Lean Transformation in a Modular Building Company: A Case for Implementation

Abstract

Encouraged by the remarkable productivity improvements in the manufacturing sector, the construction industry has a long history of trying to garner the benefits of manufacturing technologies. Whereas industrialized construction methods, such as modular and manufactured buildings, have evolved over decades, core techniques used in prefabrication plants vary only slightly from those employed in traditional site-built construction. The objective of this research was to develop and implement a production system for the effective application of lean tools in building components prefabrication. To overcome the prevalent skepticism among middle management, the lean journey started with a pilot project involving one production line. Over a six-month period, lean tools such as 5S (sort, straighten, shine, standardize, and sustain), standardized work, takt time planning, variation management, and value stream mapping were implemented to a communication shelter production line. The implementation successfully won the support of the middle managers and established the foundation for expanding lean practices to other parts of the factory and applying relevant lean tools and techniques.

Framework de Value Stream Mapping a partir de uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura

“…No caso de Yu et al (2013), as duas decisões eram inter-relacionadas. Quando o fluxo de produção de porta-a-porta foi olhado em relação a um fluxo de valor, o mapeamento só podia ser feito a nível da estação, já que um único mapa que, abrange todas as tarefas realizadas dentro de cada estação, seria ruim para manusear.…”

“…O problema com o mapeamento a este nível é que fluxo de valor pode não ser estável. Para este estudo, Yu et al (2013) relata que mapas em dois níveis foram usados simultaneamente para a identificação de desperdícios e desenvolvimento de soluções.…”

“…No entanto, deve-se esclarecer que a sua aplicação na prática, pode ser difícil como no caso de Yu et al (2013) que, apesar do mapa de estado futuro apresentar o estado ideal da linha de produção, não é possível executar todo o sistema enxuto ao mesmo tempo. Na realidade, atitudes diferentes da operação em relação à mudanças são destacadas neste estudo, o que justifica a variação na progressão de melhorias.…”

Applying the Concept of Selective Assembly to Modular Construction to Mitigate Impacts of Component Variability

“…Lean production principles, which first emerged in the Japanese manufacturing industry, are a collection of practices that aim to increase productivity, maximize value, and minimize waste [15]. While the application of lean principles in modular construction can significantly improve project performance [16][17][18], there still exists some key challenges with respect to the dichotomy between design and construction. For instance, Sarhan and Fox [19] found that in lean construction, there is often a conflict border between design and construction, resulting in inaccurate designs, rework, lack of constructability, and final products with significant variation from specified design values.…”

Evaluating Multiskilling in Residential Construction Projects Using Regional Industry Simulation

“…Also included on the site is a small shopping area/food court, and a preexisting historic structure on the site will be refurbished as a Center of Entrepreneurship co-working space. The founder of the Makerhoods project (second author of this paper) is a long-time advocate and practitioner of Lean Management (Manrique et al 2007;Yu et al 2013), and thus he naturally sought to pursue the implementation of Lean concepts and paradigms in this new venture. Given the constraints that prevailing rental rates in the target area placed on the construction budget, the potential cost reduction from a less wasteful and more productive construction process (i.e.…”