Evaluating the level of awareness on lean thinking concept in construction among higher learning students in Malaysia

Abstract

Lean construction has implemented throughout the construction industry in order to smoothen the construction project and increase the contractor’s profit by eliminating waste. There is a study has conducted for determining the barriers in implementing the lean construction approach in Malaysia and the results show that most critical barriers are lack of knowledge on lean concept and lack of commitment from management. According to the literature, there are five important factors that a manager have to focus: improvement culture, self-development, qualification, Gemba, and target management. In terms of knowledge, all parties should know about the lean principles, lean construction techniques and causes of waste. This study focuses on these factors to investigate the level of knowledge on lean construction and leadership factors among the postgraduate students before joining to the construction industry. The results show that although “construction management” students almost know about lean thinking, there is lacked of knowledge among the other postgraduate students from faculty of civil engineering and built environment of UTM. Moreover, “construction management” students are fully aware their commitments in implementing lean construction.