Pasquire, C (2012) Positioning lean within an exploration of engineering construction. Construction Management and Economics, 30(8), pp. 673-685. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
Engineering construction has specific characteristics that separate it from other types of construction such as technical complexity, onerous safety, health and environmental regulations, duality of new build combined with maintenance and repair, largely owner/user commissioning clients, value propositions revolving around a production Process, etc. The recent Gibson report (Gibson, 2009) highlighted several significant problems associated with engineering construction in the UK arising, in many cases, from skill shortages and poor client-contractor relationships. Informal observation and a literature review enable 12 factors to be proposed that differentiate engineering construction from other forms of construction. A new paradigm for the construction sector is Lean construction. This is an adaptation of Lean production and is based on a philosophy that focuses on delivering improved value through the assembly of problem-solving networks of knowledgeable and skilled people. Accepting that Lean construction exists in theory as a method for improving a raft of construction production issues, the question is asked here as to whether it is also relevant to the set of additional factors identified as applying specifically to production in an engineering construction context. The discussion concludes that Lean construction principles can be applied in engineering construction and that an improvement in value could be achieved. Note: throughout this paper the word 'process' is used in two contexts-the design and construction process and the end Process that is the function of the client business, e.g. water treatment Process, food manufacturing Process. The context is distinguished by the capitalization of the first letter.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | collaboration; construction process; engineering; lean construction; value |
| Index terms: | owner, manufacturing process, adaptation, new build, paradigm, construction engineering, design and construction, environmental regulation, construction production, lean construction, skill shortage, literature review, philosophy, lean production, production process, exploration, construction process, collaboration, commissioning, repair, construction sector, complexity |
| Subjects: | user focus, environmental resource management, operations management, contractual arrangements, data analysis and analytics, management, manufacturing engineering, education and knowledge transfer, construction integration, maintenance engineering, engineering methods, health safety and environment, sociology, building construction, philosophical studies, industry analysis, completion, systems engineering |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Human Resources, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Site Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Sustainability, 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