What is lean construction management?

As construction projects become increasingly complex, all stakeholders are finding it difficult to simplify the processes without compromising on quality. The need for simplification is increasing as the number of project participants is growing, project volumes are aggravating, and time pressure is increasing.

This excessive pressure negatively impacts the quality of service on a construction site. In fact, a plethora of studies indicates that there is a significant decline of 54% in all planned services in a construction site. Consequently, it is becoming rampantly difficult to meet customer objectives in terms of quality, time and cost. One of the emergent methods to mitigate this situation is lean construction methods and management. In this article, we will talk about lean construction management and why you, as a business owner, should care about it.

What is lean construction?

Lean construction is an approach to production management that aims to reduce waste from the entire process and deliver greater value to customers. In simpler words, lean construction aims to increase value and reduce waste. Historically, the roots of this method originated in the Toyota production system in the early 1920s. During World War II, the Toyota automobile manufacturing facilities focused on enhancing customer satisfaction by giving workers more meaningful jobs and reducing waste. As time progressed, lean construction became correlated with innovative tools such as just-in-time inventory, a phenomenon where companies receive materials as required, thereby drastically reducing wastage. However, the philosophy of lean construction is much more elaborate than effective inventory management.

What is lean construction management?

As you can gather from the definition of lean construction, lean construction is a process approach targeted to improve efficiency and reduce wastage in construction. The aim is to create sustainability in design without compromising functionality or efficiency. The principles of lean construction management are ever-evolving, as the goal is to find innovative ways to replace the age-old practices in construction management.

Essentially, lean construction management offers a template to construction companies to improve their entire construction process, from the design to the very end of the project. The pillars of lean construction management include:

• Continuous improvement: By utilising the practises and principles of lean construction management, companies are constantly evaluating their processes to find areas of improvement so that efficiency can be improved and waste can be reduced.
• Waste removal: One of the most significant drawbacks of construction projects is the amount of waste it creates, not only in terms of physical waste but also the waste of time and effort. When construction companies utilise lean management principles, they actively begin to find methods to reduce physical as well as time-related waste, ensuring that work is completed on time and excess materials are not utilised.
• Client satisfaction: Every decision and every process in lean construction is constantly related to the individual client’s priorities and goals. The aim is to deliver the best quality build materials/buildings/construction sites without wasting time or resources and satisfying the client’s preferences.
• Respect for people: The neighbouring community surrounding a construction project is the most affected by its activities. Companies that utilise lean management principles recognise this feature and encourage their workers to collaborate better with the community in which they work. This means that community members become active participants in the process and are given due respect and the freedom to provide solutions to improve the processes. Reading the article “what is people management” can be useful for you.

Lean construction emphasises heavy planning and standardisation so that redundancies from work processes are removed and roles become more explicit.

What are the benefits of lean construction management?

As you may have realised, lean construction management transforms every step of the construction process, requiring teams to work together cohesively and build innovative solutions. As a result, the potential benefits include the following:

• On-time project completion: As all inefficiencies are removed, and processes become leaner, construction teams can finish projects more quickly despite having fewer on-site workers and limited resources. This makes lean management extremely appealing to construction company owners due to the exaggerated labour shortages prevalent across the globe today.
• High-quality work: The direct consequence of standardisation, focus on communication, and continuous improvement is that the quality of work significantly improves because fewer mistakes are committed.
• Enhanced worker satisfaction: Due to removing redundancies and inefficiencies from the work processes, workers are exposed to clarity and have better control over the processes. Additionally, lesser time is wasted on unnecessary or futile tasks as the workers can do their assigned tasks well, and their job satisfaction increases.
• Better risk management: Construction companies that impress the principles of lean construction management can identify issues before they escalate to problems. Additionally, as the principles also focus on creating contingency plans, it ensures that leaders can make the best possible decisions when obstacles are created, thereby reducing panic and protecting the quality of work.

Conclusion

Lean construction management can be described as a process of protecting the quality of work in a construction site while actively working to reduce wastage, whether it be a physical waste, time or effort.

Also, reading the article “what is claims construction management” can be useful for you.