Abstract:
A study has been conducted into improving construction design through the
application of the lean thinking paradigm. Its objective was to identify the issues
relating to design efficiency and how a lean thinking approach might address
these issues. The investigation consisted of examining work already
undertaken in the field by other researchers"to identify the state of the art. The
change order request system was examined to gain first insights into waste in
construction design, and to gauge the size of the opportunity for the application
of lean thinking. An Electronic Data Gathering Tool (EDGT) was then
developed to allow further exploration of the design decision making process at
the system / sub-system level. The EDGT was used on three live construction
projects. From the data recorded a design planning tool, Design Decision
Planner (DDP), was created to help improve control of the design process and
lead to a more standardised approach to construction design. Standardising
the approach to product development is an important component of lean
thinking.
The main recommendations for making construction design lean are:
Use DDP to plan and improve control of the design decision making
process, assign design responsibility and to make the process more
transparent.
2. Measuring progress against planned design is a useful process metric.
3. Improve the designer's cost and programme visibility when choosing
between design options.
4. Redefine the role of the quantity surveyor from cost controller to value for
money assessor. The role needs to be better integrated into the design
process to reach its full potential.
5. Need to develop more rigorous methods of assessing the buildability of
design options. This problem could be eased in the short-term by
incorporating construction professionals into the early design phases.
6. Designers need to use more process reason drivers when choosing
between design options, not just functional criteria.
7. The change order request system could be redesigned to identify the root
causes of contract issue design changes and, hence, improve the design
decision making process.
