Lean Construction Theory Research Articles

Putting the Collaborative Style of a Successful Football Team in a Lean Construction Context

Question: Can collaboration techniques from another performance environment inspire Lean Construction theory? Purpose: The Norwegian football club Rosenborg BK (RBK) was a well-recognized force in European club football during its heyday in the 1990s. Led by the legendary coach Nils Arne Eggen, they regularly shocked Europe’s top teams with great results after implementing a successful philosophy based on collaboration. The importance of collaboration is well-emphasized in Lean Construction (LC) theory, but more discussion about creating a willingness and culture for collaboration seems to be lacking. Therefore, this conceptual paper suggests broadening the existing theory by presenting Nils Arne Eggen’s “Best Foot theory” principles through a new theoretical lens. The collaborative “Best Foot theory” is seen in an LC context and discussed with the “Five Big Ideas” from Lean Project Consulting, Inc. as the starting point. Research Method: A conceptual approach is used by analyzing already accessible data from another branch of knowledge and presenting it in a different context to offer another perspective to the current Lean Construction literature. Findings: A collaboration mindset that can inspire further development of the Lean Construction theory is proposed. Much of the current theory about collaboration in LC projects focus on collaborative contracts, systems, and approaches and fails to consider creating a collaborative culture among the performers. The “Five Big Ideas” are contemplating this, and the “Best Foot theory” adds more meat to the bones by giving successful practical examples for each idea. Limitations: This is a conceptual paper, and the practical applicability of the findings is not explored in a construction context. Implications: The “Best Foot theory” expands current LC theory by giving successful practical examples on how to create a culture where the practitioners in a performance group want to collaborate. Value for authors: The paper expands current theory on collaboration in LC. Keywords: Lean Construction, Collaboration, Culture, Trust Paper type: Full paper

TEMPORARY REMOVAL: Exploring synergies between lean construction theory and industry 4.0 technologies in the architectural, engineering and construction industry: A people, process, technology perspective

The publisher regrets that this article has been temporarily removed. A replacement will appear as soon as possible in which the reason for the removal of the article will be specified, or the article will be reinstated. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

A Conceptual Model for a Safety-Based Theory of Lean Construction

The construction industry is one of the most fatal industries, so it is important to pay more attention to safety solutions. Even though work-related accidents are known as a major waste in construction projects, little attention has been paid so far to incorporating safety into the lean construction framework. In this research, lean construction theory is reviewed through the lens of safety. That being so, the identified challenges in previous research on improving safety in construction projects are categorized, and those related to the concept of lean project delivery are introduced. Then, the principles of the lean construction framework are explained, and the relevant changes for incorporating safety into the framework are introduced and discussed. The proposed model includes a new approach to the Transformation-Flow-Value framework, in order to pay particular attention to safety in construction projects as one of the factors affecting the success of projects, and achieving optimal value for stakeholders. It is expected that this hybrid model would further enrich the lean construction framework. The careful attention of project executives to this model may improve the safety situation in construction projects. The conceptual model presented in this study can be used in the decision making process for project managers as well as research into optimization of safety costs, and eliminating waste (including models for optimizing the movement of machinery, controlling and reducing rework, and designing the site layout).

Research on Cost Control of Construction Project Based on the Theory of Lean Construction and BIM: Case Study

Lean construction is a new type of management mode of construction project, which is especially suitable for those complex, changeable and speedy construction projects. Besides, building information model (BIM) is “computable digital information” created and utilized during the design and construction of buildings. This paper takes construction project as the object and combines BIM technology with the theory of lean construction. Both of them will play a collective role in cost control of construction project. A case study is made to illustrate that to the construction projects, the lean construction and BIM technology can control their cost effectively.

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

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.

Based on Lean Construction Standardization Management Analysis of the Performance Evaluation Index System

The lack of performance evaluation for standardization management is a difficult problem for the sustainable development of construction industry. Based on this, this article on the basis of lean construction theory, starting from the standardized management of the key problems of lean construction, proposed a new lean construction of standardization management in the process of performance evaluation index system, to give "quality, cost, time limit for a project" trinity, the standardization of management performance evaluation system to support the decision-making to provide key information to lay the foundation.

Study on Lean Construction Method of Green Substation

The application of lean construction theory in building green substation was discussed. The study on integration of design-build indicated that the electric power design institute as the general contractor should change the mode of only setting up one secondary organization to manage the engineering, and should improve the management system and change the producing idea. The study on the combination of the last planner system and building the substation indicated that the measures of arranging the work and setting the workload reasonably and enhancing the supply of important resources etc. could increase the Percent Plan Complete of building the substation. At last, the 4-saving and 1-environmental protection measures of green construction of substation were brought out.

Project Executive Ability Research under Lean Construction

Project execution is the guarantee of project success. This paper suggest the project plan system, project organization and governance structure, project execution culture and flow, the execution literacy of the project team are the key factors to affect the construction projects execution. Based on the study of the lean construction theory system, this paper also investigates the TFV, JIT, LPS and 5S can improve project execution from different perspective, so construction enterprises should carry out lean construction to improve project execution.

Sustainable Construction Project under Lean Construction Theory

The construction, operation and demolition of building have tremendous impacts on the global energy and environment. However, initial construction costs are overly concerned in traditional construction projects and the economic, social and environmental impacts are neglected, which is a crucial barrier to the promotion of the sustainable construction. Through borrowing the theory from manufacturing industry, this paper analyzed the concept of lean construction, and combined the advantage of lean thinking with the sustainable development, promoting the sustainability and maximum value of construction projects besides the realization of three main objectives - the quality, schedule, cost of the construction project. Then, this article introduced the implementation of lean construction in the sustainable construction projects based on the view of transfer, flow, and value, and finally constructed the building objectives system which is composed of the minimum cost, the condensed duration, the superior quality and the sustainability of the construction.

Towards a theory of construction as production by projects

This paper responds to the invitation to debate the theory of production in construction from the advocates of lean construction. In particular, it is a response to Koskela and Ballard's critiques of the theory of project management represented in the Project Management Institute's (PMI) PMBoK, and the ‘economics-based’ approach to construction project management presented by Winch. The paper reviews the theoretical and practical contributions of lean construction before addressing the specific criticisms made. It then suggests that lean construction theory has its own limitations and requires further development in the areas of the definition of process, the concept of organization, the theorization of risk and uncertainty, and its unitary concept of value. Cet article est la réponse des défenseurs de la construction « au plus juste » lorsqu'ils ont été invités à la théorie de la production dans la construction. Il réagit, notamment, aux critiques de Koskela et Ballard sur la théorie de la gestion de projet représentée dans le PMBoK du Institut de Gestion de Projet et à l'approche basée sur l'économie de la gestion de projets de construction présentée par Winch. Cet article passe en revue les contributions théoriques et pratiques de la construction ‘au plus juste’ avant de traiter des critiques spécifiques faites à ce sujet. Il suggère ensuite que la théorie de la construction ‘au plus juste’ a ses propres limites et nécessite d'autres développements dans les domaines de la définition des procédés, du concept d'organisation, de la théorie des risques et des incertitudes et de son concept unitaire de la valeur. Mots clés: construction ‘au plus juste’, gestion de projet, gestion des risques, économie des coûts des transactions, incertitude, valeur

Leveraging specialty‐contractor knowledge in design‐build organizations

Specialty contractors have knowledge to contribute to the early design of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) products. In current practice, however, they are seldom involved in early design, but evidence suggests that their early involvement is increasing. Lean construction theory advocates such involvement. The practice of involving suppliers in product development efforts and manufacturing has proven to be highly successful. The paper reports on empirical research that identified the contributions of specialty contractor (SO knowledge to early design, which led to gains in process efficiency and improvements in product quality. These contributions are categorized and illustrated by means of examples that stem from current practice or present potential opportunities for improvement. Reasons are given why SC knowledge is often ignored in design. Changes in AEC practices nevertheless suggest that organizations are creating conditions to increase interaction between designers and SCs. Such interactions will help AEC organizations to retain and share the knowledge of individuals as well as learn to develop new knowledge.