Lean management methods for complex projects

There have been important advances regarding the synergies between building information modeling (BIM), as part of virtual design and construction (VDC), and lean construction. However, the literature does not fully explore the nature of or conceptual reasons behind these synergies. A better understanding of these synergies would allow the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry to achieve better lean and VDC implementation, and would provide a stepping-stone for academia to continue building on these synergies. Furthermore, in recent years, the AEC industry has broadly expanded the use of VDC; particularly lean construction methods, to deliver value to their customers. VDC includes the use of Production Management using lean methods as an integral part of the defining theory and method, and multiple case studies have concluded that the projects with the best performance use both initiatives together. Despite the great importance of both methodologies, VDC remains a challenge as companies lack understanding of the implementation strategies and their relation with Lean management. The main theoretical contribution to knowledge in the field of VDC and Lean is the design of the VDC/Lean influence model, based on statistically significant evidence of relationships between elements of VDC implementations with Lean as a moderator.

The automobile body painting production system exists in the backward management concept of focusing on production and ignoring environmental protection, focusing on traditional technology and unwilling to innovate, etc., high production cost and environmental protection standards, which have had a negative impact on the industry's long-term growth. Based on the value stream mapping (VSM) analysis technology, the current situation of the value stream of the body spraying process of TJ Automobile Manufacturing Company is analyzed, the problem of waste in the production process of automobile body painting system affected by Eliminate Combine Rearrange Simplify (ECRS)a four-step problem-solving technique was studied and analyzed, a new method for the application of value stream graph analysis technology in the digital transformation environment is proposed, and a suitable production improvement scheme for the body painting system is formulated by using the new method, which increases the value-added operation time of the painting production process by 9.5% and reduces the non-value-added operation time by 12.5%. The number of operators was reduced by 18.8%, the value-added ratio was increased accordingly, the scrap rate was reduced by 8%, and the exhaust gas purification rate was increased by 66%, which brought good economic and social benefits to the enterprise and provided a successful case for the application of lean production VSM in the digital transformation environment. The paper extends knowledge in the area of digital transformation and lean production by helping us to establish and explain the relationship between lean production management methods and the promotion of new energy vehicle body coating performance from a dual perspective of digital transformation and VSM. None of the previous studies have considered the combined application of the studied digital transformation and VSM lean management approaches.

The purpose of this study was to explore the lean management strategies used by an outpatient hospital pharmacy in China to reduce internal errors in prescription dispense and to describe their impact on patient satisfaction. The type and number of internal errors in prescription dispense from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, were collected. The causes of these errors were analyzed based on a series of lean management concepts and methods, and Lean Management was implemented from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, in this outpatient hospital pharmacy. The number of internal errors, the proportion of dispense errors and the change of patient satisfaction before and after Lean Management were compared. Before the implementation of Lean Management, 2978 cases of internal errors were reported. It includes 1286cases (43.18%) of delivering wrong numbers, 612cases (20.55%) of medication in close proximity, 434cases (14.57%) of forget to dispense medication, 221cases (7.42%) of sound-alike medication, 203 cases (6.82%) of multiple sizes of a medication, 125 cases (4.20%) of look-alike medication, and 97 cases (3.26%) of others. The proportion of dispense errors was 3.46‰. After the implementation of Lean Management, the total number of internal errors in prescription dispense decreased to 219 cases, the proportion of internal errors in prescription dispense decreased to 0.27‰, which has a significant difference, and the satisfaction of patients increased from 52.94% to 72.97%. The implementation of Lean Management can be an efficient approach to reduce the internal errors in prescription dispense.

The situation on the construction market is difficult. One way to improve it can be to implement modern methods and techniques related to the lean management in construction. The article presents an algorithm supporting the selection of appropriate Lean Management tools and techniques for construction companies using AHP method. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is illustrated by a case study consisting of a small construction company performing insulation works in a multifamily house. The presented approach is part of the broader research work carried out by the authors in the field of improving construction processes and verifying the efficiency and effectiveness of Lean Management methods and techniques construction works.

Improving Hand Hygiene at Eight Hospitals in the United States by Targeting Specific Causes of Noncompliance

The present article’s main purpose is to describe the synergies generated from the simultaneous application of the Lean Construction philosophy (LC) and Management of Heritage Structures and Conservation Strategies (MHS&CS). We explain the main principles, tools, techniques, modern technologies and practices of the Lean Construction philosophy and Lean Project Delivery System (LPDS) that could integrate and make synergy with the elaboration of MHS&CS study, and with the implementation of the MHS&CS plan. We relate the workflow design, workflow execution, the LPDS elements and the MHS&CS requirements. The methodology employed is based on a review of the literature published in the last 10 years, in which information was collected from the International Conference of Lean Construction (IGLC) papers and a set of mainstreams in civil and building engineering journals. This paper hopes to contribute by providing a proposal for a MHS&CS plan adapted to the LPSD model.

A significant share of food waste originates in the food services domain and HoReCa (hotels, restaurants, catering) sector. Organizational improvements leading to the decrease of food waste and costs in restaurants are needed. The literature reports on applications of lean management in service businesses, and while food services belong in this category, the literature contains few works on specific applications in this domain. Those studies are limited mainly to economic aspects. Nor was there evidence of the applicability of lean management to achieve food waste elimination. This article analyzes the applicability of lean management methods for food services in order to achieve efficient operations and eliminate food waste, based on a literature review and three case studies from Poland. Lean management was found to be useful in these cases to decrease food waste and reduce operational costs. The case studies suggest a set of activities for organizations delivering food services to streamline their processes by applying lean management practices. This study contributes to the theory and practice of sustainable restaurant management.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework that can identify and evaluate the effectiveness of a lean maintenance strategy. The framework is developed using lean approach and Project Management methods on existing maintenance strategy. The relation between applying the lean approach and maintenance performance was studied and analyzed. A team from diverse backgrounds was assembled to study and analyze different practices in use in various sections within the division. The scope of the paper will focus on applying a new concept to one type of maintenance that is limited to non -outage preventive maintenance activities. Non -outage activities denotes that the feeder or equipment does not require isolation/shutdown. It was found that the framework is applicable and useful for the strategic management of the maintenance function. It is observed that the applied methods have optimized the maintenance strategies in several areas, that is, optimizing the maintenance quality, optimizing the cost of maintenance, optimizing the resources required for the maintenance and reduction of harmful environmental effects.

The construction industry is adopting a collaborative paradigm by combining Lean construction (LC) principles and BIM capabilities. Existing studies lack sufficient case studies and performance evaluations, especially for the disassembly and reconstruction stage, creating a gap in the practical application of BIM and Lean construction (BIM-LC) in China. To bridge this gap, this study quantitatively assessed the BIM-LC methodology in a relocation project in Dezhou, China. The project employed BIM-LC practices such as the Last-Planner System (LPS), Just-In-Time (JIT), Kanban, Value-Stream Mapping (VSM), and Continuous Improvement to enhance construction efficiency and minimize waste. Two main areas of the relocation process were investigated: (i) the identification of common barriers and on-site solutions to the implementation of BIM-LC; (ii) evaluation of the construction efficiency, construction and demolition waste (CDW), and carbon-emission performance. The results showed that the BIM-LC strategy improved labor efficiency and productivity by 3.4% and 12.9%, shortened the construction period by 11 days, reduced construction costs by 8.07% (i.e., USD 9093.8), and reduced transportation costs by 12.5% (i.e., USD 1875). The CDW generation rate ranged from 1–5%, which is comparable to the rates observed in residential construction across various countries. The total weight was 1903.8 kg (10.4 kg/m2). Moreover, the carbon emission during the relocation process was 15,288.4 kgCO2e, with a carbon intensity of 83.5 kg/m2. This study extends the knowledge systems on the application of the BIM-LC method in relocation projects and supports data-driven decision making. It also plays a crucial role in fostering new markets for recycled components, contributing to the realization of a sustainable built environment.

Effectively transferring Lean knowledge and skills to owners, architects, engineers, and constructors (OAEC) requires behavioural changes within an industry that has been legitimately criticised for entrenched practices and low productivity. Documenting how knowledge transfer is successfully taking place in other settings, such as at academic institutions, can be helpful to those wishing to efficiently introduce Lean into their own OAEC organisations. Lean educational efforts within academic settings have been brought to light through earlier publications. This chapter summarises the content of Lean Construction courses from 12 US-based universities. Tabulated results from two separate papers published five years apart revealed that: (a) the content of Lean curricula is evolving as grading formats, types of readings, and numbers and types of simulations have grown; and (b) Lean curricula as defined by a recently developed Associated General Contractors’ (AGC) Lean certification programme are starting to permeate academic coursework. Investigation of the evolution of Lean education within academia helps us to better understand a driver of change as students enter the OAEC industry following graduation. The intent of this chapter is to document this moment in time, as well as to raise a question about the potential impact of curriculum standardisation on future continuous improvement initiatives with respect to Lean Construction philosophy, methods, and tools in the OAEC industry.

John J. Huber is a management consultant and was on the forefront of introducing the Toyota Production System to manufacturing some thirty years ago. “Lean Management,” the concept behind this book, developed out of the Toyota Production System and is best summarized by Huber as follows: “Lean is a very simple concept: constantly strive to reduce the distance between you and your customer by eliminating all of the waste in your service delivery cycle” (p. xiv). The book opens with an introduction to Lean Management principles and moves quickly to identify eleven strategies for applying these principles in libraries, including the following: Recognize that service performance is the key to customer retention. Transform your change-resistant culture. Understand how delivery service chains drive your library's performance. Align your performance metrics with your delivery service chains. Transform your new book delivery service chain. Transform your customer holds and reserves delivery service chain. Transform your cost control philosophy to a lean service improvement philosophy. Transform your overall library service performance metrics. Transform your digital research delivery service chain. Transform your delivery service chain from a “push” to a “pull” philosophy. Think lean before the concrete is poured. The Lean Management techniques that have been used to streamline manufacturing, distribution, and retail can be applied to the library environment. These strategies were time-tested in successful companies such as McDonald's, Amazon, and Google. These real-life examples are used to clarify specific points. Readers should not be put off by some of the business jargon, such as using “delivery service chains” to describe library work flows. It is refreshing to see library processes and procedures through the eyes of someone who is not a library insider and who can bring a fresh perspective to solving common problems. There are many parallels between working in libraries and manufacturing, distribution, or retail, which is why these Lean Management principles work so well. Huber illustrates these concepts with diagrams, tables, and flowcharts. He takes readers through streamlining several library projects step-by-step so that readers understand how these processes can be applied in their own libraries. Lean Management helps readers recognize the gap between current and desired performance measures and uses quantitative analyses, teamwork, and pilot studies to close this gap. Even though the case studies discussed in the book describe public and academic libraries, the principles are easily applied to health sciences libraries of all types. The strategies that particularly resonated for this reviewer were strategies 2, 9, and 10. Who hasn't struggled with managing change and motivating staff to accept new work flows? When was the last time you reviewed the number of steps it takes your customers to get a portable document format (PDF) file of a journal article? Does the adoption of patron-driven acquisition for some collection development activities mean that selectors are no longer needed? Huber helps readers recognize that the library is a complex organization that competes for customers with industry leaders such as Google and Amazon, especially in today's environment where customers expect to receive immediate service. For a library to thrive, or even survive, in this economy, customer service must be a priority. Read this thought-provoking book to find out how your library can improve customer satisfaction and library services and save money along the way.

Values and behaviors of effective lean managers: Mixed-methods exploratory research

Résumé Ce texte interroge les vertus et les limites des concours nationaux de recrutement dans la haute fonction publique, valorisés comme garantissant à la fois l’intérêt général, en sélectionnant les plus qualifiés, et l’intérêt particulier, en assurant un jugement sur le mérite. Nous étudions plus précisément le dispositif de recrutement des professeurs d’université. Historiquement issues du droit, l’économie, la science politique et les sciences de gestion sont des disciplines dotées d’un concours national d’agrégation du supérieur. La recherche menée porte sur les concours organisés en sciences de gestion depuis leur création en 1976 jusqu’au concours de 2007. Elle identifie les facteurs déterminants de la réussite à ces concours. En réalisant des analyses économétriques qui donnent des effets toutes choses égales par ailleurs, elle met en évidence un impact significatif de la production scientifique, mais aussi un effet de réseau, quantitativement plus important que celui des publications. Ces résultats interrogent donc le caractère plus ou moins équitable de ces concours.

Statistical investigation of hindrances of applying Lean in Egyptian constructions

Relationships between lean and sustainable construction: Positive impacts of lean practices over sustainability during construction phase