“Lean Construction” has recently entered our industry as a philosophy based on Japan’s automotive giant Toyota’s “lean manufacturing” concept. It has been valued as a contemporary approach that allows for waste reduction in implementation, correctly understanding the claims and demands of the employer, adopting the accurate and right processes throughout the project, and standardizing the methods. The model can be summed up as the improvement and management of the production process ensuring a profitable outcome in keeping with the client’s needs.
The Construction industry is an industry in which costs are high and yield is low. Inefficiencies can be experienced due to lack of communication among the disciplines in the various phases of the production process. Toyota’s Lean manufacturing model allows us to regard the construction process as a product to ensure the desired integrity of the project. The construction industry exploits 6 basic principles of Lean Management:
The Last Planner® Planning System (Master Scheduling, Phase Pull Planning, 6-Weekly Look Ahead Planning, Weekly Business Plan Updates, and Make Work Ready Planning)
Improved Visualization Opportunities (BIM support)
Huddle Meetings
Quality Cycles (Plan–Do–Check–Act)
The 5S Program (Seiri: tidiness, Seiton: orderliness, Seiso: cleanliness, Seiketsu: standardization, and Shitsuke: discipline)
Quality Measures Ensuring Human Safety in case of accident/collapse
PY International, employs the following methodology in the Design-Procurement-Implementation processes under the proposed Project Management model based on Lean Management principles.