Implementing Lean Construction Concepts in a Residential Project

Bruno Pontes Mota1, Ricardo Rola Mota2 & Thais da C.L. Alves3

1Undergraduate student, Civil Engineering, Federal University of Ceará, Brazil. Phone +55 85 3244-1697, [email protected]
2Director, Pauta Engenharia Ltda, Brazil. Phone +55 85 3244-1697, [email protected]
3Assistant Professor, Department of Structural and Construction Engineering, University of Ceará, Brazil. Phone +55 85 3366-9607, ext.36, [email protected]

Abstract

The main goals of this paper are to present a case in which Lean Construction concepts were implemented and to discuss the benefits achieved during the process. The case study was developed during the construction phase of a residential project in the urban area of Fortaleza, Brazil. The project comprised the construction of 18 houses financed by a private investor and it was constructed and managed by a smallsized construction company. After lean concepts were implemented the project achieved a more stable flow of work and the number of emergency requests for resources decreased dramatically. Also, the project was completed a month in advance when compared to its original schedule thus allowing the investor to sell the units sooner than expected. Finally, after analyzing the benefits achieved in this pilot project the company’s upper management has decided to use Lean concepts in other projects, and the private investor wants to make sure Lean is used in other projects financed by his company. The paper aims at contributing to the literature on Lean Construction on the industry papers section by presenting a success story experienced by a small-sized construction company.

Keywords

Production system design, transparency, line-of-balance, home building

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Reference

Mota, B. P. , Mota, R. R. & Alves, T. C. 2008. Implementing Lean Construction Concepts in a Residential Project, 16th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 251-257. doi.org/

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