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Moving from lean manufacturing to lean construction: Toward a common sociotechnological framework
Author(s) -
Paez Omar,
Salem Sam,
Solomon Julie,
Genaidy Ash
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing and service industries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1520-6564
pISSN - 1090-8471
DOI - 10.1002/hfm.20023
Subject(s) - lean project management , lean manufacturing , lean laboratory , lean software development , manufacturing engineering , lean construction , production (economics) , business , engineering , operations management , computer science , construction industry , construction engineering , economics , software construction , software , software system , programming language , macroeconomics
Since the early 1990s, the construction industry has taken some interest in the application of lean production to its own case. A new body of research led by the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) has been exploring new techniques for the industry. In this article the techniques developed for lean construction are compared with those of lean manufacturing. Differences between the manufacturing and the construction cases showed why lean production does not fully suit the construction industry. Although some elements are in an embryonic state, lean construction has built a set of techniques that are transferable to any constructor. Lean manufacturing and lean construction share many common elements despite their different techniques. The need for a joint combination of technical and human elements shows that both approaches conform to a common sociotechnological design. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 15: 233–245, 2005.