Actions to Implement Continuous Flow in the Assembly of Pre-Fabricated Concrete Structure

Most production systems in the construction industry have a large number of interruptions in the work of gangs, resulting in waste and under-utilization of resources. Such interruptions are typically caused by variability in the production system and lack of synchronization of processes. This paper discusses the implementation of continuous flow in the process of assembling the pre-fabricated concrete structure of an industrial building, located in the State of S Paulo, Brazil. The implementation process was mostly based on Lean Thinking principles, involving tools for creating continuous flow. Action-research was the research strategy adopted for developing this study, which was divided into two main stages: (a) implementation of production control for making the production system minimally stable; (b) implementation of a proposed assembling sequence and rhythm, based on a small batch repetitive cycle. The implementation was successful in terms of reducing the cycle time, improving the productivity in the assembling process, reducing waste in the utilization of cranes, and, specially, increasing stability of the assembly process.