International Journal of Engineering Research ISSN:2319-6890 (online),2347-5013(print)

Volume No.6, Issue No.2, pp :95-97 1 Feb. 2017

Implementation of Lean Principles: Towards Augmenting Productivity in

Construction Industry – A Literature Review
Vanjisri.S
M.E. Infrastructure Engineering ,PSG College of Technology ,Coimbatore, India
Email: reach4vanji@gmail.com

Abstract: India has showed an exceptional economic growth in philosophies applied to construction industry is “Lean”. It is a
recent years. Poor planning and management of resources in customer focussed approach that concentrates on providing value
construction is a huge factor for the productivity issues and by eliminating waste and increasing quality. According to Lean
delays in projects. This paper describes the Lean concepts by Principles: Defects, over production, waiting, non-utilised talent,
the review of literatures. The main objective of this paper is to transportation, motion is the wastages in construction industry. It
enlighten on Lean Principles and its significance in improving has been estimated that only 10% of the construction process is
productivity in Construction Industry. Lean Construction (LC) value added activity and more than 50% of construction activity
also improves sustainability in Construction and thus enhances goes as one form of waste. By the elimination of the wastes will
the quality of Indian Construction sector. Findings of this itself increase the project value, as activities can be finished
study provide a good basis for construction industry to earlier without any delay. Even a day of project delay ends up in
implement Lean practice &Value Stream Mapping (VSM). loss, a properly managed project will function smoothly as all
Keywords-Lean Construction; Lean tools; Waste the activities are pre planned, well co-ordinated way of
minimization; Productivity; Construction Management; organising.
VSM; Project Performance; Sustainability.
The following are the principles of Lean:
I.Introduction • Knowledge-driven: Draws upon knowledge and innovation
from everyone - workers, suppliers
Construction is a complex industry; thousands of tasks • Eliminating waste: Stresses elimination, not just reduction, of
must be precisely controlled if a project is to run smoothly, on all types of waste
time and in budget. Its high variability motivated researchers to • Creating value: Puts premium on, not just reducing costs, to
propose new methods to improve the productivity by decreasing benefit all stakeholders
variability and making it easy. Though new techniques, Customer-focused: Customer needs and expectations “pull”
equipments and advancements were brought into the enterprise activities
construction sector, the efficiency of industry remains low. • Dynamic and continuous: Pursues on-going systemic as well as
Indian Construction Industry is fast growing by the incremental improvement –Both innovation and continual
new government strategies and it remains as the second largest improvement
employer. But in recent years, low productivity in construction
industry was identified as the main problem of India’s economy.
Bottlenecks, Cost overrun, Cost escalation are part and parcel of
construction projects. In order to augment productivity it is
necessary to eliminate waste (non value added) activities that
occur in Construction.
Lean construction practice is growing tremendously in
modern construction industry which is reviewed by the
literatures as better management practice.

II. Lean Concepts

The new technologies and advancements alone cannot

improve the efficiency and optimize the construction work. A
better management practice is necessary for co-ordinating new
technologies for improved efficiency and productivity in the Fig.1 Lean Principles
industry. Lean is a management approach when practiced,
provides many benefits. One of the new forms of management
III.Literature Review
Several literatures were studied to identify the causes of lower
productivity in construction and the implementation of Lean
concepts in various countries and the tools. (mentioned at last)

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 International Journal of Engineering Research ISSN:2319-6890 (online),2347-5013(print)
Volume No.6, Issue No.2, pp :95-97 1 Feb. 2017

IV. Summary from Review of Literatures References

It has been found that the emergence of lean practices
brings significant reform to the construction industry i. Adman Enshassi and Mohammed Abu Zaiter, “Improving
In case of Indian construction practices training and safety in construction projects in Palestine by implementing lean
consultancy on lean practices are necessary for the acceptance tools,” Conference proceedings - International Group of Lean
of lean system in construction Customers -22,Oslo, Norway,June/2014.
ii. Aakanksha Ingle, Prof Ashish P Waghmare, “Advances in
Lean Construction results in continuous improvement Construction: Lean Construction for waste minimization,”
in the process and workflow International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Volume-
The success of lean construction is highly dependent 2, Issue-11, November/2015
on having a cohesive team working towards congruent goals iii. Arunima Jayakumar, Rishav Sarma Bardalai, “Study and
and objectives. Implementation of Lean Technique in Construction Industry - A Case
Study,” International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
V.Conclusion Engineering and Technology Vol. 4, Issue 4, April /2015
On Implementation of Lean concepts in Indian iv. Ashwin Amarshi Maru, “Lean Construction in Civil
construction industry, there will be a change from traditional Engineering and Project Management: Case Study Analysis of UT
Arlington College Park,” American Journal of Civil Engineering
approach to lean practices. Improvement of productivity& Volume 3, Issue 3 , May/2015
project performance increases overall project value and v. Celep Oguz, Yong-Woo Kim, John Hutchison, and
thereby enhances the growth of the market which leads to Seungheon Han, “Implementing lean six sigma: A case study in
many internal benefits for the country and construction players concrete panel production,” Proceedings for the 20th Annual
as well. Further research on Lean thinking & implementation Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction,
of it in construction sector enhances the workflow and Norway,June/2014
improves overall project performance. vi. Charles Jensen, Patrick Theis, “Lean Construction
Management in Spain,” August /2015
vii. Deborah Nightingale, “Integrating the Lean Enterprise,”
Acknowledgement
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 12, 2005
I gratefully acknowledge the guidance given by viii. Glenn Ballard, Greg Howell, “Implementing Lean
various faculty advisors of PSG College of Technology and Construction: Stabilizing Work Flow,” Proceedings in Alarcon,
PSG Institute of Management. This paper was made possible Rotterdam,Netherlands.
through the help and support given by my parents
Mr.Shanmugam, Mrs.Vasanthi.V.S. I specially thank my
friends Anitha and Geetha who motivated in doing this project
work.

Literature Title Author Key points

Improving safety in construction projects in Palestine

Adman Enshassi and Mohammed 5S – Improved safety
by implementing lean tools
Abu Zaiter Need training and knowledge on LC

Study and Implementation of Lean Technique in Difficult practice in Indian

Rishav Sarma Bardalai, Arunima
Construction Industry - A Case Study Construction – use of many
Jayakumar
subcontractors is a barrier

Lean construction: From theory to implementation O. Salem, J.Solomon; A. Genaidy; Compares techniques, proposed new
and I.Minkarah assessment tool

Application Of Lean Manufacturing Principles To James E. Diekmann, Mark -LC added value of project from 10%
Construction Krewedl, Joshua Balonick, Travis to 25%
Stewart, and Spencer Won -Extraordinary opportunities

-LC tools facilitate company’s

Advances in Construction: Lean Construction for Aakanksha Ingle, Prof Ashish P
progress
waste minimization Waghmare
-Waste minimisation achieved

-Evoked interest in Indian

Implementing Lean Concepts On N. Raghavan, Satyanarayana
construction players
Indian Construction Sites: Kalidindi, Ashwin Mahalingam,
- Encouraged to adopt Last Planner
Organisational Aspects And Lessons Koshy
system
Learned Varghese and A. Ayesha
-Initiated lean construction excellence

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 International Journal of Engineering Research ISSN:2319-6890 (online),2347-5013(print)
Volume No.6, Issue No.2, pp :95-97 1 Feb. 2017

-Focuses on Last planner

A Study and Application of Lean Construction
J. Rajprasad, Shuaibu Saminu, -Improved Schedule performance and
Techniques Using Last Planner Concept in
Harish Babu S. track projects than master schedule
Residential Building
system

Mohd Arif Marhani, Aini Jaapar,

LC concepts improves performance,
Sustainability through Lean Construction Approach Nor Azmi Ahmad Bari, Mardhiah
health, safety and six sigma
Zawawi

-VSM- identify and measure waste

Value Stream Mapping as a Lean Construction Tool- Abhigna E Desai, -Reduce construction costs
A Case Study Maharshi J Shelat -Decrease process variability

-Implementation methods &

application of Last Planner system
Applying lean thinking in construction and Remon Fayek Aziz, Sherif
-Develop methodology for process
performance improvement Mohamed Hafez
evaluation
-Defines area of improvement
Developed framework consisting of
Improving Project Performance Using Lean
Marwa Gamal Swefie, process map, current state map, future
Construction in Egypt: A Proposed
A. Samer Ezz El-Din state map, ideal state and waste
Framework
elimination.

- Integrating Line of Balance and Last

Bhargav Dave, Juho-Pekka Planner
Suggestions to improve Lean Construction Planning Hämäläinen, Sergio Kemmer, Lauri -Line of Balance is applicable in
Koskela, Anssi Koskenvesa linear or repetitive work based
schedules

-Illustrates work flow throughout the

Value Stream Analysis Of Construction design, procurement, and fabrication
Roberto J. Arbulu and Iris D.
Supply Chains: Case Study On Pipe phases
Tommelein
Supports Used In Power Plants -Reduce the total delivery lead time
-Improve supply chain performance

-Reviews past lean construction

leadership development actions and
suggests developing the skills and
Bringing Lean Construction To Life: Developing
knowledge required to excel in these
Leaders, Consultants, Coaches, Facilitators, and Alan Mossman
roles.
Trainers & Instructors.
- Calls for further research in Lean
concepts

-VSM across five different sectors

Examining The Critical Success Factors In The Wenchi Shou, Jun Wang, Xiangyu
-Need to identify the Critical Success
Adoption Of Value Stream Mapping Wang and Heap-Yih Chong
Factors

-CPM scheduling and the Last

Planner System-complimentary
The Marriage Of CPM And Lean processes
Bob Huber, Paul Reiser
Construction - Improve crew flow and work flow
in Lean based project management
approach.

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