Lean Construction

Unit 1: Variation in Production Systems

• Workflow: is the progression of work within a trade or from one trade to
another.
• Predictable: The ability to consistently foretell something in advance
• Reliable: The long-term consistency of a system

• Variation is caused by fluctuations in the process and results from pre-

determined standards.
– It arises when people do whatever they can to get results.
– It results in interrupted workflow - workers waiting for work and
work waiting for workers.
Types of Variation
– Common cause variation: Random, a property of the process or
procedure
– Special cause variation: Non-random, caused by external influences
to the defined process
Note:
– Special cause variation must be addressed before common cause
variation
• Capacity: is the amount of work a production unit, whether a single
individual or a group, can accomplish in a given amount of time.
Common Strategies for Variation Mitigation
Buffer Variation

• A buffer: is a mechanism to reduce the impact of variation on a

construction operation. There are three kinds of buffers:
• inventory buffers,
– Inventory buffers: Buffers created by maintaining a stock of critical
material. Lack of these materials poses a threat to reliable workflow
on site.
 • capacity buffers, and
• schedule buffers

Important Concepts and Definitions

• Work in progress (WIP):
– The amount of work in the production process at a given time.
• Throughput:
– The amount of finished material/product coming out of the
production process in a given amount of time
– The real measure of speed in the system
• Cycle time:
– The time it takes to complete one finished unit of a process
• Workflow:
– is the progression of work from production unit to production unit or
within a production unit
• Planning Failures
– The inability to start or finish work in the planned time.
• Prerequisite work:
– is prior work needed for the next activity to start.
• Resources :
– are the material, labor, and equipment required for an activity.
• Execution Failures:
– are the inability to finish the activity in the planned time
• overburdens:
– Providing more work to the production unit than it is capable of
handling.

Unit 1 Course Summary

• Variation is real, and it is one of the most corrupting features of a production
system. Variation can be:
 Common cause, or internal, variation
 Special cause, or external, variation
 •You are only as fast as your slowest operation. Lean Construction focuses on
increasing the overall throughput, not just one task or the amount of work in
progress.
•One of the fundamental principles of Lean Construction is reducing variation on
construction sites.
•Buffer variation to control it, and then reduce the level of buffers gradually to force
process innovation.
Unit 2: Pull IN PRODUCTION

Session 1: PUSH/PULL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Session 2: EFFECT ON PRODUCTION
Session 3 Learning Objectives

Types of Production Systems

– Batch-and-queue
– Continuous-flow
Batch-and-Queue
• Each production stage creates or completes more than one piece of an item
– A “batch” of units is created
– That end up in a “queue”
– Where they wait until the downstream function needs them
• Commonly used in construction to create buffers
• Some examples are:
– Assembling light fixtures in batches to create a stockpile to feed
installation
– Excavating all foundation pads, then sequentially installing rebar
Hidden Inefficiencies in Batch-and-Queue Systems
• Batch-and-queue systems help cope with variation, but they hide
inefficiency through more:
– Unfinished items in stages of production at any time
– Cost due to more materials
– Space
– Labor
– Transportation
 – Storage
– Security
Continuous-Flow
• A unit undergoes each stage of production sequentially; no batching of
units occurs. This yields:
– A reliable workflow
– Lower costs due a reduced need for:
• Material, space, labor, transportation, storage, and security
– Quick identification of quality issues
• Also called single-piece flow or just in time/justified for time.
• Production with customer demands; only what is needed, when it is
needed, in the quantity needed.
• Complete continuous-flow is only an ideal because of variation.
• Some examples are:
– Installing, wiring and clipping, and finishing light fixtures one by one.
– Hanging doors and completing the hardware installation at the same
time.
Push vs. Pull

• Batch-and-queue production systems are referred to as push systems

• Continuous-flow production systems are referred to as pull systems
Push Production Systems
• In a push production system:
– Work is released based on a preset schedule
• The schedule is based on projected demand
• The schedule is the only control for production
– Work in progress is considered to be unavoidable and can create a
buffer
– Optimization only occurs locally, with no consideration for the whole
– There may be excess inventory in the system
• Some examples of push in construction are:
 – Delivery of material regardless of space constraints on site
– Installing drywall based on a master schedule but with limited or no
coordination with mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) trades.
• variation mitigation strategies:
– Size Buffers to Minimize Variation
– Reduce /remove Variation
– Lower the river
Pull Production Systems
• In pull production:
– Work is released based on downstream demand.
– The system controls the work in progress levels
– The system monitors throughput
– There is a reliable workflow in the process
– A pull system is necessary, but not sufficient to realize continuous-
flow
• Pull System Examples
– Delivery of material when the site is ready to receive it
– Scheduling trade work using the weekly work plan of the Last
Planner® System
– Pulling nails from a tool belt one at a time to hammer in place
Example 1: Using a Supermarket
• Using a warehouse or stockyard (called a supermarket) in a strategic
location in the supply chain to store materials and subassemblies
– Allows the pull of materials onsite
– Facilitates just in time deliveries to the site
– Helps mediate price fluctuations that can work against just in time
delivery
– Can be a designated area of the building
Example 2: Shared Work as a Trigger
• Coordination of trade work (downstream and upstream) using shared work
as trigger
 – Base of studs is color coded to indicate wall utilities needs
– Work proceeds if there is a color code
Kanban: literally means "signboard" or "bil lboard." It is used as a signal to tell
the production units upstream what to produce and when . This ensures that
there is no inventory building up in the system.
– Explain Little's Law
Work in Progress (WIP) = Throughput (TH) x Cycle Time (CT)
This can also be calculated as: Inventory = Throughput x Flow Time
– WIP is measured in pieces
– Throughput (TH) is measured in pieces per hour
– Cycle time (CT) is measured in hours
– Cycle time and throughput need to be recorded in the same unit of time

Little's Law :First proved by John Little in 1961, Little's Law is often taught in
conjunction with queuing theory. The law says that the average number of
customers in a stab le system (over some time interval) is equal to their
average arrival rate, multiplied by their average time in the system. Little's Law
holds when WIP, throughput, and cycle time represent long-term averages of a
stable system and are measured in consistent units.
–
Session Summary
• Workflow is the progression of work within a trade or from one trade to
another
• To improve the total system performance, we must improve the
throughput of the system, not just improve individual pieces
• Reducing workflow variation:
– Makes project outcomes more predictable
– Simplifies coordination between trades
– Reveals new opportunities for improvement
• In a batch-and-queue system each production stage creates more than one
piece at a time, creating a queue.
• Batch-and-queue systems are a form of push systems.
– In a push system everything is “pushed” through at a predetermined
schedule.
 • In continuous-flow systems each stage of production is done sequentially.
• Continuous-flow systems are a form of pull systems.
– In a pull system work releases based on downstream demand.

• Little's Law captures the dynamics of changing WIP levels in either system.
This law offers a long-term relationship between WIP, throughput, and
cycle time of a production system in steady state.

Unit 3: LEAN WORKSTRUCTURING

Session 1: PULL PLANN ING

Push Planning Defined

• The traditional planning system is a push system.
– In this system work is pushed into production:
• Based on predetermined completion dates
• Regardless of whether workers are ready to start work
– It is an assumption-based vision of how the work will take place
– It confuses planning with prediction, leading to local optimization
Pull Planning Defined
• Pull planning depends on an understanding of the levels of readiness of
downstream activities.
• Work is scheduled for when it can be properly performed, not based on
predetermined dates, by those who will execute the work.
• Pull planning is used heavily in creating phase schedules in the LPS.
• In pull planning you start from a milestone and work your way backward
 Lean Work structuring Defined

• Lean Work structuring (LWS) develops

the project’s process design while
trying to align:
– Engineering design
– Supply chain Variation
– Resource allocation (Mura)
– Assembly efforts
• LWS considers production workflow
during design and project planning.

View of Lean Workstructuring

Process Design
(How to assemble)
Product Design
(What will be built)

Work-structuring

Supply Chain
(How to
buy/fabricate)
 2-5
How Is LWS Different?
• Much of what we do now is workarounds
• First Run Studies
– A cross-functional team tries to establish a standard to meet or beat
execution of that operation
– Follows the Shewhart plan-do-check-act cycle
• LWS vs. Constructability
– Constructability is a reaction to design, LWS is an influence on design
• LWS vs. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
WBS:
– is the progressive breaking down of a project into its component
parts
– It assumes that optimizing the parts will optimize the whole
LWS :
– is concerned with the whole, not the individual parts
 Operation

Install Studs

Inspections
Processing
Handling

Wait
Install Electrical
Process

Processing

Inspections
Handling

Wait
Hang Drywall

Inspections
Processing
Handling

Wait

2-10

2-11
2-12
Lean Workstructuring Participants
• Who should be doing this?
– General and specialty contractors
• Project manager
• Foreman
• Team leader
 – Supplier
– Owner (contract permitting)
– Architect (contract permitting)
Products of LWS: Operation Level
• Rough cut operations designs
– Decision to cast-in-place vs. precast
• Detailed operations designs
– How to form, rebar, and pour basement walls
– First run studies are utilized:
• Sequencing
• Material availability
• Video taping
Other Products of LWS
• Project organizational/contractual structure
– Each “chunk” of work is designed so that it:
• Can be produced rapidly and for a low cost
• Supports optimizing at the project level
• Delivers value to the customer and producer
• Supply chain configurations
– Look at how the project is connected to the external production
systems — Will it support just in time delivery?
 Session 1 Summary

The pull planning simulation in this session illustrated the contrast between the
concepts of push and pull.
A push plan: is typically produced by a single entity, with little to no involvement
of those executing the work. This method results in a plan full of assumptions
about means and methods that usually is not reflective of what activities really
will take place.
A pull plan : is produced by those who will actually execute the work via active
collaboration and coordination. The pull plan is developed by working backward
from a target completion date, with tasks defined and sequenced as completion
of
one task releases work to begin on a subsequent task.
Session 2 Summary
• Lean Work structuring is the process of determining who will do what,
when, and how.
– The most benefit occurs when those decisions are made during early
design stages.
• Constructability is a reactive process to established designs.
• Work Breakdown Structure is good for understanding a project but not for
planning its execution.

The Last Planner System Defined

• Planning is a conversation and not a strict or scripted performance.
• The Last Planner System (LPS):
– Is a collaborative, commitment-based planning system
– Integrates should-can-will-did planning
• Pull planning, make-ready planning with constraint analysis,
weekly work planning
– Is based upon reliable promises
– Integrates learning based upon analysis of PPC and reasons for
variance
 Why Use the LPS?
• It improves workflow reliability by improving the way action is coordinated
between specialists.
• It engages all work executors in waste removal through innovation.
• It allows rapid learning so:
– Mistakes are not repeated
– Out-of-sequence work is significantly reduced
– Workflow is more predictable and reliable
• Developed as a result of identifying that the average completion rate of
planned weekly tasks was 54%

This percentage of completion is known as percent plan complete (PPC) and is

used as a measure of the reliability of production management on the
construction site. Calculating PPC is easy once the data is available. The formula
is:
PPC = Completed Weekly Assignments
Total Weekly Promised Assignments
Who Is the Last Planner?
• The Last Planner is the person or group that directs workers by assigning
them their tasks.
– “Squad boss” and “discipline lead” are common names for last
planners in design processes.
– “Superintendent” (if a job is small) or “foreman” are common names
for last planners in construction processes.
3-9
“I get” = what you need to begin
• “I give” = what you will give to the next person
• Each card can only have one “give”
 Levels of the Last Planner System

• Master Scheduling Milestones

• Are we confident we can deliver the project within the set limits?
• Who holds the promise to make this happen?
• Phase Scheduling Specify handoff
• Do we understand how we are going to do the work?
• Have we designed the network of commitments to make it happen?
• Are we confident we can deliver the milestones?
• 6-week Look-ahead/Make-ready Planning Rolling look ahead & launch
• Is the network of commitments active?
• Are reliable promises in place to make work ready in the right
sequence and amounts to deliver the milestone?
• Are we confident the work will begin and end as planned?
• Weekly Work Planning
Measure PPC, act on reasons for failure to keep promises
• How will we coordinate and adjust?
• Have we promised our tasks will be done as planned or said no?
• Daily Huddles
Confirming your weekly plan and adjusting as required
• What have we learned?
• What needs changing so we can improve our performance?

The Lean Commitment

• Elements of commitment:
• Definition – Assignments must be specific
• Soundness – Design and prerequisite work are complete; materials
are on hand
• Safety – Promise to work safe and maintain a safe jobsite
• Sequence – Constructability has been reviewed to determine this
task is necessary at this point
 • Size – Planned task is achievable in time allotted by the crew in place
• Learning – Tracking of complete/incomplete assignments

Percent Plan Complete

Completed Weekly Assignments

PPC =Total Weekly Promised Assignments
Handout 4
Master and Phase Schedules
• Crews work on the master and phase schedules to collaboratively
validate them.
Make-Ready Planning
• Where the “shoulds” are screened to become the “cans”

Session 3 Summary
• The Last Planner System (LPS) is a project planning and production control
system.
– It is based on a collaborative and commitment-based process that
addresses should-can-will-did planning.
• LPS is comprised of different levels of planning:
– Master schedule
– Phase schedule
– Make-ready plan
– Weekly work plan
– Daily huddles
• PPC is a measure of the production planning reliability of the entire site, not
only a particular trade.
Unit 3 Course Summary
• Pull planning allows each party to make its own construction commitments
rather than being told what they are.
• Assumptions and constraints come out in pull planning sessions, leading to
better understanding of the project.
• Lean Workstructuring develops and aligns the project’s process design with:
– Engineering design
– Supply chain capability
– Resource allocation strategies
– Assembly efforts
• Lean Workstructuring is production system design.
• The LPS uses pull planning and Lean Workstructuring to develop different
levels of detailed work plans.
– Master, phase, make-ready, and weekly work
• The LPS results in more reliable workflow and can be used in design and in
construction.
– Coordinates action between specialists who will execute the work
• Percent plan complete (PPC) is an important metric to measure the
reliability of the production planning system.

Session 2 Summary
• Many different ways to show the schedules – sticky notes, spreadsheets,
etc.;
• Collaborative process and dialogue among subcontractors is key;
• GC no longer dictates the schedule.

• Push plans:
– Are typically produced by a single entity with little to no involvement
of those executing the work
– Result in a plan full of assumptions about means and methods that
usually is not reflective of what really will take place
• Pull plans:
– Are produced by those who will execute the work
• The executors will engage in production system design by
virtue of being present and the clear need for coordination.
– Are developed by working backward from a target completion date,
with tasks defined and sequenced so that their completion releases
work to begin on a subsequent task