International Lean Construction Conference in Haifa
Posted by Holly Allison on Tue, Jun 29, 2010 @ 09:24 AM
Dr. Rafael Sacks of Israel's Technion University invites all general contractors to attend the 18th annual international lean construction conference in Haifa.
Q: The Technion has been at the forefront of building sciences for many years. What is your goal for educating the construction industry on lean processes?
A: Lean construction is fairly new to the Israeli construction industry so we plan to hold an industry day where we will have an introductory workshop to lean construction. In the broader sense, the Technion faculty has been involved in research of lean construction going on ten years now. We’ve tried to focus on a number of main areas and contribute in that way to the international understanding of lean construction. Our research is focused on working with buildings where there are a great deal of changes... where there is a great deal of variation in the design information... and so we’ve had collaborative projects with construction companies where we’ve tried to devise new ways of managing apartment construction.
We have a game which we call the “Lean-Con” game which allows companies practice using lean methods for apartment construction (especially where there are a number of client initiated design changes in each apartment). We’ve also done a good deal of theoretical work on the behavior of contractors and we’ve tried to develop a theory as to why contractors often find a lose-lose situation to keep stable equilibrium and find it very difficult in a project setting, where they’re working on unit price contracts, to move to a win-win cooperative style of working.
So in various projects and research of that kind we are also trying to do our bit to increase the general understanding of what lean construction is all about.
Q: Based on the papers that will be presented at the conference, what should attendees expect to hear?
A: We have quite a wide range of papers in the conference this year. We have sixty-eight papers all together that will be presented by a range of academics and people from industry all from around twenty-five different countries. We have very strong papers this year on theory, on production system design, product development, and design itself, as well as safety quality. There are at least nine papers on information technology, as well.
I think what is unique about this year is that the editors have made a special effort to focus everyone’s writing and reporting on both what the hypothesis is and the ability to disprove hypothesis from empirical evidence. We pose the question in the title of the conference to be “Lean Construction - What do we think and what do we know?” So most of the papers have posed a hypothesis and set about to prove or disprove what they think by providing the evidence. Most of that evidence comes from trials or industry experience of applying lead principals on construction sites day by day.
Q: Are there any papers that stand out from the pack?
A: Yes, there are a few. There are one or two papers in the theory section that begin the question of what brings value to owners and construction companies which I think are important steps forward. There are very good papers on the application of BIM in construction. There are papers on how we can integrate BIM with lean and indeed reports of application on very big projects which are very detailed and have a wealth of empirical evidence that really do show the impact. Those are both from the United States and Scandinavia and I think those will probably be the highlight of the conference.
Q: The worldwide economic climate for commercial construction is still depressed. Can Lean Construction still be deployed in this economy? What does it take to make Lean successful in a construction company?
A: Those are obviously very interrelated issues. I think that when an economy is tough that it is exactly at that point that the benefits and the savings that one can accomplish by working lean become that much more important in assuring that a construction company can have a positive profit margin rather than a negative one.
We know that at the basis of application of lean we’re looking to reduce waste. I guess it’s not coincidental that the words coincide... In lean economic times we can’t afford the kinds of waste that we are use to in other economic times. So when the amount of work available is smaller, and owners are looking for a better product at a better value, then those construction companies that are able to deliver that and still be profitable are going to be much more competitive than those that do not.
It’s perhaps a time of opportunity and one where perhaps fear is an important motivator, unfortunately. It’s not easy to apply lean and does require a great deal of commitment and concerted effort on the part of a company. It is a question of education and of changing people’s mindset. That becomes I would guess a little easier to do when you feel that it is imperative to do it. It is also an opportunity to maintain people who are well trained and who can continue and to have fewer people who are not willing to change.
On what does it take to make lean construction successful in a company... Here the two important ingredients are openness of mind and commitment to learning. It does require a great deal of reading, it requires an understanding of the concepts so that not only can you apply the techniques like loss planner or design structure matrix, etc., but you can learn over time why they work and what aspects work best within your company your context and then apply them in creative ways.
So while it is not easy and it is stressful to make any kind of change (which is perhaps more difficult in lean economic times) It’s perhaps those companies that make that commitment and are able to undergo those changes that will survive and flourish not only in the lean times but when times improve.
Q: How can people learn more about the International Lean Construction Conference?
A: The simplest way to do it is to go to our website - http://iglc18.technion.ac.il/ You can also simply search on Google for IGLC18.
