Application of Lean Manufacturing Principle to Construction Industry

Abstract

Waste in the construction industry has been the subject of several research projects around the world in recent years because of inefficiency. Researchers and professionals implement different methods to reduce the amount of waste in the construction industry. One of the efficient methods for reducing waste is the application of lean approaches. Lean construction is a result of the introduction of a new form of production management on the field. Although lean construction is still evolving, its generic principles, techniques and tools can already be applied. The construction projects include various risk factors which have various impacts on time objective that may lead to time-overrun. This study suggests and applies a new technique for minimizing wastes and risk factors effect on time using lean construction principles. The lean construction is implemented in this study using the last planner system through execution of an industrial project in Puerto Rico. This is due to minimizing and mitigating the effect of most of the risk and debris factors in this project due to the implementation of lean manufacturing techniques. Key Terms - Lean Construction, Process Flow, Risk Management, Waste.