Application of Lean Production Approach in Integrated Project Scheduling Management

Construction project management focuses on the completion on time, ensuring committed quality, and within budget plan. Delay is one of the major problems in construction projects which is defined as the excess time in completing the project as specified in the contract, or project delivery commitments of the parties. Consequences of delay are different for different parties. As for the owner side, delay means loss of revenue due to late operation of the properties and unavailability of the facilities. To the contractor, delay causes increasing overhead and preliminaries costs, higher material costs by inflation, and due to labor cost increases. Delays can also lead serious effects such as lawsuits between the owners and contractors or contract termination. The effects of delay is illustrated below. 

There are lots of researches which have been conducted in different countries with the result that delay problem is a common phenomenon in the construction project; it is more severe in developing countries and Vietnam is not an exception. According to many studies, there are many causes of delay, in which, ineffective planning and scheduling of project by contractor is a major factor because they used so many inadequate assumptions and estimations. Thus, application a right process in project scheduling is essential requirement to improve the delay problem.

Mr. Le Viet Hoa made a research aimed to introduce Lean Production theory and its application in construction projects in Vietnam. It is believed to bring an innovation in the scheduling process. The objectives of his were to: (i) study the theory of Lean Production; (ii) study the application of Lean Production in integrated project scheduling management; and (iii) discuss the benefits and obstacles in applying Lean Production theory in construction project scheduling.

Conclusion

The study introduced current practice in project scheduling management and how to apply the Last Planner System. As the result, the application this theory has so many benefits and obstacles to the construction project.

   

To remove those obstacles, training will be a key factor. All related workers and staff should undergo formal training on how to use this tool in a convenient and efficient way. Although training can lead to increase workload in the early stages of implementation, however, in the long term, it will serve to improve the efficiency of the construction companies and constitute an investment cost from the original training.

Furthermore, there are some issues that would be considered to follow for increasing the success rate of implementation:

-          If the LPS are not carried out in a systematic manner, it will fail. However, the project documents must be fully completed and discussed weekly;

-          The Project Manager must control the LPS, the organizations still needed approval against unsatisfactory performance.

-          The LPS will highlight which of teams don’t perform well. If the data will not be used for  managing performance, the LPS will be discredited and lost benefits; and

-          The LPS will bring out the poor Project Managers. This can trigger training and reassignment.

The thesis abstract is copied and pasted below.

Abstract 

Construction industry in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular is one of the sectors with the greatest contribution to the development of the national economy over the past decades and it also played an important role in creating jobs for employers in the country. However, the industry was faced with poor performance, low productivity, bad quality, delays and cost overruns. With the desire to reduce waste, overproduction and create value added for customers. Lean construction has developed in recent times for the construction sector by increasing the efficiency of the construction process by improving the production process and control the workflow in the construction activities.

Lean construction has been studied and applied successfully in several companies of the western countries and it is a topic that many scholars have been investing effort to further research and applied more effectively. This study tends to introduce the application of Lean construction contractors and construction managers in Vietnam to be able to use and combine other tools to improve project performance.

Manufacturing and Construction have significant characteristics different. In manufacturing, regularly finished products after ex-factory will be transported to the consumers through the distribution channels are wholesalers to the retailers by logistics network systems. In contrast, construction products, great value and cannot be transported. In addition, the construction industry is composed of three important features that is completely different to other industries which are: Onsite production, one-of-a-kind projects, and complexity. Therefore, although the Lean Production was implemented very successfully after the Second World War but the Lean Construction theory is still being developed.