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Lean Construction: an Effective Approach for Project Management VOL. 11, NO. 3, FEBRUARY 2016 ISSN 1819-6608 ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences ©2006-2016 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com LEAN CONSTRUCTION: AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT Richard Hannis Ansah, Shahryar Sorooshian and Shariman Bin Mustafa Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Lebuhraya Tun Razak, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia E-Mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Projects have been considered as temporary based production systems which need to be designed, produced and delivered within a specified time. It has been asserted by a number of researchers that fast, complex and uncertain projects cannot be managed through the conventional ways and that fast track projects with long, complicated supply chains involving many players and subject to multiple, extensive process design changes have complex flow management that have failed miserably. The conceptual models of construction management and the tools it utilizes (work breakdown structure, critical path method, and earned value management) have been criticized to be deficient in handling the present unique challenges of projects. As a result, the industry is characterized by a number of wastes including: overproduction, lead time, transportation, inappropriate processing, inventories, unnecessary movements, rework and making do wastes. There is therefore the need for practical and robust models and techniques that will help projects teams deal with the issues of wastes in projects. This can only be achieved through the adoption of lean production systems in the construction industry, thus, Lean Construction (LC). In this paper, LC approach and the importance for its implementation has been discussed as the robust approach for project management. Keywords: conventional models, lean construction, lean principles, lean production, wastes, project management. INTRODUCTION project management approaches have inadequacies in Projects have been considered as temporary based resolving the problems in the industry. production systems which need to be designed, planned, Nevertheless, lean manufacturing principles and produced and delivered within a specified time. It is techniques provide the foundations for minimization or asserted by a number of researchers that fast, complex and total elimination of the waste faced by the industry. Lean uncertain projects cannot be managed through the construction has change the traditional view of labor flow conventional ways and that fast track projects with long, and work flow reliability which were considered the most complicated supply chains involving many players and determinants of constructions works and has embraced the subject to multiple, extensive process design changes have concept of flow and value generation. Basically, lean complex flow management that have failed miserably construction aims at reducing the wastes in workflow (Ballard and Howell, 1994). As a result, the industry is which the conventional methods are inadequate to characterized by delays and often has suffered cost and eliminating them. This paper seeks to establish the fact time overruns (Sorooshian, 2014). that lean construction presents a new and robust approach In general, a very high level of wastes/non-value to dealing with the wastes in the construction industry added activities is confirmed to exist in the construction which the current or conventional project management industry. Several studies from various countries have models have failed to control. confirmed that, wastes in construction industry represent a relatively large percentage of production cost. The THE CONVENTIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT existences of significant number of wastes in the METHODS construction have depleted overall performance and It is generally acknowledged that managements productivity of the industry, and certain serious measures of projects must endeavor to achieve the goals of projects have to be taken to rectify the current situation (Aziz and that were agreed upon before the start of the project. They Hafez, 2013). It has been contended by the Lean must utilize and deploy tools, skills, techniques and Construction Institute (2014) that about 57% of productive available resources to facilitate projects to be able to time waste can be found in the construction industry. complete projects on time. An effective and efficient These wastes have been attributed to the inadequacies of project management will help meet and even exceed the the current projects management tools and the inabilities expectations of the customer, they will maximize the use of the project teams to use robust and radical techniques to of available resources; be it time, money, people, space, solve the challenges the industry faces. According to among others, and endeavor for a successful completion of Johnston and Brennan (1996), Koskela (2000), Koskela project within budget and on time; they will instill and Howell (2001), Ballard and Howell (1994), the confidence in their team and also file what has been done traditional approaches to construction or the conventional for references in the future (Glenn, 2007). However, according to (Abdelhamid, 2004), there have been 1607 VOL. 11, NO. 3, FEBRUARY 2016 ISSN 1819-6608 ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences ©2006-2016 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com observations and evidence that have indicated that, the Also, an examination of the failures in using scheduling models behind construction management and project for projects by (Ballard and Howell, 2003) likewise management tools like; critical path method; work break demonstrated that, regularly just around 50% of the tasks down; and earned value management; have failed to on week by week work plan are finished before the end of complete project within budget, on time and the quality the planned week and that most of the failures in the desired for the project. planning could have been moderated or controlled by The failures of current project management help contractors using an effective variability management, define the requirements for a new approach. This was beginning with the project structuring (as a temporary echoed by (Koskela, 2000) who argued that, there is a based production system) and continuing through its mismatch between the conceptual models of project operation and improvement. management and the reality observed. This highlight lack There are among others three distinguishing of robustness in the existing managements concepts and features between LC practice and conventional project therefore calls for production theory in construction. This management, specifically: a) LC concentrates on waste new approach must rest on the expanded Transformation reduction in construction processes; b) LC seeks to (T), Flow (F), and Value generation (V) foundation to minimize irregularity and variability so that there will be optimize performance in projects. flow of material and information in processes without any The responsibility of the project management interruptions; and c) LC uses pull system: materials for team is to find or discover techniques for meeting and construction is expected to be delivered on site just when controlling schedule and budgets instead of outlining it is required or needed (Abdul Rahman et al., 2012). justifications or reasons for not meeting them. This tells management of a project that there are no authentic LEAN CONSTRUCTION explanations for failing to meet schedule and budgets. The The past two decades has witnessed several outcome is inability to identify and follow up on reasons performance improvements accomplishment in the why planned work is not accomplished, and inability to manufacturing industry through the means of productivity learn and improve. There is an assumption that all work increase. A central point in this accomplishment is the and resources could be coordinated by schedule and those application of the concept of production philosophy, inabilities to perform to schedule are uncommon or proof known as ‘Lean Production’, which focuses on continuous of absence of responsibility (Aziz and Hafez, 2013). This improvements in processes through the elimination of was supported by (Bashford et al., 2005) who argued that different types of wastes. In the 1940s, a newly adopted the construction management systems used currently concept emerged as Lauri Koskela argued for a paradigm ignores the effects of the important production system shift to a more robust system through the development and variables such as cycle time, work in progress and adoption of production philosophies and approaches in the throughput, but these variables are interdependent, related construction industry (Koskela, 2000). However, it only and can influence construction cycle significantly, as became prominent in the mid-1990s and since that time, discovered through their study. From lean construction lean construction has emerged as a new concept, both in viewpoint, current practice of project management rests on construction management and practical sphere of defective model and its control. construction. Basically, current project management endeavors There are two somewhat contrasting explanations to manage activities through scheduling and to control of LC. One explanation is about the adoption of the lean them utilizing output measures. This fails even in the production methods and tools to construction. effort
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