Lost in transition: the transfer of lean manufacturing to construction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the transfer of lean manufacturing/production from the Japanese manufacturing industry to the construction sector in the west.Design/methodology/approach – Research literature from the fields of lean manufacturing/production and lean construction was reviewed. This revealed a number of characteristics that are specific to lean construction, most notably the recognition that critical research findings have been slow to emerge but appear to be gaining momentum.Findings – In the transition from manufacturing to construction the process losses appear to be related to critical aspects and the challenges surrounding practical application to a different context. Lean is highly interpretive and there is no shared definition or understanding of what is meant by lean, lean production, and lean construction. The focus has been mainly on production system design, planning and management, and implementation. This narrow focus has meant that some important issues concer...

[1]  Russell Kenley,et al.  Project Micro-Management: Practical Site Planning and Management of Work Flow , 2004 .

[2]  Richard Cooney,et al.  Is “lean” a universal production system?: Batch production in the automotive industry , 2002 .

[3]  Shiramura Shingo,et al.  A Study of the Toyota Production System From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint , 1989 .

[4]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  An exploration towards a production theory and its application to construction , 2000 .

[5]  Ash Genaidy,et al.  Moving from lean manufacturing to lean construction: Toward a common sociotechnological framework , 2005 .

[6]  Hiroshi Katayama,et al.  Lean production in a changing competitive world: a Japanese perspective , 1996 .

[7]  Graham Winch,et al.  Towards a theory of construction as production by projects , 2006 .

[8]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  The foundations of lean construction , 2002 .

[9]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Discussion of “Reducing Variability to Improve Performance as a Lean Construction Principle” by H. Randolph Thomas, Michael J. Horman, Ubiraci Espinelli Lemes de Souza, and Ivica Zavřski , 2004 .

[10]  K. Tanskanen,et al.  New Tools for Lean Construction , 1996 .

[11]  Mike Kagioglou,et al.  On the Metaphysics of Production , 2005 .

[12]  Bo Jørgensen,et al.  Integrating Lean Design and Lean Construction: Processes and methods , 2006 .

[13]  Patricia Tzortzopoulos,et al.  The design and implementation of product development process models in construction companies , 2004 .

[14]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Embodying Product and Process Flexibility to Cope with Challenging Project Deliveries , 2005 .

[15]  James A. Powell,et al.  AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE APPLICABILITY OF PROCESS TRANSPARENCY IN CONSTRUCTION SITES , 2002 .

[16]  Barry Wilkinson,et al.  THE IRON FIST IN THE VELVET GLOVE: MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION IN JAPANESE MANUFACTURING TRANSPLANTS IN WALES , 1995 .

[17]  Ivica Završki,et al.  Closure of "Reducing Variability to Improve Performance as a Lean Construction Principle" , 2004 .

[18]  Gregory A. Howell,et al.  An Update on Last Planner , 2003 .

[19]  Luis F. Alarcón,et al.  Assessing the Impacts of Implementing Lean Construction , 2008 .

[20]  Stuart D. Green.  The future of lean construction: a brave new world , 2000 .

[21]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Lean Production in Construction , 1993 .

[22]  Daniel Roos,et al.  The machine that changed the world : the story of lean production , 1991 .

[23]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  DePlan: a tool for integrated design management , 2004 .

[24]  David R. Riley,et al.  Lean Processes for Sustainable Project Delivery , 2006 .

[25]  Jeremiah J. Sullivan,et al.  Japanese Management Philosophies: From the Vacuous to the Brilliant , 1992 .

[26]  Ad Santos,et al.  Application of flow principles in the production management of construction sites , 1999 .

[27]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Application of the New Production Philosophy to Construction , 1992 .

[28]  N. Oliver,et al.  POWER, CONTROL AND THE KANBAN , 1989 .

[29]  Gregory A. Howell,et al.  SHIELDING PRODUCTION: ESSENTIAL STEP IN PRODUCTION CONTROL , 1998 .

[30]  新郷 重夫,et al.  A study of the Toyota production system from an industrial engineering viewpoint , 1989 .

[31]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  On New Footnotes to Shingo , 2001 .

[32]  Barry Wilkinson,et al.  SPECIAL ISSUE OF JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES THE TRANSFER OF JAPANESE MANAGEMENT TO ALIEN INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS , 1995 .

[33]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Value stream analysis of a re-engineered construction supply chain , 2003 .

[34]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Lean construction tools and techniques , 2007 .

[35]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Towards Lean Design Management , 1997 .

[36]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Understanding construction supply chains: a multiple theoretical approach to interorganizational relationships in construction , 2003 .

[37]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Discussion of ¿Improving Labor Flow Reliability for Better Productivity as Lean Construction Principle¿ by H. Randolph Thomas, Michael J. Horman, R. Edward Minchin Jr., and Dong Chen , 2005 .

[38]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Improving Labor Flow Reliability for Better Productivity as Lean Construction Principle , 2003 .

[39]  David Greenwood,et al.  Implementing lean: UK culture and systems change , 2004 .

[40]  Gregory A. Howell,et al.  Lean project management , 2003 .

[41]  Stephen Emmitt,et al.  Investigating the integration of design and construction from a “lean” perspective , 2009 .

[42]  James P. Womack,et al.  Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation , 1996 .

[43]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Should project management be based on theories of economics or production? , 2006 .

[44]  Luis F. Alarcón,et al.  Achieving Lean Design Process: Improvement Methodology , 2002 .

[45]  Scott Fernie,et al.  Exploring change in construction: supply chain management , 2007 .

[46]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Simulation of Buffering and Batching Practices in the Interface Detailing-Fabrication-Installation of HVAC Ductwork , 2004 .

[47]  Ruben Vrijhoef,et al.  A Critical Review of Construction as a Project-based Industry : Identifying Paths Towards a Project-independent Approach to Construction , 2008 .

[48]  Ivica Završki,et al.  Reducing Variability to Improve Performance as a Lean Construction Principle , 2002 .

[49]  Glenn Ballard,et al.  Learning to see work flow: an application of lean concepts to precast concrete fabrication , 2003 .

[50]  Stuart D. Green.  The dark side of lean construction: exploitation and ideology , 1999 .

[51]  Herman Glenn Ballard,et al.  THE LAST PLANNER SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION CONTROL , 2000 .

[52]  Stuart D. Green.  The missing arguments of lean construction , 1999 .

[53]  J. Benders,et al.  Leaning on lean: the reception of a management fashion in Germany , 2000 .

[54]  Michael Lewis,et al.  Lean production and sustainable competitive advantage , 2000 .

[55]  Paul Lillrank,et al.  The Transfer of Management Innovations from Japan , 1995 .

[56]  大野 耐一,et al.  Toyota production system : beyond large-scale production , 1988 .

[57]  Stuart D. Green.  THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS OF LEAN CONSTRUCTION: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES AND CONCEPTUAL CHASMS , 2002 .

[58]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  PROJECT MANAGEMENT RECONCEIVED FROM A PRODUCTION PERSPECTIVE , 2004 .

[59]  P. Hines,et al.  Learning to evolve: A review of contemporary lean thinking , 2004 .

[60]  Pamela Briggs,et al.  The Japanese at work: illusions of the ideal , 1988 .

[61]  C. Berggren.  Lean Production—The End of History? , 1993 .

[62]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Work Structuring to Achieve Integrated Product-Process Design , 2004 .

[63]  Glenn Ballard,et al.  Managing work flow on design projects: a case study , 2002 .

[64]  Shigeo Shingo,et al.  Non-Stock Production: The Shingo System for Continuous Improvement , 1988 .

[65]  Brychan Thomas,et al.  HARMONIZATION BETWEEN MAIN CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS: A PREREQUISITE FOR LEAN CONSTRUCTION? , 2002 .

[66]  J. Mogab,et al.  Alternatives to Lean Production: Work Organization in the Swedish Auto Industry , 1993 .

[67]  Glenn Ballard,et al.  Learning to See Work Flow: Application of Lean Production Concepts to Precast Concrete Fabrication , 2003 .

[68]  A. Kieser.  Rhetoric and Myth in Management Fashion , 1997 .

[69]  U. Jürgens,et al.  From "Fordism" to "Toyotism"? The Social Organization of the Labor Process in the Japanese Automobile Industry , 1985 .

[70]  Gregory A. Howell,et al.  Bringing Light to the Dark Side of Lean Construction: A Response to Stuart Green , 1999 .

[71]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  Consequences of competitive bidding in project-based production , 2005 .

[72]  Stuart D. Green,et al.  Lean construction: arenas of enactment, models of diffusion and the meaning of ‘leanness’ , 2005 .

[73]  Iris D. Tommelein,et al.  PARADE GAME :I MPACT OF WORK FLOW VARIABILITY ON TRADE PERFORMANCE , 1999 .

[74]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  Roles of supply chain management in construction , 1999 .

[75]  Jos Benders,et al.  Tricks and trucks: a case study of organization concepts at work , 1999 .

[76]  Lucio Soibelman,et al.  Material Waste in Building Industry: Main Causes and Prevention , 2002 .

[77]  Karel Williams,et al.  Management Practice or Structural Factors: The Case of America Versus Japan in the Car Industry , 1995 .

[78]  Lauri Koskela,et al.  The four roles of supply chain management in construction , 2000 .

[79]  Robert Boyer,et al.  The Productive Models: The Conditions of Profitability , 2002 .

[80]  Glenn Ballard,et al.  Lean construction and EPC performance improvement , 1997 .