Adopting lean management in Nigerian construction industry

Abstract

Recently the research about waste in construction industry has attracted many researchers around the world. Lean management techniques has is widely accepted as main strategy for waste elimination in work processes. The aim of this study is to propose an efficient and effective methodology to manage construction workflow and minimize waste generation in the Nigeria construction industry based Lean principles. Data were obtained through comprehensive literature review and the used of the questionnaire survey method distributed to clients, consultants, surveyors and contractors in Nigeria construction industry. Also, a case study from the Nigeria highway project was selected and used to create a traditional work process model and an improved lean based work process model. In this study, 35 work process have been identified and evaluated for their contribution to waste. The findings concluded that 22 of them have been identified as contributing to waste at the various stages of construction work. The study also revealed key strategies to improve work process by adopting Lean management techniques supported by other contemporary approach like Concurrent Engineering and Just-In-Time. Adopting the lean based work process model resulted in a shorter project duration and more efficient work proces compared to the traditional. Finally, it is recommended that practitioners should employ lean strategies for the improvement of work process in Nigeria construction industry.