Lean Construction: the efficient construction

Lean Construction methodology eliminates the processes that do not add value to the final product and prevents the squandering of materials, time and human resources.

Lean Construction is a methodology of management of construction projects that seeks to deliver the maximum value to the client, listening to their needs and optimizing the processes with suitable planning and risk control.

The Lean methodology allows us to be flexible to adapt to the priorities of each client, and minimize the typical problems of traditional management such as cost overruns or late deliveries.

The oirigins of Lean Construction

The Lean work system emerged in Japan in the 1950s with Toyota, as an alternative to the mass production that prevailed in the U.S.A. The Toyota Production System advocated Lean Manufacturing, that does not produce more than the market demands and seeks to reduce losses, understood as all that consumes resources and does not add value to the final product.

Lean applied to construction adopts the principles of this philosophy to optimize the construction processes and obtain the best results with maximum efficiency; that is, offer a product of the highest quality with the lowest cost and in less time.

interior lean construction construcción eficiente

The Lean principles at Construcía

Collaborative planning

If we have learnt anything at Construcía working with the Lean Construction methodology, it is that for the project to be successful, collaboration among all the actors involved is essential: suppliers, architects, builders and, of course, the client.

And together with collaboration, transparency and trust between the participants are also fundamental in order for everyone to feel they are part of a team that goes beyond the companies that comprise it. In addition, now, the client is also another co-worker of the team, and the responsibility of the final product is shared among everyone.

Detailed planning

Before starting the project, objectives are established and a detail plan is drawn up with the client and the project management to reduce the risks and resolve the problems in a collaborative way.

An important part of this planning is the Pull Sessions: meetings to define the returns, the sequence of activities and the work flow, and solve the possible overlaps.

After these sessions, the information collected in the Last Planner System is organized, a tool of collaborative planning where the daily objectives are shared and each one specifies their tasks and the time required to do them.

Just in time deliveries

Another of the principles of Lean Construction that we follow at Construcía is that of just in time deliveries. With our hub of materials, we supply only the materials necessary and at the precise moment. Thus, we avoid losses of time and superfluous movements, and we improve order and work safety.

Prefabrication

This is another of the processes that are optimized with the Lean Construction methodology. At Construcía we have seen that it is best to prefabricate all construction elements that do not need to be manufactured on site and that can be transported and assembled without difficulty.

On prefabricating, we gain in efficiency and in quality of the final product, because in the factory there is more space, better auxiliary resources and tools, and the controls are more exhaustive. In addition, in this way, time and space are utilized on site for tasks that can only be done there.

Continuous improvement and learning

Kaizen in Japanese means continuous improvement; a principle inherited from Lean Manufacturing by which we are governed at Construcía, not only in our projects, but also in our trajectory as a company. We believe that the only way to achieve excellence is to make a critical analysis of the successes and failures and incorporate that knowledge into the subsequent projects.

But we don’t do it alone; in our projects we have the support of our Cradle to Cradle suppliers, that allow us, with their experience, to improve performance, increase quality and reduce prices.

With Lean Construction we are leaving behind an obsolete way of working, incapable of offering personalized and profitable solutions. Thanks to this methodology we can fulfil our goal of always delivering maximum value to the customer according to its priorities, and do it within the costs and the period established.