Modern Construction: Lean Project Delivery and Integrated Practices

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CRC Press, Oct 13, 2010 - Technology & Engineering - 524 pages

During the past several decades, the manufacturing and service industries significantly increased their levels of productivity, quality, and profitability through the application of process improvement techniques and information technology. Unfortunately, the construction industry lags far behind in the application of performance improvement and optimization techniques, as well as its overall competitiveness. Written by Lincoln H. Forbes and Syed M. Ahmed, both highly regarded for leadership and innovation, Modern Construction: Lean Project Delivery and Integrated Practices offers cutting-edge lean tools and other productive strategies for the management of people and processes in the construction industry.

Drs. Forbes and Ahmed focus mainly on lean construction methodologies, such as The Last Planner(R) System, The Lean Project Delivery System (TM), and Integrated Project Delivery(TM). The tools and strategies offered draw on the success of the world-renowned Toyota Production System (TPS) adapted to the construction environment by construction professionals and researchers involved in developing and advocating lean construction methods. The book also discusses why true lean construction can best occur when all the construction stakeholders, owners, designers, constructors, and material suppliers are committed to the concept of optimizing the flow of activities holistically while de-emphasizing their self-interest.

The authors also reintroduce process improvement approaches such as TQM and Six Sigma as a foundation for the adoption of lean methodologies, and demonstrate how these methods can improve projects in a so-called traditional environment. The book integrates these methods with emerging interest in "green construction" and the use of information technology and Building Information Modeling (BIM), while recognizing the human element in relation to motivation, safety, and environmental stresses. Written specifically for professionals in an industry that desperately needs to play catch up, the book delineates cutting-edge approaches with the benefit of successful cases and explains how their deployment can improve construction performance and competitiveness.

 

Contents

Chapter 1 Overview of the Construction Industry
1
Chapter 2 Productivity and Performance Measurement in Construction
23
Chapter 3 Foundations of Lean Construction
45
Chapter 4 Lean Process Management
73
Chapter 5 Lean Process Measurement and Lean ToolsTechniques
109
Chapter 6 Lean Construction Applications
133
Chapter 7 LeanBased Project Delivery Methods
167
Chapter 8 Information and Communication TechnologyBuilding Information Modeling
203
Chapter 11 Selected Performance Improvement Tools and Techniques
305
Chapter 12 Safety Management
331
Chapter 13 Management and Worker Factors
361
Chapter 14 Systems Integration Approaches
395
Chapter 15 Learning from Projects and Enhancing Lean Project Delivery and IPD
423
Glossary of Lean Terms
457
Index
465
Back cover
491

A Complement to Lean Construction
229
Sustainability and Commissioning
273

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