Major Barriers Assessment of Lean Construction Application in Construction Projects Delivery

Lean construction is known to reduce costs, improve profit or increase competitiveness, increase business opportunity and customer base, improve health and safety, improve quality, yield higher employee salaries, shorten production timescales and increase customer satisfaction. With little attention on research of lean construction in Malaysia, it remains a problem of non-standardization in waste elimination strategies thereby sub optimizing waste management in Malaysian construction projects. The objective of this paper is to evaluate lean construction techniques and measure the feasibility in term of their applicability for construction at selected sites in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The study is novel and significant in a sense that it can help to develop reliable management strategies for implementing lean construction technologies at the construction sites. Case studies were carried out as a strategic method and comprehensive survey that covers both questionnaire and interview were adopted as a method of data collection. Likert scale 1 to 5 was used in the written questionnaire with workers in order to assess the level of awareness and acceptance on the need of lean construction techniques for eight construction sites in various places and with various categories (infrastructure and building construction projects) in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Later, semi structural interview was conducted with expert judgment to justify the factors which affect the implementation of lean construction at the construction sites. From the study outcome, it was discovered that both Total Quality Management (TQM) and Industrialized Building System (IBS) were rated by the respondents to be highly effective in both infrastructure and building construction projects.

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Application level of lean construction techniques in reducing accidents in construction projects

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction ◽

10.1108/jfmpc-08-2018-0047 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 274-293

Author(s):

Adnan Enshassi ◽

Nour Saleh ◽

Sherif Mohamed

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Gaza Strip ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Lean Construction ◽

Current Status ◽

Future Research ◽

Accident Investigation ◽

Content Type ◽

Construction Companies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the application of lean construction (LC) techniques in reducing accidents in construction projects. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was used to collect the required data using a questionnaire survey and descriptive analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The LC techniques that were investigated in this paper are related to the tools of the last planner system (LPS), increased visualisation (IV), 5S, error-proofing, daily huddle meetings (DHMs), first-run studies (FRS), continuous improvement (Kaizen) and accident investigation (5Whys). Findings The overall results indicated that LC techniques are poorly implemented in construction projects in the Gaza Strip. The top three LC tools used to reduce the causes of accidents in the Gaza construction projects were 5Whys, 5S and LPS, while the highest three LC techniques applied to reduce the causes of accidents that were applicable were cleaning the workplace and removing materials and machines that are not required; conducting accident investigation and root cause analysis programmes; and using safety signs and labels on site. Research limitations/implications There is a lack of information and published studies regarding the links between LC and safety, especially in the Middle East. This paper is limited to the perceptions and geographical boundaries; therefore, it cannot be generalised. However, it could form the basis for useful comparison in the future. Triangulation research method could also be used in future research to minimise the bias and validate the conclusions. Practical implications The findings of this paper will stress professionals and construction companies in Gaza to reconsider their behaviour towards using LC techniques. The findings of this paper will aid them to shift their attention and resources towards including LC techniques in their plans to reduce the causes of accidents on construction sites. Social implications The findings of this paper will encourage professionals and construction companies in Gaza to reconsider their behaviour towards using LC techniques. The findings will also aid them to shift their attention and resources towards including LC techniques in their plans to reduce and/or avoid the causes of accidents on construction. Originality/value Because of the lack of published works that are specific to the Middle East, the authors believe that the originality lies in the paper’s serious attempt to explore the application level of the LC concept to safety in this part of the world. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the applicability of LC techniques in terms of accidents reduction. Findings from this paper provide a clear picture of the current status of using LC techniques to reduce accidents in the Gazan construction projects which drive them to investigate the main barriers and try to overcome them.

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Applying Lean Construction to Construction Project

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.834-836.1976 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 834-836 ◽

pp. 1976-1983 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nguyen Thanh Binh

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Employee Training ◽

Lean Construction ◽

3D Animation ◽

Concrete Construction ◽

Look Ahead ◽

Scheduling Method ◽

Scheduling Tool ◽

Major Factors ◽

Last Planner

Lean construction is aimed to improve construction performance by eliminating wastes that do not add value to the customer. This project studies lean construction and its application in concrete construction projects at both the operation and project levels. In conjunction with a concrete contractor, actual concrete construction projects were observed, and problem areas contributing to delay and other wastes were identified. At the project level, the lack of coordination among subcontractors was cited as one of the major factors contributing to schedule delays. This paper proposes to use the last planner concept, the linear scheduling method, and the graphic schedule method to improve communication and look-ahead scheduling. Related software was developed for implementing this scheduling tool. At the operation level, a systematic approach of was identification, operation re-design, and employee training was applied to reduce wastes found in the field operation. A case study of bulkhead installation was used to demonstrate this approach, and a 3D animation was created for employee training.

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AN IMPROVED APPROACH TO THE SUBCONTRACTING PROCUREMENT PROCESS IN A LEAN CONSTRUCTION SETTING

Journal of Civil Engineering and Management ◽

10.3846/13923730.2013.801900 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 389-403 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Samuel Yen-Liang Yin ◽

H. Ping Tserng ◽

Shih Ning Toong ◽

Thanh Long Ngo

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Lean Construction ◽

Information Platform ◽

Procurement Process ◽

Cooperative Relationships ◽

Common Information ◽

Construction Risk ◽

Potential Risks ◽

Engineering Projects

The subcontracting procurement process is one of the most important issues impacting the costs of engineering projects and construction projects, in particular. Traditional procedures of subcontracting procurement tend to limit the opportunities for price negotiation and cooperative relationships between contractors and neglect potential issues such as engineering interface, construction risk, and waste. Based on case studies of construction projects, we propose a “lean” subcontracting procurement process (LSPP) drawing from lean construction theory. The process consists of a novel Seven-Arrangement operation plan and four types of standard operating flows. Not only does the proposed LSPP help sub-contractors eliminate various types of waste in construction projects, it also establishes a common information platform and cooperative environment that help participating contractors understand the work emphasis of each operation and the whole operation in sequence. As a result, the relationships between participating contractors become cooperative, potential risks in construction projects can be discovered early, and profits are shared between contractors. Thus, this process allows contractors to obtain long-term benefits.

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Lean Applications in Construction

U Porto Journal of Engineering ◽

10.24840/2183-6493_005.002_0004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 29-37

Author(s):

Mohammad Darabseh

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Lean Manufacturing ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Lower Cost ◽

Building Information Modeling ◽

Lean Construction ◽

Information Modeling ◽

Building Information

Lean Construction is one of the methods used to improve control over construction projects by eliminating waste in time and materials. Lean Construction is an adaptation from the Lean Manufacturing principles to the construction industry. The purpose of this article was to review the case studies published in 2018 in the Inspec database to find out where Lean is being implemented and how. The article approach by setting the search criteria first and then inspect the result to find the non-related results and eliminate it. After that, the article was reviewed and summarized. The article verifies each article finding; however Lean Construction and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are relatively new for the construction industry and they still need more time to be adopted widely and to be applied on a lower-cost budget. However, the discussed cases show a promising future for these technologies.

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Adoptability of Lean Construction Techniques in Pakistan’s Construction Industry

Civil Engineering Journal ◽

10.28991/cej-03091162 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (10) ◽

pp. 2328

Author(s):

Aftab Hameed Memon ◽

Muhammad Akram Akhund ◽

Abdul Nasir Laghari ◽

Hafiz Usama Imad ◽

Shadab Noor Bhangwar

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Minimum Cost ◽

Lean Construction ◽

Global Trends ◽

Lean Practices ◽

Wide Range ◽

Local Construction ◽

The Cost ◽

Tools And Techniques

There is a philosophy in the construction industry to reduce the cost of a project by reducing construction waste and improving productivity. With lower expenses, lean construction emphasizes the cost of the project at a minimum cost. Globally, the philosophy has gained a wide range of popularity in the construction sector. The Lean Construction has helped practitioners with several tools and techniques to implement at different stages of a construction project. Following global trends, this study has investigated lean practices in Pakistan. With the potential advantages experienced by its implementation in Pakistan's construction projects and the level of implementation of various types of tools and techniques has been analyzed. To achieve the goal, the study had tried to capture construction projects in which four shareholders are being represented, which are clients, consultants, contractors and material suppliers. Overall 34 completed questionnaires were collected and then analyzed. The results of the analysis have indicated that pull approach, standard of work, time consuming, visualization tools, the integrated project delivery methods and the quality failure in safe limits are common lean techniques which are being implemented to the local construction industry. While there are major benefits of waste reduction, client satisfaction, better communication, visual control and proper task management to build appropriate work are the key benefits of lean construction.

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