Identifying critical challenges to lean construction adoption

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to set out to identify and evaluate potential obstacles to successfully implementing lean construction (LC) as a result. Design/methodology/approach Several indicators were recognized as major obstacles following an exhaustive assessment of the literature and a multicriteria decision analysis based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) of information obtained from a questionnaire survey that was directed to practitioners in the Indian construction industry. Findings The results of this AHP model suggest that “Managerial” and “Inadequate resources” categories with a priority weight of “0.361” and “0.309” have the highest levels of influence, respectively, while “Inadequate knowledge” and “just in time (JIT)” categories with a priority weight of “0.053” and “0.034” have the lowest levels of influence, respectively. Research limitations/implications Construction companies can use the study’s findings as a guide to determine whether they are ready to embrace LC, learn more about the components needed for implementation or investigate any challenges that may arise. These businesses can then create plans to promote the adoption and application of the lean philosophy. Originality/value The Indian construction industry may see great success with LC management initiatives. LC concepts have been adopted by many nations, but during the past 20 years, there has only appeared to be a limited amount of lean implementation in the Indian construction industry. It seems that several structural and cultural barriers are preventing its effective implementation. Organizations will not be able to determine what improvement efforts are required, where these efforts should be directed or which initiatives could provide the best outcomes if they are unaware of the elements that influence the effective implementation of LC.

Unveiling Effectiveness of Lean Construction Practices: A Comprehensive Study through Surveys and Case Studies

“…The results challenge the misconception that LC practices result in additional costs. Instead, it is observed that lean practices prevent cost overruns by saving expenses related to defect correction, reworks, and non-value-adding activities [2,19,64].…”

“…Despite numerous reports citing significant benefits from implementing Lean Construction (LC) principles, its adoption rate remains relatively low, with many firms hesitating to implement LC practices [12][13][14]. Lack of awareness has been identified as one of the top barriers to LC adoption by many researchers [15][16][17][18][19]. Similarly, fear of failure or uncertainty associated with LC has prevented the construction industry from embracing Lean practices [20][21][22].…”

Essential organizational variables for the implementation of Quality 4.0: empirical evidence from the Indian furniture industry

“…The business prioritizes growing its market share and profitability (Kumar et al, 2018;Mittal et al, 2021aMittal et al, , 2023aSingh et al, 2023). The organizations therefore are concerned about the quality of their products, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and manufacturing costs (Mittal et al, 2021b(Mittal et al, , 2023bVerma et al, 2023;Vadivel et al, 2023).…”