Stephen Emmitt

Lost in transition: the transfer of lean manufacturing to construction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the transfer of lean manufacturing/production from the Japanese manufacturing industry to the construction sector in the west.Design/methodology/approach – Research literature from the fields of lean manufacturing/production and lean construction was reviewed. This revealed a number of characteristics that are specific to lean construction, most notably the recognition that critical research findings have been slow to emerge but appear to be gaining momentum.Findings – In the transition from manufacturing to construction the process losses appear to be related to critical aspects and the challenges surrounding practical application to a different context. Lean is highly interpretive and there is no shared definition or understanding of what is meant by lean, lean production, and lean construction. The focus has been mainly on production system design, planning and management, and implementation. This narrow focus has meant that some important issues concer...

Investigating the integration of design and construction from a “lean” perspective

Purpose – Better integration of project processes has often been identified as the key issue regarding construction performance improvement. In some countries lean construction has become well‐established, although there appears to be considerable diversity in the interpretation of the concept. Lean construction initially focused on production aspects, but gradually design issues have started to receive more attention and integrating construction design and production processes from a lean perspective are beginning to be addressed. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the practical challenges underlying the implementation of approaches promoted as “lean” and compare this with published research/theory.Design/methodology/approach – Following an extensive review of the literature, a multiple case‐strategy approach was used to explore the practical application of lean approaches to design and construction integration in an organisational setting. Summaries of the case studies, one from the USA an...

Facilitating Client Value Creation in the Conceptual Design Phase of Construction Projects: A Workshop Approach

Abstract If client values are not fully understood in a construction project it is likely to result in either low fulfilment of client expectations or multiple design alterations during the project process which lead to additional costs and frustration among the project participants. However, it is not a straightforward management task to operationalize client value in construction. Within this context, the client group comprises multiple stakeholders, which often have conflicting goals and values that may not be fully realized by the stakeholders themselves. The management challenge is further complicated by the fact that the delivery team, which is responsible for understanding and delivering client value, is made up of even more different parties. The article reports the initial outcome of a joint research project between academics and practitioners, which aims to develop a practical workshop model that incorporates client values into the conceptual design of construction projects. The workshop model draws on value management and lean thinking as underlying principles in an attempt to address the ambiguous concept of ‘value’.

Design Team Communication and Design Task Complexity: The Preference for Dialogues

Abstract The way in which dialogues and group meetings affect the progress of multidisciplinary architectural design teams can be easily underestimated by managers. This is due to the importance of group meetings to review designs, share information, make decisions and hence progress the design. The aim of this paper is to discuss how design dialogues and design team meetings facilitate team communication. A review of research into design team communication and performance using a project website provides an insight into how design team members used and changed their synchronous and asynchronous communication while adopting the project web. Case studies were used to investigate changes in communication practices affecting team performance due to project web use. Research findings reveal a preference among design team members for dialogue as their favourite communication medium despite the growing use of asynchronous communication by teams. Results are discussed against research findings from communication in design and management team meetings. Implications for design managers, concerned with improving communications and the management of design, are discussed in the light of the research findings.

Exploring effectiveness of team communication: Balancing synchronous and asynchronous communication in design teams

Purpose – Effective teams use a balance of synchronous and asynchronous communication. Team communication is dependent on the communication acts of team members and the ability of managers to facilitate, stimulate and motivate them. Team members from organizations using different information systems tend to have different understanding, opinions, and rates of adoption and skills levels regarding specific IT tools. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effective use of tools for communication in design teams and the strategies for the use of specific tools.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the potential effectiveness of synchronous and asynchronous communication means and tools for team communication leads to a review of research conducted into the use of two relatively new electronic tools for team communication by design teams in The Netherlands.Findings – The research results revealed that a collective framework for team communication and collaboration using electronic tools was missing. T...

Investigating interpersonal communication during construction progress meetings: challenges and opportunities

Progress meetings provide a central forum for requesting and exchanging the information necessary for the successful completion of construction projects. Although common to the majority of projects, little is known about the interaction between participants during these meetings. Reviews appropriateness of methodologies for the study of group interaction and discusses the problems encountered when piloting them. The review led to a focus on Bales’ interaction process analysis (IPA) as an appropriate methodology for observing, analysing and interpreting social interaction in small groups. Pilot testing and subsequent use found the method to be reliable and robust. Bales’ IPA was used to categorise and quantify communication acts of 30 site‐based progress meetings. Results indicate that the management and design team interaction is subject to interaction norms: this is predominantly task‐based, but subject to outbursts of emotional interaction, which was found to be very influential on the groups’ behaviour.

Observing the act of specification

Abstract The specification of building products is an important but neglected area of design methods research, taking place largely in the detail design phase where important decisions are made with regard to building assembly and its long term durability. In an attempt to investigate this decision-making process a specifier was observed as part of a larger investigation into how designers become aware of products that are new to them—building product innovations. The observation revealed a number of different pressures to change the specification as well as a conservative approach by the specifier, keen to minimise risk.

Challenges for capturing and assessing initial embodied energy: a contractor’s perspective

Initial embodied energy includes energy use during material, transportation, and construction life cycle phases up to project practical completion. Contractors have an important role to play in reducing initial embodied energy levels due to their significant involvement in preconstruction and onsite construction activities. Following an extensive literature review a comprehensive framework was designed to highlight the significance of initial embodied energy levels relative to specific construction packages, activities and subcontractors. This framework was then applied to a new UK industrial warehouse project using a case study approach. Capturing information from a live project during the entire construction phase helped highlight the practical challenges inherent when capturing and assessing initial embodied energy levels. A series of contractor current practices was reviewed to determine their compliance with the framework requirements. The findings revealed that the ground and upper floor, external slab and frame were the most significant construction packages in terms of embodied impacts. Many challenges embedded within the contractor’s current practices in terms of data detail, legibility, and terminology were also revealed. The framework provides a practical approach for initial embodied energy assessment which can readily be adopted by contractors to help highlight opportunities to increase efficiency.

Perceptions of lean design management

The importance of managing the early design phases effectively and efficiently is relatively well appreciated, although how best to do this is not so clear. The successful use of lean management in the construction phase, using the principles largely developed by Toyota, has opened up the possibility of using lean design management, thus helping to establish a systematic approach to the creative design phase. This study explores the interpretation and application of lean design management in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC). A survey questionnaire was used to obtain an understanding of current design management processes and practices in the UK. Findings from 125 responses indicate that inefficiencies are related to ineffective design management processes (e.g. management of briefing, design, etc.) as well as problems with procurement. The main conclusion drawn is that lean design management appears valid for implementation in the AEC sector, but needs to be customised according to the project context in order to achieve the desired value for all stakeholders.

Informal interaction in construction progress meetings

The small amount of published research into construction project meetings demonstrates some of the principal difficulties of investigating such sensitive business environments. Using the Bales Interaction Process Analysis (IPA) research method, data on group interaction were collected. A project outcome, namely whether the project was within contract budget, was used as a basis of enquiry between interaction patterns. Analysis was concerned with the socio‐emotional (relationship building) and the task‐based components of communication and the positive and negative socio‐emotional interaction characteristics. Socio‐emotional interaction was found to be significantly greater in the projects completed within budget. Socio‐emotional interaction is used to express feelings in relation to tasks and it serves as the flux that creates and sustains the groups social framework, which is crucial in a project environment. The data provide an indication of the importance of informal communication in the maintenance of relationships within project meetings.