Development of lean design process for building construction projects

Haji Md Yusof, I (2019) Development of lean design process for building construction projects. PhD thesis, University of Birmingham, UK.

Abstract

Complex designs in construction projects may lead to various problems in the construction industry. The design process in the earlier part of a construction project can be considered as the most influential phase capable of affecting the performance of the project. An approach of integrating lean thinking into the design process of constructions projects can achieve substantial benefit at the design stage. The research presented in this thesis investigates and demonstrates the adaptation of lean thinking towards performance improvement of the design process. The aim of this research is to develop an innovation of design processes that supports the implementation of lean thinking for building construction projects. The proposed design process provides a systematic approach, which is structured into stages and activities in order to obtain a lean design process. The development of the proposed design process starts with the framework of innovation. The framework comprises of seven knowledge domains: application, design management, design process, people, information flow, performance and measurement, and techniques and tools. The proposed design process was developed based on the principles of ‘Set-Based-Concurrent-Engineering' as the core enabler. The research makes the following contributions: (1) identification of wastes and enablers in the design process; (2) elimination of the identified wastes in the design process; (3) the applicability of the proposed lean design process in the construction industry; (4) the performance measurement as a tool for design process review.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords: construction project; design management; design process; innovation; measurement; performance improvement; waste
Index terms: implementation, construction industry, performance improvement, adaptation, performance measurement, design stage, construction project, design management, information flow, building construction, design process
Subjects: user focus, contractual arrangements, professional practice, design process, production management, building construction, design methods, performance measurement, information systems, industry analysis
Topics: Quality Management, Procurement, Project Management, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Construction Technology, Research Practice
Descriptive scope: 3 PCT

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