Lean Construction Empowerment

Lean Construction

Lean construction is more than putting belt-tightening processes in place. It’s also about maximizing every phase; every task of a construction project. This can only be accomplished with above-average communication in which all stakeholders are included in lean construction collaboration.

Lean Construction Increases Efficiency

Higher-quality construction is the result when all workers are invested in a project. And make no mistake; every person contributing to a lean construction project is a “worker.”

Lean construction practices include:

  • Early stakeholder involvement – Include trades/contractors in the design phase. Project-site clashes can be reduced 51%.
  • Pull-planning – Work backwards from a successful milestone to create efficient schedules. Onsite conflicts can reduce by 45%.
  • Weekly work – Once you’ve identified the week’s tasks, commit to completing them. This can reduce reworks by 52%.

As 70% of construction projects are delivered over-budget and late, we need to work smarter to reduce costs, reworks, and time. Lean construction can:

  • Improve productivity by 77%
  • Increase higher quality construction by 84%
  • Raise customer satisfaction by 80%
  • Reduce project over-schedules by 74%

Projects are three times more likely to come in ahead of schedule and twice as likely to be under-budget. Lean construction also lowers the “clash” factor. When changes are communicated quickly to everyone, onsite misunderstandings are greatly reduced:

  • When was this altered?
  • Where was the paint-change notice as I painted?
  • Who changed the specs?
  • Why didn’t someone notice the ___ was missing?

More than half of U.S. projects employ lean construction practices. But when broken down into statistics involving our like-countries (UK and France), we are trailing in lean construction implementation. The good news is, we’re leading in our willingness to invest in BIM (building information modeling).

Waste Not: Lean Construction Targets Excesses

Autodesk.com says when lean construction becomes the norm, you’ll target wastes and excesses including:

  • Excess
    • Inventory – Wastes space; reducing movement
    • Motion – Reduces circulation routes of people/equipment, etc.
    • Transport – Saves time/carbon emissions
  • Idle labor – Lowers wait times
  • Overprocessing – Decreases admin/organizational processes
  • Overproduction – Lowers excess inventory
  • Poor talent utilization – Productivity degradation
  • Product defects – Reworks and redundant work reduced

If you’re analyzing reports rather than business-building, we can show you ways to target money-making opportunities. Contact Construction Monitor.
___
Our blog is for informational purposes. We don’t endorse nor recommend any software brand.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *