Lean adoption barriers for trade contractors

Abstract

Lean Construction has proven to be highly beneficial to the construction industry; however, adoption at the trade contractor level is lagging. This study seeks to identify the barriers that hamper the successful implementation of lean principles and methods to understand the reasons for the lagging adoption by stakeholders that should benefit the most. A comprehensive review of previous literature identified several categorizations for barriers; however, none emphasized trade contractors. 29 barriers were identified and defined through a detailed literature review. These barriers were then clustered into seven main factors affecting the implementation of lean initiatives under the proposed framework. This framework facilitates the investigation of construction companies' potential barriers when deciding to start implementing lean. The analysis revealed that the three most frequent barriers were lack of teamwork, multi-layer subcontracting, and lack of long-term philosophy. Additionally, seven barriers are recognized as the potential barriers specifically relevant to the trade contractors: lack of teamwork and technical capabilities, poor communication between parties, minimum involvement of workers, lack of integration of the production chain, quality of materials, high turnover of the workforce, and employee tolerance of untidy workspaces. The findings provide insight into the possible obstacles that exist to hinder the implementation of lean practices among trade contractors. Firms that do not recognize these barriers will suffer from organizational inefficiency regarding needed improvement efforts and where these endeavors should be focused. Understanding the root causes of the low rate of lean adaptation can assist in developing solutions to address barriers and facilitate lean implementation.