A general contractor's lean journey

Lean has been part of DPR Construction's culture since the company's founding in 1990. This is evidenced in the Employee Point of View, an internal document that tells the founders' vision and acceptable social norms, and in the involvement of the company in several pioneering projects implementing a Lean approach. This company has been a pioneer in adopting approaches such as The Last Planner System®, Target Value Delivery, and Integrated Project Delivery. However, when DPR started, it was a small company based in California; now it is a large company with over 13,000 employees in the US, Europe, and parts of Asia. Few companies have been on a Lean journey from the beginning like DPR has. This paper documents the evolution of the Lean culture at DPR Construction, including a timeline of significant events and current challenges, providing a unique perspective on how an organization that has grown so much has adapted its Lean strategies over the years to support its growth. This paper presents a case study of DPR's strategies and its journey to implement Lean and integrate it into the organization.