Wolbers, M; Evans, R J E; Holmes, M; Pasquire, C L and Price, A D F (2005) Construction management and lean thinking in highways maintenance. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 21st Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2005, London, UK.
Abstract
The Highways Agency (HA) has recently rethought the way it commissions maintenance work on the trunk roads and motorways for which it is responsible. Taking on recommendations from recent reports into the UK construction industry, the HA have introduced the Construction Management Framework (CMF) in Areas 9 and 10 which covers a large area of the UK from Herefordshire to Lancashire. The CMF looks to implement substantial changes in culture and structure through replacing competitive tendering with long-term relationships and partnering based on quality rather than cost. The aim of this paper is to explore how the CMF can achieve its aims to provide best value and continuous improvement in comparison to traditional methods of procurement. On an operational level, lean construction has been identified as one means of providing best value within the CMF. This paper will assess how lean thinking lends itself to the core objectives of the new culture that the HA are promoting. It will consider how lean construction can improve best value within the CMF, with the intention that the need for further research will be identified. The paper is mainly based on a literature review that forms part of the first phase of an Engineering Doctorate, which aims to compare procurement methods and assess the merits of lean thinking in highways maintenance.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | continuous improvement; highways maintenance; lean; partnering; procurement |
| Index terms: | continuous improvement, literature review, competitive tendering, procurement method, partnering, lean construction, construction industry, agency, best value |
| Subjects: | contractual arrangements, data analysis and analytics, bidding, tendering, performance measurement, industry analysis, sociology, building construction, partnership management |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Site Management, Research Practice, Procurement, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here