Are you tired of seeing your construction projects come in over budget, behind schedule, and suffering from poor quality? If so, it may be time to implement lean principles into your projects.
By using lean techniques like value stream mapping, continuous flow manufacturing, and single-piece flow production, you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your construction projects, reduce waste, and ultimately save time and money.
So what are you waiting for? Start implementing lean principles into your projects today, and watch your construction projects soar to new heights!
What Is the Lean Approach in the Construction?
The lean approach in construction is a management principle that focuses on making continuous improvements to increase the efficiency and quality of products. This involves eliminating waste, which can have a significant impact on the bottom line of any business. There are many different tools and techniques that can be used to achieve this objective, including value-stream mapping, 5S, and Kanban systems.
More and more construction companies have been adopting the lean approach over the past ten years in order to reduce expenses and increase productivity. A crucial part of this process is value-stream mapping, wherein you figure out every step involved in a task and then pinpoint areas that can be changed to get rid of downtime or delays.
How to Implement Lean Construction in Construction Projects?
Lean construction is a system that focuses on creating value with less waste. Here are seven ways to achieve this goal:
1. Make Eliminating Waste a Priority
“Waste” in lean construction doesn’t only refer to what goes in the trash. It encompasses wasted time, labor, resources, skills, etc. lessening waste on-site is a vital part of lean construction and crucial to lean implementation success.
Project managers, general contractors, and their teams should focus on identifying areas of wastefulness in their site operations and compare those results periodically to measure the progress of their efforts toward eliminating it.
2. Define the Terms of Your Project Before Beginning Work
If you want to successfully administer lean construction principles, the first step is getting every party involved on the same page. This requires defining concepts such as value stream and milestones for the project so everyone has a shared understanding of when work is considered complete.
Creating standards that ensure everyone is communicating clearly, staying organized, and working towards common goals should be the top priority for any team looking to implement lean principles.
3. Establish Trust Between Teammates
If you want to successfully implement lean construction principles in your projects, then it is essential that you focus on reinforcing collaboration and communication between every team member and stakeholder, from design all the way to delivery.
By working on teamwork and team building on your construction sites, you can improve communication between project teams and establish trust between everyone involved.
Keep in mind that the ideology of continual improvement is an essential part of lean construction, so without a trusting and respectful team, improvement won’t be possible.
4. Develop strong relationships with stakeholders
When you have a good relationship with your suppliers and subcontractors, it becomes much easier to work together and achieve your project’s vision.
Not only does this help with getting every important person involved in a project from its start, but it is also crucial for many lean construction practices, such as pull planning.
If you want your lean project to succeed, it’s critical that everyone involved is on the same page from the very beginning. Defining value and ways to reduce waste early on will help set you up for success down the road.
5. Monitor and Adjust Regularly to Ensure Optimal Results
It’s not enough to only implement lean practices in your construction projects; checking in on goals and making sure nothing falls through the cracks is essential to sustaining these new practices.
If issues come up during the implementation of lean, it’s important that you work with other stakeholders to address them immediately. This way, you can resolve the problems quickly and avoid any future difficulties.
Having this state of mind will help all your lean practices go smoothly, prevent little problems from becoming big blowouts, and minimize the amount of rework needed.
6. Set Standards and Indications of Success
The ‘What gets measured gets done’ mentality is crucial in lean construction. This popular project management quote means that if you want something done, you need to track and measure it.
Every individual invested in a construction project’s success should comprehend what is needed to make the project successful. Fortunately, setting milestones ensures that this understanding is had by all parties.
Every project has benchmarks and measures of success, whether it is keeping waste under a specific level or meeting certain deadlines. It is essential that everyone understands the goals and what needs to be accomplished.
7. Dedicate Yourself to Achieving Your Lean Goals.
Although it may be difficult at first, once you start implementing lean principles, your business will slowly but surely become more efficient by increasing value and decreasing waste.
Remember your goals even when you face setbacks with your first lean project. See what works and use it as a model for future projects; find out what doesn’t work and improve upon it.
Implement Lean On Your Projects With Valet Works
Valet Works is the perfect 8(a) firm for those needing exemplary design and construction services. Our team of professionals has complete ability in general contracting, construction management, consulting analysis—and more! You can be confident that you will receive an efficient lean application that is cost-effective.
Valet Works should always be your go-to#1 8(a) contractors for a wide variety of services! We offer quality results and outstanding customer service. Contact us today to see how we can help make sure that your construction project goes even better than you ever could have hoped!