METODA DAN TEKNOLOGI KONSTRUKSI(MTK)
TANGGAL: 10/10/2016
Lean Construction
Question-01: What is Lean Construction?
Lean construction is a combination of operational research and practical development in design
and construction with an adaption of lean manufacturing principles and practices to the end-toend design and construction process. Unlike manufacturing, construction is a project-based
production process. Lean construction is concerned with the alignment and holistic pursuit of
concurrent and continuous improvements in all dimensions of the built and natural environment:
design, construction, activation, maintenance, salvaging, and recycling (Abdelhamid 2007,
Abdelhamid et al. 2008). This approach tries to manage and improve construction processes with
minimum cost and maximum value by considering customer needs (Koskela et al. 2002).
Koskela (1992) stated that construction is unique in the sense of it is one-of kind nature of
projects, site production and temporary multi organization. However, failure of establishing a
good management system in construction project will lead to many problems that would cause
cost of project increases, late completion of project and low quality which finally reduce the
profit of the contractor. In order to overcome this problems, lean thinking or lean construction is
been introduced in this construction sector.
According to Howell (1999), lean construction is one of the new philosophies that been
implemented by Toyota in their manufacturing process which now applied to the construction
industry in order to smoothen the construction project and increase the contractors profit by
eliminating waste. This supported by Ballard and Howell (1998) whom also stated the same facts
that lean thinking in construction concerned in waste reduction. Lean construction project is very
different compared to traditional construction project management where lean approach aims to
maximize performance for the customer at the project level, set well-defined objective clearly for
delivery process, design concurrent product and process and applies production control
throughout the life of project (Howell, 1999).
Generally, lean approach breaks the construction project to smaller parts of activities which will
be defined clearly the start and end date for completion of each activity with an appointed person
to keep on monitoring the all the activities to be completed according schedule.
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In research work, Common et al. (2000) and Johansen et al. (2002) established a conceptual
framework and identified four areas as being fundamental attributes of a lean approach, namely:
1. Procurement, 2. Planning, 3. Control, and 4. Management concepts. Within each area they
identified a number of tools and techniques that were seen as being instrumental for the
realization of lean construction. Considering the progress made since the studies by Common et
al (2000) and Johansen et al. (2002) were carried out, Johansen & Walter (2007) developed that
conceptual framework to include eight areas (see figure). Each area was associated with a
number of tools and techniques which have been found to be most effective in improving
conformance to lean principles. However, there have been vast developments made among the
lean construction community since the study by Johansen & Walter (2007) was carried out.
Recent studies emphasized the importance of establishing a lean culture among the construction
industry.
Fig: Conceptual Framework (Johansen & Walter 2007)
5 key Principal of Lean Construction:
1. Specify Value: Value is defined by the ultimate customers needs through tools such as
value management, quality function deployment and simulation. These will define
attributes which are characteristics that deliver clients satisfaction (Garnett et al., 1998).
2. Identify and Map the Value Stream: The value stream identifies all those steps required
to make a product. Identifying value stream, the way value is realized, establishes when
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METODA DAN TEKNOLOGI KONSTRUKSI(MTK)
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and how decisions are to be made. The key technique behind value stream is process
mapping for a very specific reason: that of understanding how value is built into the
building product from clients point of view. Value stream maps can be understood as
processes flow charts that identify what action releases work to the next operation.
Mapping brings choices to the surface and raises the possibility of maximizing
performance during construction. Normally, maps are prepared at the project level and
then decomposed to better understand how the design of planning, logistics and operation
systems work together to support customer value.
3. Flows: Flows are characterized by time, cost and value. Resources (labor, material and
construction equipment) and information flows are the basic units of analysis in lean
construction. There are controllable and uncontrollable flows. Controllable flows such as
materials or instructions from the warehouse or management respectively. Uncontrollable
flows such as suppliers provisions of resources and design information.
4. Pull: At a strategic level, pull identifies the real need to deliver the product to the
customer as soon as he needs it. The traditional construction process pushes the client
into an often-protracted development process where risk and uncertainties are prevalent.
The principle of pull suggests a decision where the ability to define quickly what the
client needs from a building in relation to his business and subsequently customizing and
deliver them more predictably when the client requires them.
5. Perfection / Continuous Improvement: This is a key strategic level because what it
defines is the need for this way of working and organizing construction products to
become a way of life with an inherent culture. To achieve perfection means constantly
considering what is being done; how it is being done and harnessing the expertise and
knowledge of all those involved in the processes to improve and change it.
Question-02: Barrier in Lean Construction?
A lot of researches are being made to find the barrier of lean construction. Research work shows
that barrier in lean construction varies upon project to project, situation to situation and country
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to country. In this article, some barriers of lean construction are being mentioned from some
research work. (Reference is given at the end)
Barrier of Lean Construction from LeanConstructionBlog: (Reference no 3)
1. MANAGEMENT ISSUES: This is probably the most critical issue and includes: delays
in decision making, lack of client and supplier involvement and vision, lack of top
management support and commitment, poor project definition, delays in material
deliveries, adversarial relations due to conventional contracting mechanisms, lack of
equipment, material scarcities, lack of time for innovation due to schedule and cost
pressures, unsuitable organizational structure, weak administration, lack of supply chain
integration and alliances, poor communication, use of substandard components, lack of
steady work engagement, long implementation periods, inadequate pre-planning, poor
procurement selection strategies, inadequate resources, embarking on large-scale Lean
programs at once (rushing), lack of customer focus and lack of long term planning due to
contractual uncertainties are among the major managerial pitfalls for Lean.
2. FINANCIAL ISSUES: The implementation of innovative strategies like Lean
Construction requires some funds. Adequate funding is needed to motivate the workforce,
change processes, provide relevant equipment/material, train people and employ Lean
specialists/consultants. Some of the financial barriers include project corruption,
inadequate project funding (budget for innovation), inflation, high initial implementation
costs, poor professional wages, lack of incentives and motivation, and too much risk
aversion.
3. TRAINING ISSUES: There have been several efforts to raise awareness, provide
guidance and knowledge relating to Lean Construction by academics, researchers,
practitioners and bodies such as Lean Construction Institute's (LCIs), Construction Lean
Implementation Programme (CLIP), Construction Excellence (CE) and British Research
Establishment (BRE). However, these bodies operate in very few countries. Despite the
growing body of publications, training issues appear to be the most common pitfalls for
Lean practices. This may be related to the fact that the concept was adopted from the
manufacturing industry. Some of these barriers include conventional (old) construction
management syllabi/teachings, lack of Lean understanding, lack of technical skills, highlevel illiteracy, lack of training, not seeing Lean as a holistic system but a cocktail of
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METODA DAN TEKNOLOGI KONSTRUKSI(MTK)
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techniques, inadequate knowledge, lack of project team skills, lack of Lean awareness
programs, difficulty in understanding concepts and lack of knowledge/information
sharing and dissemination (lack of intra and inter-industrial benchmarking and
knowledge sharing initiatives or groups).
4. GOVERNMENTAL ISSUES: Despite its significant economic contribution, the
construction industry faces numerous government policy related problems. Some studies
reveal that certain barriers arise due to government attitudes towards the construction
industry in some countries. Those barriers include inconsistency in policies, lack of social
amenities and infrastructure, materials unavailability and unsteady price commodities.
Furthermore, some of the structural barriers like inflation, professional wages, and
corruption could also be related to governmental issues.
5. TECHNICAL ISSUES: These barriers are considered technical because they have a
direct impact on the implementation of certain Lean Construction techniques. Some of
the major issues are lack of constructible designs, incomplete designs, poor performance
measurement strategies (not process based), poor understanding of clients brief for value
generation, lack of agreed Lean implementation methodology, lack of prefabrication, lack
of standardization in the application of Lean techniques, overemphasizing quantitative
benefits (not giving enough attention to the qualitative/non quantifiable gains), failing to
demonstrate the business case for Lean, uncertainty in supply chain, lack of Lean systems
thinking (implementing Lean ideas in partial silos) and the fragmented nature of the
industry as a barrier to teamwork and collaborative partnering.
6. HUMAN RELATED/ ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES: Some of these factors include lack
of transparency, challenges in instituting a change culture, high personnel turnover, lack
of self-criticism, lack of teamwork, lack of participative management/leadership, lack of
cooperation and effort aligning (i.e. construction teams vs. commercial teams), rigid
organizational structures/procedures, poor housekeeping, poor leadership, leadership
conflict,
not
developing
in-house
Lean
competency
(too
much
trust
on
consultants/trainers), misconceptions about Lean Construction, over enthusiasm, seen as
too complex and alien, seen as a management fad, seen as an exclusively manufacturing
idea, seen as an exclusive business of the Lean department, pseudo-Lean
implementations for secondary reasons, overuse of Japanese/Lean jargon, and fear of
unfamiliar practices.
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Barrier of Lean Construction in UK: (Reference no 5)
As can be seen from Table above, the mean values of three barriers, namely: B3, B4 & B7
exceeded the cut-off point (a mean score of 4.0 and above) and thus were considered as the
significant barriers to the successful implementation of LC. It is also noticeable that these three
barriers obtained the lowest standard deviations, which suggests that the participants were quite
certain about these barriers more than all others. Further analysis of the results revealed that there
was a strong level of agreement amongst all sub-classifications of the study that the lack of
adequate lean understanding (B3) is the most significant barrier to the implementation of LC. All
of these results should be seen positively; as they indicate that the professionals in the UK
construction industry have the capacity for self-criticism, which was identified by Johansen &
Walter (2007) as one of the fundamental behavioral aspects needed if a lean culture is to be
established in an organization.
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Reference:
1. Ballard, G. and Howell, G. (1998). Implementing Lean Construction: Understanding and
Action. Proceedings of the 6th Annual Meeting of the IGLC. Guaruj, Brazil.
2. Common, G., Johansen, E., and Greenwood, D. (2000). A Survey of the Take-up of Lean
concepts among UK Construction Companies. Proceedings of the 8 th IGLC Annual
Conference. Brighton, UK.
3. [Link]
4. Dulaimi, M. F., and Tanamas, C. (2001), The principles and application of lean construction
in Singapore, Proceedings of the 9th Annual.
5. Saad, Sarhan. and Andrew, Fox. TRENDS AND CHALLENGES TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF A LEAN CULTURE AMONG UK CONSTRUCTION
ORGANISATIONS Proceedings for the 20th Annual Conference of the International Group for
Lean Construction.
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