A Comparative Study between Lean Construction and the Traditional Production System

Abstract

The growing context of globalization permanently increases pressure on the construction companies to improve their performances in order to resist to the constraints of competitiveness in the international market. It has become ineluctable to look for introducing a new alternative capable of bringing creative improvement to the traditional production system. This paper will relate mainly to the most relevant management techniques in the construction industry, and more specifically, the lean construction concept. Initially, we will determine the main characteristics of the construction industry compared to the manufacturing industry according to three levels: on-site production, one of a kind projects, and complexity. Subsequently, we will focus our attention on the main sources of waste in the construction industry. Finally, a rigorous comparative study will be carried out to show the contribution of the lean construction tools in the promotion of traditional construction especially at the level of the following factors: Creating value and eliminating waste; Planning and mutual coordination; Site organization. Lean construction as Last Planner System (LPS), Value Stream Mapping (VSM), Just-in-Time philosophy, Visual management (VM) and 5S have shown a great ability to improve the traditional production system through waste reduction, encouraging people involvement, ensuring a pull flow production, and promotion of a continuous improvement philosophy.

Lean optimization model for managing the yield of pima cotton (gossipier Barba dense) in small- and medium-sized farms in the Peruvian coast areas

“…Much of the research focuses on lean manufacturing implementation to reduce waste in manufacturing processes reported in [11], [16], [23], and [32]. In contrast, [2] and [12] compared lean manufacturing with the mechanisms proposed in traditional studies that were specific to each company. Considering what has been researched and unlike the previous models, we can support the need to propose an optimized production model, which, under the hypothesis of using the lean manufacturing methodology, will cover all pending implications from previous analytical studies on cotton.…”

“…A considerable amount of research has focused on identifying the factors affecting production yield; thus, it is important to take these factors into account herein. The proposed model consists of [2] stages, as described in Figure 1. The diagnosis corresponds to the analysis of the current Pima cotton crop production situation and is represented by in-depth interviews and proposed production indicators.…”

“…Likewise, the development of the model represents the structure that must be followed for cotton production in Piura, which is constituted by the standardized process and a mathematical model used to obtain cotton yield. In total, [2] steps are proposed for its development:…”

“…The case study is based on the crop production of Pima cotton in the northern coast area in the Department of Piura, which is the main producer of Pima cotton in the market. For this purpose, the proposed model consists of [2] stages. The diagnosis is implemented in [3] steps.…”

he Practical Relationships between Lean Construction Tools and Sustainable Development: A literature review

“…7 and Fig. 8 shows the usefulness of the visual management for the organization and transparency of construction projects [42].…”