Lean Project Research Articles

Investigating the Impact of Lean Leadership on Construction Project Success

Lean has been widely practiced in construction in the last decade. Aiming to maximize value while minimizing waste, Lean tools and techniques are of utmost importance in terms of promoting construction project performance. However, the use of tools and techniques without a change in culture does not ensure the lasting change. At this point, Lean Leadership plays a crucial role for ensuring the cultural change through the integration of Lean principles with the leadership behavior. Lean leadership is a system enabling to develop leaders as well as adopting Lean principles. In the construction industry, Lean Leadership studies are scarce. Hence, this study develops novel components for Lean Leadership revealing the impact of effective leadership on the construction project success. In this respect, a conceptual framework was developed to investigate the relationship between these two factors. An online survey was designed and administered to the lean construction practitioners operating in the U.S. construction industry. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to verify the relation between Lean Leadership and construction project success. The analysis of data indicated that there is a direct and positive association between Lean Leadership and construction project success.

Balancing Project Schedule, Cost, and Value under Uncertainty: A Reinforcement Learning Approach

Industrial projects are plagued by uncertainties, often resulting in both time and cost overruns. This research introduces an innovative approach, employing Reinforcement Learning (RL), to address three distinct project management challenges within a setting of uncertain activity durations. The primary objective is to identify stable baseline schedules. The first challenge encompasses the multimode lean project management problem, wherein the goal is to maximize a project’s value function while adhering to both due date and budget chance constraints. The second challenge involves the chance-constrained critical chain buffer management problem in a multimode context. Here, the aim is to minimize the project delivery date while considering resource constraints and duration-chance constraints. The third challenge revolves around striking a balance between the project value and its net present value (NPV) within a resource-constrained multimode environment. To tackle these three challenges, we devised mathematical programming models, some of which were solved optimally. Additionally, we developed competitive RL-based algorithms and verified their performance against established benchmarks. Our RL algorithms consistently generated schedules that compared favorably with the benchmarks, leading to higher project values and NPVs and shorter schedules while staying within the stakeholders’ risk thresholds. The potential beneficiaries of this research are project managers and decision-makers who can use this approach to generate an efficient frontier of optimal project plans.

Analysis of Barriers of Lean Approach Implementation in Manufacturing Industries

The concept of Lean Manufacturing has gained widespread recognition as an effective approach for improving efficiency, reducing waste, and enhancing overall productivity within the manufacturing industry. Despite its promising benefits, numerous organizations encounter challenges when attempting to implement Lean principles successfully. This research aims to identify and analyze the barriers that impede the smooth implementation of Lean practices in manufacturing companies. To achieve this, a comprehensive literature review is conducted to gain insights into the theoretical foundations of Lean Manufacturing and the common obstacles faced during its adoption. Primary data is collected through surveys, interviews, and case studies from a diverse sample of manufacturing companies that have either attempted or successfully implemented Lean principles. The study identifies various categories of barriers, including organizational, cultural, technological, and human factors. These barriers are further examined to determine their impact on Lean implementation projects, their interrelations, and how they differ across various industries and organizational sizes. The findings shed light on the most prevalent barriers, such as resistance to change, lack of management support, inadequate employee training, and misalignment with existing organizational culture. Moreover, the study uncovers potential strategies and best practices to overcome these obstacles and facilitate successful Lean implementation. By understanding and addressing these barriers, manufacturing companies can improve their ability to implement Lean practices effectively, enhancing their competitiveness, reducing operational costs, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. The research contributes valuable insights to the field of Lean Manufacturing and offers practical recommendations to support organizations in navigating the challenges associated with Lean implementation.

Lean production at agro-industrial enterprises: Efficiency and limitations in present-day developments

Subject. This article discusses the issues of optimization of production processes and the development of agriculture in Russia in the context of international sanctions. Objectives. The article aims to find relevant tools and methods for implementing the concept of lean manufacturing in the activities of Russian agro-industrial enterprises. Methods. For the study, we used the general scientific research methods. Results. The article presents calculations to reduce the labor intensity of production processes by reducing the duration of equipment changeover and determines the economic effect. The article also reveals restrictions on the implementation of lean manufacturing projects due to the current foreign economic situation. Conclusions. The results of the study can be used to develop projects for the development of agricultural engineering and the agro-industrial complex as a whole.

A lean approach to robotic process automation in banking

Automation is a concept that has been previously introduced in organizations as a means to improve their processes. However, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is an emerging method to automate processes with software, which the industry calls robots. These robots perform repetitive and low-complexity tasks previously performed by humans in front of a computer which as is known is the most commonly used feature in a company nowadays. Using the Design Science Research methodology to build up this article, it is argued that RPA is being used idly compared to its full potential which would entail using process improvement techniques before applying the automation itself. Thus, this article proposes a new approach to RPA through the use of Lean techniques. This article assesses two market leaders in RPA. It suggests a framework of activities for organizations that are investing in RPA and that want to take advantage of the capabilities currently offered by this technology. The majority of the demonstration proposal was carried out in a Portuguese private bank in three processes. Depending on the different cases, it had an overall positive evaluation in the field or simulations. Comparing RPA and Lean RPA projects in the number of resources (time, FTE) needed to carry out business processes, the latter approach presented values that were significantly lower and, consequently, satisfactory.

О проблемах экономической эффективности проектного менеджмента и бережливого производства на промышленных предприятиях (на примере судоремонта)

The article is devoted to the project management efficiency problems of industrial enterprises (exampled by ship repairing industry). Positive and negative examples of project management are observed, and also the variants for creating the project offices “from above” (via corporate managing company) and “from below” (in one of the corporate “daughter” companies, followed by the extension of the positive experience to all the corporate companies). The analysis of the influence of the lean manufacturing project office for the economics of one of the shipbuilding companies is made. It is found out that in spite of the project office rapid development, the influence of the projects on the company economics is left minimal due to the cost-based pricing method, whereas the company is not interested in costs reduction. It is offered to form the key parameters of the project management (economic effects, business processes optimization directions) on the base of strategic and operative needs of the company, by using the mathematical models of the Industrial Potential, that would lead to getting rid of the “abstract” corporate key performance indicators and connect the project management measures with operative and strategic management.

Lean implementation in product development processes: a framework proposal

The implementation of lean principles in product development (PD) activities has been receiving increased attention lately. However, it is not clear how the application of these principles to PD activities enhances their effectiveness. Moreover, the implementation of lean principles is more difficult to achieve in PD activities than in the shop-floor context. The objective of this paper is to develop and implement a framework applying lean principles to the PD process. To that end, an action research project was conducted in the R&D department of an industrial company. This article presents and describes a six-step framework, its challenges, and main results. The implementation of the framework led to gains in the efficiency of the product development process through a 20% decrease in waste. Improvement measures such as standardisation, clear identification of roles, prioritisation of activities and improved efficiency of meetings were the main drivers for the gains in efficiency. Overall, three main contributions should be highlighted: the role a knowledgeable lean project leader can play; employee training focused on the implementation of lean-based product development activities; and team building and communication.

Integration of the green and lean principles for more sustainable development: A case study

To advance sustainable development techniques, this study examines how lean construction and green building might work together at all stages of project development. The construction sector is now dealing with a variety of issues, including cost overruns, completion delays, low productivity, and subpar quality. These underlying issues must be addressed to bring about a general change and improvement in the existing state of the construction industry. Only a lean construction and lean project management strategy can address the demand for transformation. The 4 R's—Reduce; Recycle, Reuse, and Regulate—are causing people to become concerned. Eliminating the “idea of waste” and fostering a healthy environment via design and management have recently emerged as major objectives, bringing sustainability in building into focus. Through case studies, the attempt to link green and lean ideas is implemented in a successful way. The report would highlight the close ties between the lean and green ideologies, both of which aim to cut down on waste. It would investigate how a green and sustainable built environment is produced in the building sectors.

Design of Engineering Cost Prediction Algorithm Based on Neural Network Model

There are major problems in the current project cost management, which is bound to cause huge economic losses to the construction party, the construction party and even the financial institutions. It can be seen that how to reasonably determine the estimate of the early stage of the project to make scientific investment decisions and how to effectively control the project cost is a very important work. Improving the level of project cost prediction is the premise of reasonably determining the project cost, effectively controlling the construction cost, and realizing the lean project cost management, and is the basis of system planning and decision-making. The data in this paper shows that when the number of nodes is small, the acceleration ratio has little difference, and the increasing trend is basically the same. But after the number of nodes increases to 24, the acceleration ratio curve when the data volume is 2000 and 4000 GB has almost no fluctuation, while the acceleration ratio curve when the data volume is 6000 GB continues to show a small upward trend. Through NN (Neural Network), a model can match all existing engineering data samples, and control the error within a certain range. We think this model has a certain prediction function. However, this matching function is not simple linear regression, because any factor affecting the project cost is nonlinear.

The Lean Project Approach to Anticipate Delays in the Construction of 3.5 GT Fishing Boats (Case Study at PT. X)

Projects generally have a deadline for completion. So far, PT. X often experiences delays in project completion. The problem is that waste often occurs in the production process. As a result, the company can suffer losses if waste m is not minimized immediately. The purpose of this research is to identify waste that contributes to delays in the construction of 3.5 GT fishing vessels and to increase the Value Stream by using the Lean Project methodology to estimate delays. Utilizing the Lean Project methodology, this research identifies and maps waste in every manufacturing step.The recommended value stream creation is based on the total time spent on each component, which is calculated from 18.7 hours to prepare the mould, 26.5 hours to manufacture the hull, 28 hours to assemble, 112 hours to manufacture the steering system, and 88 hours to manufacture the finish. The initial value stream for one unit of the Sumbawa 3.5 GT fishing vessel is 273 hours, or 34 days, according to the estimated time for each stage of the production process. The planned lead time is 678 hours or 84 days less than the previous lead time. The difference from the anticipated value stream is 405 hours or 51 days.

Development of framework integrating ergonomics in Lean’s Muda, Muri, and Mura concepts

Lean and ergonomics are two disciplines that shared common goals to improve manufacturing production systems. However, there are limited studies that specifically link ergonomics with Lean’s 3 M concept of Muda (waste), Muri (overburden), and Mura (inconsistency). The study employed semi-structured interview with 10 experienced practitioners on past lean projects to establish potential linkage between ergonomics and Lean’s 3 M. A conceptual framework integrating ergonomics components into the Lean’s 3 M components was then generated through group discussion, and validated using Fuzzy Delphi Method analysis. The interviews revealed four themes linking ergonomics to Lean’s 3 M: (1) Human energy waste, (2) Uneven workload distribution, (3) Overburden of worker’s capacity, and (4) Worker performance affects work performance. A conceptual framework integrating ergonomics components into the Lean’s 3 M components was then proposed, which redefines several components of Lean’s 3 M from ergonomics perspective. Fuzzy Delphi Method analysis on 12 practitioners showed overall agreement with the content, structure, and applicability of the proposed framework (threshold (d) value ≤0.2, expert consensus ≥75%, and fuzzy score ≥0.5). The findings may provide platform for lean and ergonomics practitioners to communicate and bridge the gaps between the two disciplines.

Lean healthcare: Improving surgical process indicators through prioritization projects

Purpose: Implementing process management methodology through Lean Management and Design Thinking provides a new way to manage surgical blocks, maximize efficiency and adapt to the high variability of demand. This article presents our experience of implementing a set of improvement actions within the surgical process in the context of Lean Healthcare Processes. The project involved a total of 900 healthcare professionals over a 3-year period (2017-2019) and has impacted over 38,000 surgical patients each year at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain.The purpose of this article is to present a set of improvement projects within the surgical process and show the indicators that monitor its evolution. These projects have been implemented successfully in a hospital with high surgical complexity and indicate how health care professionals and process engineers can work together as a team to improve healthcare resources.Design/methodology/approach: To evaluate the effectiveness of the actions presented, we propose a series of standardized indicators showing how our findings increase the efficiency of the surgical process. We also indicate Lean projects that can reduce patient waiting times and increase capacity. Below is a management model for the surgical process that considers industrial production criteria such as resource planning, optimizing the use of operating rooms and professionals' time and generating the best surgery combinations.Findings: Projects that have increased efficiency in the surgical block the most have been standardized and converted into a model of action. This is designed to adapt to any level of complexity within the hospital process. The set of improvement projects has been divided into 6 stages: Programming, Material logistics process, pre-surgical stage, intra-surgical stage, post-surgical stage and transversal projects; each affecting a different area of the general hospital (not only the surgical unit). Furthermore, a visual flow chart was designed using the results of the project.Findings from the study have led to a 15% increase in surgical capacity without the need for new resources. The average hospital stay also dropped from 7.2 days to 4.1 days. The flow vision in the care process improves the experience of both patients and health care professionals, who see their participation as part of the whole health care process.Research limitations/implications: the projects were mainly developed at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital. Although several of these projects have been carried out in other hospitals in Spain by the same team of process engineers, results may be biased when the team provides support within its own process department, compared to when it supports the local team in another hospital temporarily.Another important limitation is that it takes several months to implement and consolidate the improvement projects and demonstrate improved indicators in a sustainable way over time. This matrix of projects is more than a specific action, a cultural change with the entire surgical department.Originality/value: This study sets out a proposed practical example of applying surgery management tools in the surgical process. Our proposal can offer hospital managers and surgical coordinators an orderly, streamlined project guide for overall surgical performance indicators.The main results from developing the model include the degree of satisfaction shown by healthcare professionals and the determined commitment from the center’s management team to promote process management using Lean methodology. This commitment continued despite the challenges of shifting the organizational structure towards process management, which is a complex task requiring a period of adaptation and learning.Healthcare management has always prioritized increasing surgical patient safety and satisfaction. Patient flows are increased and resources used more efficiency by shifting the focus to the patient and the processes gone through during their hospital stay. This improvement project provides us with the best example of Lean methodology implementation if reinvested in bettering healthcare. This in turn increases the value perceived by patients, which is the ultimate purpose of the process.

Exploring the Challenges and the Implementation of Lean Practices under Lean Transformation Project in Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises

Exploring the Challenges and the Implementation of Lean Practices under Lean Transformation Project in Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises

A Socio-Technical Framework for Lean Project Management Implementation towards Sustainable Value in the Digital Transformation Context

Motivated by the project uncertainties of complex realities brought by the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 (I4.0), researchers must look at Lean project management (LPM) soft skills as a new mindset to have a holistic view of customer needs and to improve value to the organization. In the digital transformation era, it is essential that Lean practitioners develop socio-technical thinking while also prioritizing interpersonal soft skills that directly affect their ability to solve problems in order for the company to grow sustainably. This paper aims to identify the critical soft skills (CSSs) to implement LPM in the I4.0 era and to investigate, from the perspective of organizations, the latent factors for LPM implementation that generate sustainable value. For this purpose, a mixed-method approach was used, combining literature review and a survey with 166 Brazilian professionals. This empirical study intends to set the CSSs from a practice perspective and explore the benefits they generate throughout the organization. Data analysis was conducted with descriptive statistics and factorial analysis. Research findings revealed convergences regarding the practitioners’ perception regarding the ten CSSs identified in the literature, and portray two latent factors, human and process factors, which can assist decision-makers in implementing LPM by offering a better perspective of the key factors that add sustainable value for companies in the digital transformation context. This study contributes to the debate on rethinking traditional skills, accentuates the need for adjustments, and proposes a socio-technical framework that can be used in a project manager’s routine to enable better Lean project execution, help with decision making, and increase the understanding and meeting of customer needs.

An Exploration of Critical Success Factors for Lean Project Management in the Upstream Petroleum Industry in Ghana

Lean project management is quickly gaining acceptance in a variety of industries. The problem is despite the discovery of oil and subsequent exploration, Ghana has always been a net importer of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas. Given that lean management implementation inures to better performance and cost efficiencies, this study sought to ascertain the state of lean project management implementation in the upstream petroleum industry using Ghana as a case of an emerging economy context.Employing a Delphi style methodology by seeking experts’ opinions in the upstream sector of Ghana’s petroleum industry, the study found that even though lean project management implemented to an extent within the sector, its implementation is fraught with challenges such as low leadership to drive the lean process, management, and planning for the entire process. Experts in the field gave opinions as to the key considerations for successful implementation of lean project management in the upstream sector and the study recommended that lean project management should be emphasized more in the petroleum sector for higher performance that may inure to the country being a net exporter instead of a net importer of crude products.The study recommends strong leadership teams for the upstream sector to lead lean implementation with adequate training on lean project management provided to all staff for increased commitment and effective implementation that engenders a lean culture in the sector.

ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЕ ТАРИФОВ В ПРАКТИКАХ БЕРЕЖЛИВОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ НА РЕГИОНАЛЬНОМ УРОВНЕ: КЕЙС ВОРОНЕЖСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИ

Currently, government authorities in Russian regions are striving to modernize their work, increase its efficiency, and make it as transparent as possible for both business and the population. In this case, more and more regions are introducing lean management technologies into their management practices. The purpose of the study is to study the implementation of lean management practices in the activities of the Ministry of Tariff Regulation of the Voronezh Region. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the experience of introducing lean management practices into the activities of the department of state tariffs regulation as the modernization part of the system for approving investment programs of resource supply organizations in the region. A survey of representatives of the RNO was also conducted to identify the most significant problems in the process of preparing and approving investment programs. As a result, the authors draw conclusions about how lean projects should be introduced into the activities of government authorities, replicate them from entity to entity, and increase the potential for the use of lean technologies in the work of government authorities in Russian regions as well. Firstly, lean management technologies begin to be implemented in the Voronezh region, so not all employees are involved in the process of project implementation. Secondly, the implementation of lean projects can significantly reduce employee labour costs when performing current working tasks. Thirdly, successful lean management practices require significant information support at the regional level in order to implement them not only within one department, but throughout the country.

Una revisión sobre Lean Construction para la Gestión de Proyectos de Construcción

La industria de la construcción es una parte importante del sector económico de un país, por lo que es importante verificar los nuevos sistemas de gestión que se implementan en las principales industrias de la construcción del mundo. Este artículo hace una revisión bibliográfica de la filosofía Lean Construction (LC), introducida por el profesor Lauri Koskela en 1992, a partir del modelo utilizado por la industria del automóvil en los años 80, denominado “Lean Production”. Las bases teóricas de LC pretenden ver la producción en construcción como un proceso de transformación, flujo y generador de valor, en consecuencia, el objetivo de Lean Construction es crear buenos sistemas de producción que permitan optimizar, reducir o eliminar flujos para mejorar los tiempos de entrega. En el marco de la creación de herramientas Lean para mejorar la gestión de proyectos de construcción, surge el Last Planner System para mejorar el proceso de programación de obra y el modelo Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), que al unificarlo con LC se convierte en Lean Project Delivery System (LPDS), que propone la metodología para desarrollar proyectos de construcción en cinco fases y 12 etapas “Lean”, en las que se desarrollan herramientas que contribuyan a la generación de valor. Finalmente, la tecnología de modelado 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM), aunque no es parte de LC, es una importante herramienta de ayuda para el modelo LPDS, ayudando a comprender mejor los procesos de construcción de diseños complejos para ahorrar tiempo en su construcción. Bajo este paradigma, el surgimiento de nuevas herramientas nos da una mejor visión del futuro de la Lean Construction.

Повышение эффективности процесса организации региональной олимпиады по педагогике с применением инструментов бережливого производства: опыт разработки проекта

To achieve unique results in university development strategy education sector focuses on lean management. The team of changes in Pedagogy Department of Belgorod State National Research University defined process (organization of a regional Olympiad in Pedagogy for students of Pedagogical Institute of the Belgorod State National Research University and professional educational organizations of secondary vocational education of Belgorod and the Belgorod Region, hereinafter referred to as the process) and established its challenges (long flow time). Research problem: what are the ways to improve the efficiency of the process? Purpose and objectives of the study: the efficiency of the process will increase with a developed (stage 1) and implemented (stage 2) set of measures in the format of a systemic lean project. Purpose: to present the experience of developing the project “Optimization of the organization of the regional Olympiad in Pedagogy for students of Pedagogical Institute of the Belgorod State National Research University and professional educational organizations of secondary vocational education of Belgorod and the Belgorod Region” (hereinafter referred to as the project). Information about the main scientific results: a carried out pre-project analysis of the current situation; a developed target process map; a comparative analysis of the process current and target state; a developed action plan to improve the process. Scope: the results of the 1st stage of the study may be of interest to Russian universities in the implementation of lean management tools, the choice of change management methods at the level of a structural unit. Conclusions on achieving the purpose of the 1st stage of the study: the team of changes in Pedagogy Department developed a project, which development is presented in the article.

Development of Interpretative Structural Modelling (ISM) Based Lean Construction Implementation Framework

Question: How to standardize Lean Construction (LC) implementation so that construction companies can implement lean practices to achieve rapid initial successes? Purpose: LC implementation process is not yet standardized; therefore, there is variation of construction project performance improvement within the range of less than 10% to even greater than 30%. Although some researchers have endeavored to develop LC implementation frameworks, these frameworks are difficult for the construction companies to follow because they either only explain the theoretical aspects of LC or were developed based on the inputs only from few lean experts. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop an easy-to-follow LC implementation framework based on robust analysis of the contextual relationships among factors from successful lean projects. Research Method: The method of this study included several steps: (1) Confirming LC successful factors from literature review, (2) Establishing relationships between factors using a questionnaire-based survey and Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) technique, (3) Developing ISM based matrices and model, and (4) Developing LC implementation framework. Findings: This study has developed a robust LC implementation framework based on 12 critical success factors (CSFs). Sixty-six pairwise comparisons between CSFs revealed the influential impact of one factor onto the others. Using the ISM technique, the hierarchy of these CSFs was established within the framework. The developed implementation framework contains four driving factors that have the most driving power, three dependent factors as well as five linkage factors for facilitating LC implementation. The top four most important and prerequisite factors for efficient implementation of LC are: Acquiring requisite knowledge and training regarding LC tools and techniques; Ensuring adequate commitment from all the stakeholders including the workforce; Improving collaboration, communication, and visualization; and Long term partnership and trust worthy relations. Implications: The framework standardizes lean implementation processes and improves the lean culture within an organization. This is especially useful for the new LC companies moving towards lean, and also facilitates the successful implementation of LC for the entire construction industry. Keywords: Lean Construction, Success factors, statistically analyzed relationships, LC Implementation Framework, Interpretative Structural Modeling Paper Type: Full Paper

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