MAJOR BARRIERS ASSESSMENT OF LEAN CONSTRUCTION APPLICATION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS DELIVERY (original) (raw)

Assessment of Lean Construction Practice in the Nigerian Construction Industry

Lean Construction offers valuable techniques to manage construction at improved workflows and minimal waste generation. This research therefore seeks to assess Lean Construction practices in the Nigerian Construction industry by exploring construction practitioners' extent of knowledge of Lean Construction and its approaches as well as evaluate how often these approaches are being utilized, to assess its benefits and the barriers hindering its implementation in the Nigerian construction industry. The target populations were construction professionals in the construction industry, consisting of Architects, Quantity Surveyor, Builders and Engineers. Data collection was done through the use of a structured questionnaire administered to these professionals. The data were analyzed using Mean score ranking statistical tool and results were presented in tables. The results showed that most of the construction professionals are aware of Lean Construction and its approaches. Also, Project needing immediate attention given more importance, Identification of client needs and Look – ahead schedule (program of work) were the most utilized approaches in the construction industry, while improvement of project delivery methods, more satisfied clients and the delivery of products or services that enable clients to better accomplish their goals were the major benefits identified. The study therefore recommends that more should be done on lean awareness and understanding as well as training for exposure to the need to adopt the lean concept.

LEAN CONSTRUCTION AS A PANACEA FOR POOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS PERFORMANCE

Journal of Engineering and Technology for Industrial Applications, 2020

Recurring problems in the delivery of construction projects have been time and cost overruns, poor quality, poor health and safety, waste and loss of value. This situation is worsened by the reluctance of construction organisations to fully implement lean construction technique which has proved to be an innovative solution to these problems. This study assessed construction professionals' perception of the awareness, adoption and benefits of lean construction in remedying poor construction project performance in the south-south region of Nigeria. A well-structure questionnaire distributed by hand and electronically using the snowball sampling technique were used to gather data from the participants from both the private and public organisations. Frequency, percentage and factor analysis were used to analyse the collected data. It was found that the level of awareness of lean construction is high but it s adoption is low. Lean construction is a panacea for poor construction project performance because of it s cost related benefits, value and relationship benefits, environmental benefits, quality improvement benefits, motivation and productivity benefits, profitability and market benefits, time and work flow benefits, waste reduction benefits, and HS and rework reduction benefits. The creation of dedicated department/team for driving the lean initiative is recommended.

AWARENESS, USE AND BENEFITS OF LEAN TECHNOLOGIES ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN NIGERIA

Awareness, Use And Benefits Of Lean Technologies On Construction Projects In Nigeria, 2021

The Nigerian construction industry is confronted with numerous challenges, including poor performance and waste generation during construction. Lean, to a greater extent, has been able to improve quality, minimize waste generation, and ensure value for money on delivered projects. Hence, this paper aims at identifying the extent and level of awareness of lean technology; assessing the benefits of adopting lean technologies on construction projects in Imo state, Nigeria. A total of about 200 self-administered questionnaires were purposely distributed to practitioners within Imo state. Of the 200 questionnaires, 132 were completed and returned, while 6 were found unfit, and the rest (126) were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0. The result indicates that the level of awareness of lean construction technology use is still at a moderate level, while the benefits of lean technologies adoption include allowing for the maximum use of equipment and materials on construction sites. This paper recommends that workshops and seminars by professional bodies be organized from time to time to help in enlightening practitioners on the needs and benefits derivable from the adoption of lean construction technologies.

Barriers to Lean Adoption for Construction Projects

Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, 2019

Lean has been judged to have improved construction project performance the world over. due to its theoretical advantages and benefits. The effective implementation of this concept in construction projects is rare in developing countries. This rare adoption may be a result of some existing barriers and problems ensuing there from. The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers to adoption of lean in construction projects. Critical barriers to lean implementation were reviewed via a questionnaire-based survey. The population for the study was populated from five (5) construction firms located in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The population consists of project managers, construction managers, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and project supervisors working on construction projects within the firms. The population for the study consists of 362 practitioners. The construction firms were contacted via a purposeful/convenience sampling technique where a sample size of 291 was arrived at via the Krejcie and Morgan method for sample size determination. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 21.0) was used in generating the descriptive and inferential statistics, while Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyze the main theme bordering on the barriers to lean adoption. On the basis of RII rankings, the results revealed that lack of adequate lean awareness and understanding with a RII value of 0.56 and ranked first was the most important barrier to lean implementation. While resistance to change and culture RII 0.55; lack of technical capabilities RII 0.53; lack of financial resources RII 0.52 were the next on the list of the highest ranked barriers to lean adoption. The study recommends amongst others, that government and other professional associations within the built industry should as a matter of urgency and necessity should pay more attention to knowledge creation, as well as building capacity and innovation through the application of lean principles as this would help create the needed change in paradigm that would propel the Nigerian construction industry to greatness.

Perspectives for the implementation of Lean Construction in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

Purpose: Lean construction, if adopted could prove to be highly rewarding to Ghanaian construction organizations, resulting in the reduction of waste and improvement in productivity. This paper presents results of a study to assess the perceptions of Ghanaian construction practitioners of the lean construction philosophy and to identify the level of knowledge in the construction industry. Design/Methodology/Approach: A structured questionnaire survey was conducted on technical managers of construction organizations and consultants to assess their perceptions of the lean construction philosophy, identify the level of knowledge in the Ghanaian construction industry and measures to bridge the knowledge gap. Data obtained from the study were ranked according to their mean scores. Findings: There is the existence of a good level of awareness, but a low level of familiarity and application of lean construction among practitioners in the Ghanaian construction industry. Majority are considering application of lean concepts in future. Lean principles are considered transferable to construction in Ghana and construction practitioners suggest that to deal with the knowledge gap, firms should change organizational culture that does not promote lean construction and the construction industry should organize workshops and conferences to increase the level of awareness and bridge the knowledge gap on lean construction in Ghana. Research Limitations/Implications: The study should have covered all categories of contractors but due to lack of reliable information on small scale construction organizations, only large firms in the highest financial classes were covered. in the Ghanaian Construction Industry Practical Implication: The findings from the study enable the Ghanaian construction industry to organize training workshops and conferences for key players in the industry to increase their level of awareness and to bridge the knowledge gap on lean construction. Originality/Value: The findings of the study are of value to construction organizations seeking to improve productivity and work quality through the adoption of the lean construction approach.

Barriers to Sustainable Implementation of Lean Construction in the Ghanaian Building Industry

Purpose: Adoption of lean construction in the construction industry will improve quality and efficiency, eliminate waste and increase value for the client. It is a production-based management strategy that enables construction companies to maximize profits by maximizing efficiency and eliminating waste of resources. Lean production efforts in some countries have not been successful due to the many barriers to its successful implementation. This study was undertaken to identify possible barriers to successful and sustainable implementation of lean construction in the Ghanaian building industry and possible measures to overcome such barriers. Design/Methodology/Approach: A structured questionnaire survey of 400 technical managers of construction organizations was carried out to identify possible barriers to implementation of lean construction and possible measures to overcome them in Ghana. Factor analysis using SPSS version 16 package was adopted to group the barriers identified. Measures identified were evaluated based on mean scores and ranked according to their strengths. Findings: Difficulty in understanding lean concepts, inconsistency in government policies, poor project definition, incomplete designs, lack of standardization and lack of long term relationship with suppliers were some of the barriers identified and grouped into Managerial, Technical and Teamwork issues. Research Limitations/Implications: The study should have covered all categories of contractors but due to lack of reliable information on the large number of small scale construction organizations, only large scale firms were studied. Practical Implication: The paper provides possible barriers to the implementation of lean construction and possible measures to overcome such barriers in building projects to improve construction quality and efficiency. Originality/Value: Identification of potential barriers and possible measure to overcome them are steps towards successful implementation of the lean concept in the Ghanaian building industry.

The awareness and implementation of lean models in Nigerian construction

The awareness and implementation of lean models in Nigerian construction, 2017

The Nigerian construction industry is characterized as slow progressing in terms of adopting innovative ways of construction. This situation has led the industry to continuous decline in the aspect of planning, productivity and efficiency. In response to this assertion, researchers propose the application of lean models to solve the problems of waste of resources, time and energy that continues to have a toll in the successful delivery of project. However, there is no sufficient empirical data on its application in the Nigerian construction industry. Hence, this study sought to investigate its awareness and implementation as a means of addressing the aforementioned challenges. A quantitative method was used where a survey questionnaire was administered to potential respondents. 100 responses were ultimately collected as valid responses, representing a 66.6% response rate. Microsoft Excel and the Statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) software were used to analyse the data by both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result from this study revealed that majority of professionals in the Nigerian construction industry are aware of the term lean construction but many of them do not fully understand its semantics. With regards to implementation of lean construction on Nigerian construction sites, it was deduced that the concept would be suitable for adoption on all types of construction projects, However, this depends on overcoming the major challenges identified in this study as; resistance to change from traditional practice, weak administration, and inadequate knowledge and skills. Furthermore, creating awareness on the drivers of lean construction such as cost savings, meeting client's expectations and requirements, and the need to decrease project schedule, could also lure organizations to adopt the concept. Majority of construction companies who adopted lean transformation in other countries did so to achieve cost savings and satisfy their client's requirement. Nevertheless, it was recommended in this study that for any organization seeking to adopt Lean construction effectively, there must be a total mind-shift from traditional practices towards a more innovative and sustainable approaches.