How to Implement Lean Construction

Lean construction can help reduce waste in the workplace and help your workforce hit those deadlines more often. Lean construction is a set of concepts originally developed by an engineer at Toyota, and it focuses on improving productivity in a construction environment. With the use of lean construction your company can become more profitable and your workers more skilled and efficient.

Things You'll Need

• A schedule
• Charts

Instructions

1. Assign a supervisor who is responsible for creating an efficient work flow and a logical sequence for the projects. This individual should also make sure that the workers are communicating with each other to stay away from any redundancies such as missing a deadline.

2. Set the finish date of all of the tasks along the project before they have even been started. Setting the dates helps workers understand the time they have to work with and deadlines are met better.

3. Create visual charts for the important things workers should be remembering such as the work flow pattern and deadlines. By giving the workers a visual reminder of important details, they will avoid mishaps more often and progress will come quicker.

4. Keep track of the number of goals that were met every day and let the workers know the percentage that they completed of the total work that should have been finished for the day. By giving the workers an exact number they have a value to strive to beat, and they will be more motivated to work harder or more efficiently.

5. Make sure all materials needed for each task are available before the task is scheduled to be performed.

Tips & Warnings

• Be visual with your signs, include pictures wherever possible.

References

• University of Berkely; What is Lean Construction; 1999
• Michigan State University; Lean Construction -- A promising Future for MSU; 2008
• Construction Science; The Marriage of CPM and Lean Construction