step is to ensure that these steps occur in a systematic sequence. Systematic flow of steps ensures that the entire production process is smooth from the start until when the finished product is delivered to the client. According to this principle, waste starts occurring when forward movement of the value chain stops. Therefore this principle aims at ensuring that the production process never stops for whatever reasons until delivery of final products to the client. The best way for the company to achieve this is to create a synchronized production process, which ensures a continuous production process. This entails workplace standardization and organization, and getting well-trained personnel to perform tasks (Turner Construction Company, 2017). The benefits of a seamless flow process is waste minimization and value addition to the client.  

Increased errors

The ultimate goal of lean principles is to eliminate waste. This is not different from establishing pull. The fundamental concept of establishing pull is to create an on-demand or just-in-time model (Lean-Manufacturing-Juction.com, 2014). This means that production starts only when a client makes an order. No production process is done until the client orders for a product or service. In other words, the company does not use any resources in production based on its schedule and forecasts (the company does not push production based on its forecasts but the production is pulsed by the orders make by clients). This plays a key role in eliminating wastes associated with wrong production projections and ongoing inventory (Millard, 2016).The major disadvantages of pushing production based on forecasts is that market demands keep on changing and if they occur, the company is likely to incur losses because the products produced will not find the projected market at reasonable prices. But for the company to pull value successfully, it must have very short design, production and delivery cycle times of the products or services it offers.

This step aims at striving for perfection in the entire project implementation process. Lean thinkers are always looking for opportunities they can use to improve each value stream step and process. This can be achieved by identifying and eliminating any possible causes of problems from the implementation process. This principle requires participation from all members involved in the project because each member has a better understanding of the specific problems/issues they are facing in their respective departments. One approach of continuous improvement is to continuously and systematically monitor and control quality of the final product so as to identify and eliminate any factors that may be affecting the quality from the production process. All the five lean principles aim at eliminating wastes, increase quality of final products, creating and adding value, and ensuring that the needs of the client are fully achieved.

Application of lean principles started in the manufacturing industry but has expanded to numerous industries, including construction industry (Intergraph Corporation, 2012). The following are some of the benefits of implementing lean construction principles.

Some of the key targets of lean principles are elimination of waste and continuous improvement. Lean principles create defined work processes, improve project planning, develop an intelligible strategic vision, and use innovative and effective management tools. All these enhances productivity by reducing wastage of resources, materials and time (Rohner, 2016; Williams, 2016).

Lean principles create a seamless flow of production from start to finish. This means that all employees along the production line are properly trained to perform their duties diligently. This eliminates possibilities of defects and improves quality of the final product created. In other words, lean construction principles support built-in quality approach (Aziz and Hafez, 2013).  

Lean construction principles streamline all work processes and eliminate waste, which translate into reduced construction costs and increased profit margins (Akio, 2014; Shelow, 2013). These principles minimize chances of defects, unnecessary purchase of materials and equipment, delays, labor, and inappropriate allocation of resources. Application of lean principles make it easier to identify all these potential wastes and eliminate them even before the start of actual construction works. When wastes are eliminated or minimized, the total cost of the project reduces thus creating an opportunity for the company’s profit margins to rise.

Budget overruns

With high project implementation efficiency, increased quality of final products and reduced costs, the satisfaction of the client obviously increases. One of the major elements of lean principles is that they focus on defining value of the project mainly from the client’s perspective. This means that the entire construction process is created with an aim of meeting the needs of the clients.

Lean principles establish very specific parameters of measuring the performance of employees. Here, performance of all employees is systematically monitored so as to establish their success or failure. These observations help in identifying the impacts of lean principles on the overall performance of the company, the contributions made by each employee, and the need for training among employees. Most importantly, employees know that their contribution is very essential and therefore they will do everything possible not to be the cause of project failure.

Lean principles increase the flexibility of the company by making it easier to create products immediately a client places an order. This means that there is less inventory along the value stream and the lead time is very short. This enables the company to manage risks effectually because production is only done when there is demand (Gembutsu Consulting LLC, 2009). With lean construction, all risks associated with overproduction are eliminated because the production is pulled rather than being pushed.

One of the key aspects of lean construction principles is to investigate how to complete a job in a safe, effective and efficient manner. Understanding this helps in findings ways of simplifying the job thus making it easier and safer for employees to perform their duties. For example, instead of cutting heavy metals that may contain toxic substances on site so as to create building components, lean construction approach ensures these components are fabricated in a factory and transported on site ready for installation.

Lean construction principles significantly reduce project delivery time for many reasons. These principles establish the most efficient workflow that will facilitate speedy completion of each process along the value stream (Issa, 2013). They also eliminate unnecessary works and wastes. Above all, they advocate for prefabrication. Completing projects more quickly enables the company to bid for more contracts, which increases its annual revenue.  

It is very expensive for a contractor to be called back to a site to do some reworks or repairs. Lean construction avoids this by ensuring that the client is fully involved at each stage of the project. When the client is fully involved, it becomes easier to detect errors and correct them right away instead of carrying them forward. By the time the project is completed, there will be no chances of the client complaining because everything will have been done in accordance with their specifications and needs.

Lean construction approach can only work if all stakeholders and team members work closely with each other by communicating effectively and coordinating all activities from start to finish. This approach compel all stakeholders, including the client, contractor, suppliers and subcontractors, to work together in ensuring that each process is completed within time and budget, and that any problems are detected and resolved early. Improved communication and partnerships also make it easier to identify and resolve any conflicts that may arise.   

Rigid to adopt new changes

Lean principles aim at eliminating wastes throughout the lifecycle of the product. This means that wastes are eliminated during pre-construction stage, construction stage, and post-construction stage. As a result, the product or service continue eliminating wastes even after handover (McGraw Hill Construction, 2013).

Lack of knowledge: this is a major drawback and roadblock to implementation of lean principles because lean approach can only be implemented by people who understand it. If the company does not provide adequate training to its employees then it is not possible to implement lean principles. The training and implementation process also require significant amount of resources, which is a challenge to many companies (Schumacher and Nardella, 2014).  

Complexity perception: lean construction tools and philosophies behind implementation of lean principles can be quite difficult for understanding by beginners. Many contractors find it difficult to understand the jargons and steps involved in implementing lean principles, which hinder them from adopting lean approach (McGraw Hill Construction, 2013).

Unity, focus and dedication of team mandatory: implementation of lean principles can only be successful if all parties unite and get dedicated to work towards a common goal. The team must also agree to stick to lean construction approach from start to end of the project. If anything weakens the unity, focus dedication of team members at any stage of the project then the benefits of adopting lean principles may not be realized.

No immediate results: any company that expects to realize the benefits of lean principles immediately after implementing them always gets disappointed. It takes a substantial amount of time before starting to realize full benefits of implementing lean principles. The problem that most companies have unrealistic expectations about the transformation that will be brought by implementation of lean principles. Therefore failure to realize these benefits instantly discourages some people from implementing the lean principles fully.

Resistance to change by some parties: as stated before, lean principles can be fully implemented only if all parties get focused towards one goal. If any of the parties involved are not ready for the radical business change that comes along with lean principles, full benefits cannot be realized.

Management pressure: this is a major drawback of implementing lean principles because failure or success of implementation lies largely on the management. The top management is expected to provide the necessary resources and guidance on how to implement these principles (Construction World, 2017). Senior managers should also closely monitor and control progress of the project to ensure that expected performance is attained. Failure by the top management to provide the necessary support is a major roadblock to implementation of lean principles (Tezel, 2016).

Time consuming: just like most new technologies or approaches of implementing a project, lean principles can be quite time consuming especially during early stages of implementation. This can be costly and hinders some contractors from implementing lean principles. However, this changes with time as they become more familiar with lean approach.

For overcoming external as well as internal problems, the construction company needs to follow the lean principle of Toyota. 14 principles of Toyota need to be applied to the company for improving implementation of the master plan (Dave 2016).  The four main categories of the Toyota principles include a long-term philosophy, elimination of process having no value and reduction of waster, respecting and challenging partners as well as people and finally continuous improvement through problem solving.

Low quality products

As per Erol (2017), major focal points of the Toyota principle is improvement continuously and respect for different individuals. Long-term vision is established through continuous improvement and the sources are looked for problems and issues. The first philosophy is the long-term philosophy that provides guidance regarding long-term philosophical goals instead of short-term goals that are based on finance through motivation and establishment of objectives. According to Center (2015), problems should be brought to the surface through continuous flow of processes eliminating wastes utilizing continuous improvement process or the kaizen. Usually production includes wastes such as the overproduction, waiting, unnecessary conveyance and transport, motion, excess inventory and defects. Pull system should be deployed for avoiding any potential overproduction in the process and whenever material is required, signal should be provided that reduce overproduction and only necessary amount of material is produced. Workload throughout the production must be divided equally that helps to reduce overburden on equipment, people and thus helps to create an even level of production (Banawi 2014). Quality should be kept the top priority issue and tasks should be standardized for continuous improvement as well as empowerment of employees. Visual controls should be implemented for visual focus on each problem. Tested and reliable technology should also be implemented in processes as well as leadership skills should be used for developing people as well as teams for following philosophy of company.  Extended partner and supplier network should be respected through providing adequate challenge and providing them scope of improving. As per Gao (2014), understanding situation should be thoroughly through slow decision making and considering the implementation, options as well as rapid decisions.  Finally, the organization should be made a learning house through reflection and improvement continuously. It is usually implemented through perception of the initial problem, clarification of problems, locating and cause, investigation of the root cause that helps in developing countermeasures for the problems. Evaluation of the issues and countermeasures and finally standardizing the countermeasures within the process (Santorella 2016).

A company when implements the 14 principles of Toyota enhances in employee engagement , organization product, product quality, production rate, elimination of waste and economic viability. The construction company having a master plan for systematic planning and organizing through monitoring of the progress and management is not utilized often that leads to loss of track within the construction process. To prevent chaotic weekly level activities leadership skills needs to be implemented as per Toyota principle (Gao 2014). During overburdening of the workers principle, four must be implemented for dividing the workload and principle 5 must be initiated for solving problems in productivity as well as principle 9 to enhance efficiency of managers for sharing work processes as well as methodology. As per principle, 11 respects among the workers must be maintained that will solve the problem of issues between subcontractors due to poor communication and collaboration (O. AlSehaimi 2014). Continuous flow of process must be progressed through reduction of waste and improvement continuously. As it is seen in the construction company that profitability is very low and there is huge amount of physical waste which is transported from site as well as cost of additional rectification and additional subcontractor cost tight financial control  through controlling leakage of loss must be implemented by principle 2 of the Toyota principles. According to Hussain (2015), overproduction must be reduced through proper and precise estimation so that only economical materials are ordered for construction instead of excessive construction materials that are not required on site. Waiting must be avoided that leads to loss of time resources. As per Dave (2016), transport should be checked that reduces unnecessary transportation cost, over processing and incorrect processing must be avoided as well as excess inventory. Only limited required amount of materials must be stored and defects must be avoided through quality control and quality assessment of the materials as well as various concrete, highway and geotechnical laboratory tests. This will also ensure that shortage of materials on site is prevented that often delays construction process.          

Unsatisfied clients

Issues within the construction company

Principle 1

Principle 2

Principle 3

Principle 4

Principle 5

Principle 6

Principle 7

Principle 8

Principle 9

Principle 10

Principle 11

Principle 12

Principle 13

Principle 14

Lack of following the systematic master plan

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Chaotic activities at weekly level

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

No orderly production management

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Tight financial control with low procurement of work package and materials at lowest possible price

Achieved

Buying large, impractical batches

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Delay of work

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Constant troubleshooting and long hours exhausting the employees

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Profitability is lower than average

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Poor site management

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Achieved

Physical waste transported from site with additional rectification cost, work cost by subcontractors

Achieved

Table 1: Issues solved through lean principles

(Source: Created by the author)

The construction company through specifying a value for the organization can implement lean management. It should be met through customer needs as well as specific products of the organization meeting customer specific time as well as budget for the construction project (Erol 2017). Main value of stream needs to be identified with specific required actions that require brining products through three stages of critical management of any business as well as task of problem solving. A map of Current state as well as state of the future needs to be developed for categorizing and identifying wastes of the current organization and devise ways for waste elimination. According to Center (2015), the value of the stream flow should be maintained and eliminating the barriers of functions must be ensured for development of product-focused organization that helps in improvement of lead-time of the process. The customer should be allowed to pull products as required that help in eliminating forecast of sales as well as elimination of needs. Finally, perfection through reducing products, time, cost and space is required for eliminating mistakes.

Last planner system (LPS) is a planning collaborative process, which involves the design team leaders as well as the planner for more in depth support of workflow throughout the project (Banawi 2014). Moreover, it also helps in building trust and delivers projects much rapidly with adequate safety. Five key processes are collaborative planning that helps in agreeing and creating sequence of production as well as handing over from one design team to another. According to Gao (2014), the ready tasks will be collaboratively referred as planning of weekly work. The collaborative production monitoring also helps in tracking activities regularly and provides opportunity for planning, production as well as improvement for rate of flow of the work.

It has been seen that the high level of maturity leads to 67% completion on scheduled time with 68% completion with budget as well as 73% within meeting of business objectives and goals for intent. A medium maturity level of organization leads to 55% of project completion of time, 58% completion on budget and 67% meeting business goals and objectives (Gao 2014). Finally, low maturity level in project management of organization leads to 39% of project completion on scheduled time, 44% of project completion on scheduled budget and approximately 53% meeting organization goals and objectives (Hussain 2015).

It has been seen that most of the projects had issues regarding cost and time that included 70% being late delivery constituting around 10% projects delivered early and only 20% projects delivered on time. Moreover, around 73% of the projects by the construction company delivered the projects over tender price.  Erol (2017) stated that around 13% provided under tender price and approximately, 14% delivered on tender price.

The construction company can follow the steps of implementing last planner system to mitigate potential issues in project management process.

For the new process/system developed to be implemented successfully, it requires a comprehensive plan. The following are some of the implementation plans that the company must be ready to use:

Actual Current Process

This should be the first step that the company should take towards implementation of the solution. The company should inform all stakeholders about the plans to implement the new process/system, expected benefits and challenges, and the role that each stakeholder is expected to play in ensuring successful implementation.

Implementing the new process/system requires significant changes in the company’s culture because the mode of business operation will definitely change. This new process/system will have direct impacts on how the company executes projects in terms of resources used, input by each stakeholder and sharing of information. Therefore the company must be prepared to change its business culture including technological, social, and behavioral aspects (Nesensohn, Demir and Bryde, 2012). Besides changing the organizational culture, sometimes it is also necessary to change the leadership of the company when implementing this kind of new process/system.

This is a very important process because team members can only adopt the process/system if they understand how it works. For this reason, the company should set aside the required resources to train its personnel about the new process/system, including how it works, its benefits and how to implement it. The training can be internal or external.

The new process/system can only be implemented if team members are provided with an enabling environment. For this reason, the company should ensure that it provides all the necessary resources, getnecessary support from top management, have a neutral platform for discussing progress and challenges of implementation, ensure safety and overall good working conditions of employees, and allow employees to explore new ideas and use their creativity without limitations (Neto and Alves, 2007).

It is also very important for the company to identify potential risks associated with implementation of the new process/system and develop strategies of managing these risks.

The company must identify important roles of implementing the new process/strategy and assign them to specific personnel. This will help in ensuring that all roles are assigned to persons who are competent to perform them excellently. It also reduces chances of role duplication and makes everybody to be dedicated and accountable for their performance.  

The major goal of implementing lean principles is to eliminate waste throughout the product lifecycle.Different types of waste include: defects, overproduction, incorrect/over processing, excessive inventory, waiting, unnecessary transport, unnecessary movement, inefficiency processing, or any process that does not add value to the client needs (as shown in Figure 6 below). The company must identify all wastes it generates so as to develop specific actions of eliminating each type of waste.

The company should also create value stream and workflow that outline all steps to be followed from start until realizing all goals and objectives of implementing lean principles. This will keep every stakeholder focused on the implementation process, and make it easier to know the path that should be followed throughout the process.

This is very important because everything and everyone must work jointly. The company should create a system that integrates all implementation processes and which make it easier for all stakeholders to access important information at any time, and see any changes made (Bhargav et al., 2015). This integration should boost transparency of all activities and also allow members to express their opinions without fear or contradiction.

Inefficient use of the planning and management system

The company should have a system that monitors the progress of implementation. This helps in establishing whether the set goals and objectives are being met or not. This can also be done by having parameters for measuring performance before and after implementation of the new process/strategy. The plan is also important in identifying need to improve the system or provide more training to team members. Most companies also prefer setting up a special department to oversee implementation of lean construction principles (Alarcon and Diethelm, 2011; Warcup, 2015).

The company should adopt 5S methodology, which organizes and standardizes the workplace. The first S is sort, which entails removing unused items in the workplace and storing them away (Felipe, 2016). The second S is set in order, which involves daily arrangement of items in the workplace to facilitate easy accessibility and storage. The third S is shine, which entails cleaning all items used to ensure that they function properly. The fourth S is standardize, which involves creating routes that organize workplaces and assist in the process. The fifth S is sustain, which entails developing a culture that ensures everybody in the company sticks tothe 5S every day (Gatlin, 2009; LeanProject, 2017; Lista International Corp, 2017).

After implementing lean construction approach, the company must also focus on its continuous improvement. The continuous improvement process should target at reducing waste further, improving cycle time, reducing client response time, saving money and improving operational efficiencies of the company. There are several proposals for implementing continuous improvement. These include Kaizen, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and Lean, among others (Steve, 2016). Kaizen is a mindset-based methodology that pulls together resources to solve a targeted problem of the project. This problem is in the mindset of the stakeholders involved. Six Sigma is an approach that uses measurements and statistics to create outputs that meet or exceed client expectations. Total Quality Management focuses on improving quality of the final product. Lean is focused on improving quality, value and process by reducing process wastes. The selected continuous improvement approach for this project is lean design and production in construction. This approach will eliminate all wastes, including transport, motion, waiting, inventory, defects, over processing, and overproduction.

Implementing continuous improvement starts with identifying the company’s current process and analyzing it comprehensively. Understanding the current process helps in identifying its strengths and weaknesses. Some of the parameters used to conduct the analysis include: number of staffs affected by the process; time taken by the staffs to work on the process; problems affecting the current process and their root causes; expected benefits of implementing the continuous improvement methodology; other processes or teams that will be affected when the continuous improvement methodology is implemented; and resources needed for the implementation process (LeanKit Inc., 2017).

It is also very important for the company to measure its performance after implementing the continuous improvement so as to establish its impacts. Some of the performance measurement parameters to use are: budgeted/actual man hours, budgeted/actual cost, productivity of labor and equipment, planned/actual project duration, progress measurements, frequency rate of accidents, staff morale and productivity, customer satisfaction level, product/service quality level, response time, and profit margins, among others. Most importantly is for the company to implement the continuous improvement methodology by applying the following key principles: planning, doing, checking and acting (Gaskell, 2009), as shown in Figure 8 below. Planning is about identifying an opportunity and making arrangements for change. Doing entails implementing the planned change but on a small scale. Checking involves using data to analyze the results brought by the change and establishing whether there is a positive change. Acting is about implementing the change on a large scale, when the change is successful, and assessing the results continuously. According to Sobek and Smalley (2008), the plan, do, check and act model employs the principles of A3 thinking that focuses on solving problems through effective communication among project team members.

Failure to follow the master plan

After implementing lean construction approach, the company must also focus on its continuous improvement. The continuous improvement process should target at reducing waste further, improving cycle time, reducing client response time, saving money and improving operational efficiencies of the company. There are several proposals for implementing continuous improvement. These include: Kaizen, Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and Lean, among others (Steve, 2016). Kaizen is a mindset-based methodology that pulls together resources to solve a targeted problem of the project. This problem is in the mindset of the stakeholders involved. Six Sigma is an approach that uses measurements and statistics to create outputs that meet or exceed client expectations. Total Quality Management focuses on improving quality of the final product. Lean is focused on improving quality, value and process by reducing process wastes. The selected continuous improvement approach for this project is lean design and production. This approach will eliminate all wastes, including transport, motion, waiting, inventory, defects, over processing, and overproduction.

Implementing continuous improvement starts with identifying the company’s current process and analyzing it comprehensively. Understanding the current process helps in identifying its strengths and weaknesses. Some of the parameters used to conduct the analysis include: number of staffs affected by the process; time taken by the staffs to work on the process; problems affecting the current process and their root causes; expected benefits of implementing the continuous improvement methodology; other processes or teams that will be affected when the continuous improvement methodology is implemented; and resources needed for the implementation process (LeanKit Inc., 2017).

It is also very important for the company to measure its performance after implementing the continuous improvement so as to establish its impacts. Some of the performance measurement parameters to use are: budgeted/actual man hours, budgeted/actual cost, productivity of labor and equipment, planned/actual project duration, progress measurements, frequency rate of accidents, staff morale and productivity, customer satisfaction level, product/service quality level, response time, and profit margins, among others. Most importantly is for the company to implement the continuous improvement methodology by applying the following key principles: planning, doing, checking and acting. Planning is about identifying an opportunity and making arrangements for change. Doing entails implementing the planned change but on a small scale. Checking involves using data to analyze the results brought by the change and establishing whether there is a positive change. Acting is about implementing the change on a large scale, when the change is successful, and assessing the results continuously.

Conclusion and recommendations

It can be concluded that lean strategies similar to that of Toyota has been implemented for internal as well as external issues faced by the construction companies. Determination of problems has been identified through introduction of lean system. Major benefits that will be faced by the organization include implementation of effective systematic master plan and mitigating chaotic activities at weekly level. The production management will be in an orderly fashion with efficient and tight financial control with low procurement of work package and materials at lowest possible price. Buying of large impractical batches will be restricted and the delay of work on time will be reduced. Constant long hours of work exhausting the employees will also be mitigated through equal workload on each employee. Site management quality will be increased with reduced physical wastes transported from site with additional rectification cost, work cost by subcontractors. PDCA will also ensure sustainability of the lean strategy applied for the construction project management.  

Poor coordination and production approach

Adequate training programs should be implemented for establishment of the construction lean technology through theories, ideologies and models. Long-term results must be focused and hence two to three years must be allocated for a significant improvement and sustainable benefits. A dedicated leader should be appointed for sustaining and managing lean within the construction company. Systems, tools, techniques and principles must be implemented that helps the construction company in building momentum and there should be no status quo for an ideal state. Besides PDCA, cycle ‘Kaizen’ methodology needs to be incorporated as well that will enable the organization for eliminating resource misuse to a grass root level within the firm and eliminate wastage of resources with high efficiency. 

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