Lean Construction from Around the World
November 12th, 2006 by HalThursday morning continued with more reports from lean construction efforts around the world with the first report on Brazil. The Last Planner System® (LPS) is a common approach on large projects in Brazil. Projects have high reliability (PPC) with the median at 77% for over 150 projects tracked by the universities. Carlos Formosa has been the leading researcher in the world connecting safety to lean practices.
Glenn Ballard reported on the safety experience of adopting LPS at MT Hojgaard, Denmark's largest construction company, the have extended lean construction throughout the firm. Early projects were 70% safer than other like projects in the company. As LPS was adopted throughout the firm, other business units had a similar experience. As a firm, safety incidents have fallen by 70%.
One of the founding organizations of LCI DK was the trade union.
Greg Howell shared some of the possible explanations for the improvement in safety. LPS makes work ready. When doing ready work there are fewer trips up and down ladders, in and out of trenches, and general exposure to risks. He added that lean projects have material on site when needed, not before it is needed. Consequently, material is not moved around as much. Moving material is a significant source of injuries.
Next up was a report on Denmark's Lean Construction activities. The Danes have their own Lean Construction DK, originally started as a branch of LCI and now a fully functioning body with its own board of directors. Membership has been growing. The members have been very active both locally and internationally. One of the founding organizations of LCI DK was the trade union.
Next up was a report from Germany. There is a Lean Construction Working Group (LCWG) for the three German-speaking countries: Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The group gets involved with industry projects. They also are putting on first-of-its-kind lean construction courses in Germany. LCWG is tapping people from around the world to launch these courses.
Next was an in-person presentation on Swedish Lean Construction Institute (SWELCI) by Bengt Toolanen, "Footprints of Lean Thinking in Sweden". Lean construction in Sweden traces it background to Scania's product development system (SPS). Bengt claims that lean construction is most like product development. Scania delivers trucks in millions of possible different combinations. Scania's SPS is shown as a version of Toyota's house view of a production system. Scania has close ties with Toyota.
Bengt went on to share a story of a firm that prefabricates full bathrooms including floor, ceiling, fixtures, wall coverings, and all accessories. They produce 5,000/year for domestic use and export.
There is another company producing wood panel systems for quick on-site assembly of houses. And a company that does larger projects using prefabricated steel framed panels. Skanska is also involved in the industrial production of buildings and housing.
Relational contracting opened the door for LPS implementation on big projects.
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