TY  - CONF
TI  - The Flow of Work in Construction: A Conceptual Discussion
AU  - Kalsaas, Bo Terje
AU  - Bolviken, Trond
AD  - Associate Professor, Dr Ing, Faculty of economics and social sciences, Department of working life and innovation, University of Agder, 4846 Grimstad, Norway, Cellular +47 97082582, e-mail: bo.t.kalsaas@uia.no
AD  - Director, Business Development and Strategy, Veidekke Entreprenør AS, P.O. Box 506 Skøyen, N-0214 Oslo, trond.bolviken@veidekke.no (Veidekke Entreprenør AS is a Norwegian subsidiary of Veidekke ASA, one of the major Scandinavian construction and real-estate-development companies)
ED  - Walsh, Kenneth
ED  - Alves, Thais
PY  - 2010
DA  - 2010/07/14
T2  - 18th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
C3  - 18th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
CY  - Haifa, Israel
SP  - 52
EP  - 62
AB  - The purpose: To review the term ―flow‖ in production conceptually. The paper is a step towards fulfilling an ambition to find a way of measuring flow (of work) in construction in a manner that does not destroy the intuitive quality of the term, and of measuring flow as directly as possible. Research method: Theoretical and empirical exploration. Research findings: Flow is a construct widely used in different disciplines. It has a strong intuitive appeal in terms of meaning and experience, but it is not easily defined in relation to the operational level of production. The lean construction community seems to take a casual attitude to the concept of flow even though much hinges on it in this area of knowledge. In order to develop a more precise concept of flow in construction, and one that is geared towards measurability, we suggest building on Shingo‘s distinction between process and operation, and that, for example, a clear distinction be made between conditions for flow and the flow as such. Main contribution: The relevance of the paper is that it will help unpack the concept of flow as it applies to the construction industry.
KW  - Lean Construction
KW  - Production theory
KW  - Flow
KW  - Measurement
L1  - https://www.iglc.net/papers/details/718/pdf
UR  - https://www.iglc.net/papers/details/718
DB  - IGLC.net
LA  - English
N1  - Export date: 04 October 2026
ER  -