Lean Construction 

The Construction Industry has always seen itself as different to Manufacturing and Automotive, yet recently, there are increasing drivers to learn from Retail, Aerospace and Manufacturing on how to become more efficient. Lean processes lend themselves to the industry and have been used extensively by other sectors.

The Issues
In any Construction project, contractors will rely on sub-contractors, specialist trades, materials suppliers and the rest of their supply chain to help them deliver value. However, it is widely recognised that there is significant wastage across the supply chain. This can be measured in the element of the price of materials that is down to logistics, unnecessary storage facilities, and time wasted by teams waiting for materials to arrive or for other works to be completed before they can start.

Model for Success
Standard Lean principles look to focus on the critical path and to eliminate waste. Any activities that do not contribute to the value of the end-product are eliminated. So in Construction, this applies to the levels of inventory held and warehouse space needed, logistics of materials to site, focus on good design to minimise rework and defects and the scheduling of works across multiple teams.

The Benefits
Many clients have seen inventory levels reduce by over 30%, material lead-times fall by over 20%, defects drop, productivity increase by over 20% and warehousing requirements fall by upto 50%. Some contractors are even using this as a differentiator with their clients i.e. when bidding for a job, they can demonstrate to the client that they needn’t build such as large facility, or that they can incorporate smarter ways of working alongside the bricks and mortar.