What are the Benefits

of Adopting Lean
Construction?
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 Outline of the Presentation
Introduction

Literature Review

Research Methodology

Results and Discussion

Recommendations

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 Introduction

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 Lean Construction - Definition
• Lean construction is an adaptation of lean production techniques applied
to the construction industry (Lacatelli et al., 2013)
• It is about managing and improving the construction process to profitably deliver
what the customer needs
• Lean production can be identified as the application of minimal buffers
and materials to stock and delivery of components in factory settings to
ensure that the production line is more efficiently managed to reduce
overall cost (Berggren, 1990)
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 Research Background
• Efforts to spread awareness of the concept of lean construction have been going on
since 1998 in the UK
• Common et al. (2000) argue that in spite of the continuous efforts to spread
awareness in the UK of the concept of lean construction, large UK based
construction firms have not shown an inclination to adopt lean construction and
management practices
• There exists a much bigger gap when it comes to the number of researches that
have delved into lean construction practices in the UK when compared to other
countries
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 Aims of the Study
• To identify the determinants (both benefits and barriers) of lean construction
from existing literature
• To determine the impact of benefits of lean construction on construction
buildability
• To assess the impact of negative factors which reduce the impact of lean
construction and construction project buildability
• To provide recommendations to overcome the negatives of lean construction
management
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 Literature Review

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 Lean Management
• According to Liker (2004) and Womack and Jones (1996), the concept of lean
production and management can be examined from the perspective of the
following attributes:
• Strategic management
• Efforts undertaken to increase focus on customer value and resource efficiency
• Cross functional teams which can function with cross disciplinary talent
• Simultaneous or concurrent development of multiple systems and subsystems
• Production approach aimed at ensuring that a larger subsystem can be promoted with a higher
level of supplier involvement
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 Benefits of Lean Construction
• Strategic management of project and minimisation of project rework
• Reduces the cost of construction project
• Increase in project quality and value

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 Weaknesses of Lean Construction
• Fragmentation of the UK construction industry
• This has resulted in the need to differentiate between lean principle application across
other industries and the construction industry in the UK
• Culture and labour
• The inherent fragmented nature of the construction industry has resulted in the
growth of a static and hierarchical organisational structure

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 Research Methodology

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 Research Design
• Research Philosophy – Positivism
• This philosophy is used as the study primarily engages in collecting data from an
objective point without interrupting the phenomenon involved
• Research Approach - Deductive
• This approach is used as it verifies if a given theory is credible in a given situation
• Research Strategy – Survey
• Research Method - Quantitative
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 Data Collection
• Methods of Data Collection - Questionnaires
• Time horizon - Cross sectional
• Sampling method - Convenience sampling
• Pilot Study is conducted among a group of researchers and the research
study is verified in terms of reliability and validity

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 Data Analysis
• Saunders et al. (2011) assert that the use of a questionnaire requires a
quantitative data analysis using statistical tools
• In the current research, quantitative data analysis is promoted using the
SPSS Version 21.0 software

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 Results

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 Analysis of Participants Demographics
• Analysis of the results from the survey showed that:
• Most of the respondents were between the age of 20-29 (28.3%) or 30-39 years
(35%)
• Most of the respondents were men (82.5%) rather than women (17.5%)
• Most of the respondents have been in the industry for more than 5-10 years (37.5%)
or 4-5 years (33.3%)

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 Analysis of Knowledge and Practice of Lean
Construction
• It is argued that there is no significant association between their knowledge and practice.
• This is because 80% of respondents who identified that they have limited knowledge of lean
construction also identified that they did not practice lean construction principles.
• At the same time, 30.8% of respondents who had vague knowledge of lean construction principles
were found to have good practice of lean construction.
• Most respondents indicate moderate (25 respondents) to good (22 respondents) practice of lean
construction.
• Few of the construction managers presented interesting insights on this.
• They responded that the practice of lean construction was a principle of the construction organisation and that
construction managers had limited say in the same

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 Table 1: Cross tabulation of Knowledge of Lean Construction and Practice of Lean Construction

Knowledge of lean construction * Practice of lean construction Cross tabulation

  Practice of lean construction Total
Not at all Vague Moderate Good
Knowledge of lean Not at all Count 4 1 0 0 5
construction % within Knowledge of 80.0% 20.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
lean construction
Vague Count 1 5 4 3 13
% within Knowledge of 7.7% 38.5% 30.8% 23.1% 100.0%
lean construction

Moderate Count 1 9 10 5 25
% within Knowledge of 4.0% 36.0% 40.0% 20.0% 100.0%
lean construction

Good Count 0 8 5 9 22
% within Knowledge of 0.0% 36.4% 22.7% 40.9% 100.0%
lean construction
Very good Count 2 0 0 1 3
% within Knowledge of 66.7% 0.0% 0.0% 33.3% 100.0%
lean construction
Total Count 8 23 19 18 68
% within Knowledge of 11.8% 33.8% 27.9% 26.5% 100.0%
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Analysis of Barriers to Lean Construction
• The analysis of the results show that lack of flexibility, complexities in coordination and
management, difficulties associated with multiple stakeholder involvement, difficulties in
communication and the use of subcontractors are definite barriers to the promotion of lean
construction
• The respondents also indicate that the lack of exposure, difficulties in applying lean construction
management principles of manufacturing in construction, lack of HR development in terms of
lean construction and lack of training are definite barriers to the promotion of lean construction
• The respondents indicate that the lack of coordination between design and construction, the
presence of incomplete design and the lack of control during design phase are definite barriers
to the promotion of lean construction

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 Benefits of Lean Construction
• The respondents indicate that the setting of project scope at the design
stage, clear identification of objectives, maximisation of performance and
the promotion of stakeholder involvement at the design stage are definite
benefits which reduce project rework due to lean construction
• The respondents also indicate that the promotion of waste reduction,
reduction in project uncertainty and project risk and reduction in project
delay are definite benefits which reduce project cost due to lean
construction
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 Impact on Project Buildability
• The results shows that only two attributes are found to have a significant
impact on construction project buildability
• It is observed that human resource factors and funding are found to
negatively impact construction buildability
• Project cost has a significant positive impact on construction buildability

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Table 2: Impact on Construction Project Buildability I
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardised t Sig.
Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 3.094 .753 4.107 .000

Human resource factors -.064 .179 -.269 -2.477 .044

Project integration -.257 .181 .265 -1.420 .160
Fragmentation in the industry -.016 .103 .020 -.158 .875
Funding Issues -.18 .103 .020 -3.158 .007
a. Dependent Variable: Construction Project Buildability

Table 3: Impact on Construction Project Buildability II

Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized t Sig.
Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 1.979 .679 2.917 .005
Project cost .119 .114 -.010 3.082 035
Project quality and value .197 .111 .217 1.769 .082
Project rework .099 .109 .114 .908 .367
a. Dependent Variable: Construction Project Buildability

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 Recommendations
• The general recommendations identified from the study results include:
• Investment in lean construction training
• Promotion of greater awareness amongst the top and middle management with
respect to lean construction
• Improve the funding given by private organisations to lean construction
• Provide a clear definition of lean construction application throughout the project
• Ensure that lean construction is part of the construction design and procurement and
involve multiple stakeholders
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  References
• Berggren, C. (1990). Detnyabilarbetet: Konkurrensenmellanolikaproduktionkonceptisvenskbilindustri 1970-1990. Ph.D. Thesis published by
Arkiv //Studentlitteratur, Lund, Sweden.
 
• Common, G., Johansen, E., & Greenwood, D. (2000). A survey of the take-up of Lean Concepts among UK construction companies. In
Proceedings of the 8th International Group for Lean Construction Annual Conference. Brighton, United Kingdom.

• Lacatelli, G., Mancini, M., Gastaldo, G. and Mazza, F. (2013). Improving Projects Performance with Lean Construction: State Of The Art,
Applicability and Impacts. Organization, Technology & Management in Construction: An International Journal, 5, pp.775-783.
 
• Liker, J.K. (2004) .The Toyota Way. (1 edition.), McGraw-Hill.

• Saunders, M.N., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2011). Research Methods For Business Student. 5th edition, published by Dorling Kindersley (India)
Pvt.Ltd.,Licensces of pearson Education in south Asia.

• Womack, J. P., and Jones, D. T. (1996). Beyond Toyota: how to root out waste and pursue perfection. Harvard business review, 74(5), pp. 140.

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