https://doi.org/10.24928/2022/0200

The Impacts of Lean Implementation Revealed in the Course of Building a Digital Twin of a Construction Manufacturing Facility

Fatima Alsakka¹, Mohammad Darwish², Haitao Yu³, Farook Hamzeh⁴ & Mohamed Al-Hussein⁵

¹PhD student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-1777-1875
²MSc graduate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-1363-7225
³Research and Development, ACQBUILT, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-7798-4867
⁴Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-3986-9534
⁵Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-1774-9718

Abstract

Successful implementation of lean philosophy in various sectors has inspired many construction manufacturing companies to foster a lean culture and embark on open-ended lean transformation initiatives. This study presents the case of a panelized construction company that has embraced the lean philosophy over the past decade. Experiments undertaken during the process of building a digital twin of the company’s production facility to verify the logic underlying the developed model reveal an increase in productivity. Using the same productivity regression models to model framing operations in two different years, the simulation of combined productive and delay times results in an underestimation compared to actual production data from 2013 but an overestimation compared to actual production data from 2017. Moreover, prominent lean changes implemented over the years that are positively correlated with productivity improvement are identified. These include standardizing the design and manufacturing processes, minimizing waste (including Mura, Muda, and material waste), ensuring a continuous flow, balancing the production line, following a just-in-time approach for the delivery of materials and implementing the 5S program. The findings underscore the long-term benefits of adopting lean thinking in construction manufacturing.

Keywords

Lean thinking, construction manufacturing, benefits realization, productivity improvement, continuous improvement.

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Reference

Alsakka, F. , Darwish, M. , Yu, H. , Hamzeh, F. & Al-Hussein, M. 2022. The Impacts of Lean Implementation Revealed in the Course of Building a Digital Twin of a Construction Manufacturing Facility, Proc. 30th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) , 890-901. doi.org/10.24928/2022/0200

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