An appraisal of lean construction project delivery application of lean construction

Ruan, Ximing; Zuofa, Tarila; Ochieng, Edward; Yang, Miying

Abstract

One major theoretical issue that has dominated the construction field for many years, concerns the general misconception that lean can only be successfully applied to manufacturing. Its introduction into design and construction industry has been slow due to a conflation of reasons including organisations disinclination to make the necessary capital investments. Recent research has shown that many aspects of the construction industry have improved with the development of lean construction. It has been suggested, however, that unpredictability in construction processes creates complications when implementing this philosophy to the industry. The aim of this paper was therefore to investigate the application of lean construction to construction project delivery. A framework for managing construction project delivery is proposed. To obtain the empirical research, a two-phase sequential mixed methods study was undertaken. The investigation concluded that heavy construction-engineering organisations are likely to successfully apply lean construction to construction project delivery, and achieve a new level of project performance if the appropriate considerations are given by the construction industry.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: 6th IEEE International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Sciences (LISS’2016)
• Start Date: Jul 24, 2016
• End Date: Jul 27, 2016
• Acceptance Date: Jun 9, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1343-55
• Keywords: lean construction
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/922874
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LISS.2016.7854590
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : 6th IEEE International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Sciences (LISS’2016)
• Contract Date: Sep 12, 2016