Understanding Waste In The Construction Industry: The Importance Of Lean Construction Essay.

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Types of Waste in the Construction Industry

Much industrial research carried out shows that they are numerous activities in the construction industries, which are adding no value to them during the process of erection. A bigger percentage of those wasteful operations take too much time as well as effort, so it is upon the manager to deal with these activities that affect the construction operations negatively leading to production of dissimilar wastes. Waste includes the occurrence of material losses, performing unimportant tasks which contribute to extra costs as well as adding no value to the product. Other researches performed also shows that there are other types of waste in construction industries which includes; delays in construction, rework, poor selection of management, poor constructability, long distances, poor safety, quality costs and pointless conveyance trips.

Most of the studies that were being carried concerning material waste were limited to physical waste or construction waste materials, and according to the current philosophy,  understanding of waste is important so as to avoid disorganization resulting from the use of tools, materials, employees, or funds in huge number than those reflected as essential in the building production. There are some companies that carry out huge batches of materials creating enormous amounts of stock where they could reduce the batches easily, and enhance their flow reducing the lead times as well as improving the customer service. The production of large batches comes as a result of long setups on some machines used, and use of economically batch quantities to dictate how much the material is processed rather than what is required by the customer.

 Carrying out tasks which are unimportant plus losses of materials are examples of waste since they cause extra cost but adding no value at all to the operation. The issue also of guessing what the supplier will need in future is a mistake and this will make a firm to produce goods in large quantity to cover the customers’ future expectations. to run the Customers failing to secure the goods as was expected may cause production problems in the firm, and also obsolescence since a firm may lack the capital to run the production since they spend all their capital organization.

In most countries, for example, India, are being faced with numerous problems relating to waste on construction activities despite being known as developed or developing countries. The problems most countries are facing are lacking clear indicators to assess the weight these particular wastes have on the construction industry performance, as well as the productivity (Halpin, 2010, p. 98). Even currently there are still no studies that are well documented to tackle the issue of waste in India. The issue of waste led to an introduction of lean concept to assist in solving the problems being experienced by the local construction industries. The use of the new concept that was introduced that is, lean construction will greatly help in solving the issues related to waste. Previously, to measure the harshness of the procedure connected to the waste problems associated with building procedure, variability and cycle time which were not tackled by the traditional concepts (Jackson, 2016). The lean principle requires a firm only to participate in making a product required by the customer when an order is placed, pulling only what is ordered through your workflow. There is need of employing Just In time manufacturing in industries whereby all materials needed for production are delivered exact number required in short period of time and the goods produced the number ordered by the customer without exceeding the number leading to overproduction. Overproduction causes one to put all the funds in goods which are complete, works which are not yet finished and raw materials. Putting all the capital you have in a raw material may drain all the organization capital needed to service the customers. The organization may spend all their capital in raw material which may not be required as per the organization, thus making them run out of capital to keep the organization running (Middleton, 2007, p. 523) The introduction of the new concept will bring about certain benefits to the construction industry since there are certain parameters for example value and waste (Jones, 2009, p. 78).Nineteen waste components defined entails nine direct conversion wastes, seven noncontributory time wastes and three contributory time wastes as shown in the table below;

Direct conversion waste	Non-contributory waste	Contributory waste
Site having equipment not needed or Over-allocation	Waiting for others to complete their works before the proceeding works can be carried out	Time in administering and scrutinizing the Building workings.
Over apportionment/excessive materials on spot	Waiting for the delivery of the equipment to the working area.	Time for guidelines and announcement amongst diverse ranks and occupations of workers
Over-allocation/needless employees on place	Waiting for the delivery of site materials.	Time for conveying employees, tools and materials
Needless processes and operational practices	Waiting for employees who are skilled to arrive.	…………………………..
Loss or stolen construction materials from the site.	Waiting for the clarification and confirmation by client and consultant	……………………….
Mismanagement or fault in building applications/Setting up	Rework period/ overhaul works/ faulty works	……………………….
Materials for rework/ overhaul works/ substandard workings	…………………….	……………………………
Misfortunes on site

 

The Importance of Lean Construction Principles

Sources/ Causes for Construction Wastes	Sources/ Causes Factors
Delay in making of decisions as well as communication.	Information &communication factor
Deprived management of job partakers	management &Administration Factors
Delivery of materials to the site is poorly scheduled.	Material Factors
Unclear information	Information & communication factor
Poor quality of material	Material Factors
Low forecasting and preparation	Management &Administration Factors
Absence of control	Management & Administration Factors
Delay in the delivery of material.	Material Factors
Faulty or Incorrect communication	Information & communication factor
Poor equipment choice or ineffective equipment	Material Factors
Inexperience inspectors	People Factors
Poor documentation of the site	Material Factors
Minimal supervisors	People Factors
Poor settings or layout of the site.	Execution Factors
Poor site documentation	Execution Factors
late supervision	People Factors
Uncontrolled sub-contracting practices	People Factors
Poor choice of tools.	Execution Factors
Administration	management & Administration Factors
Absence of skills to trade.	People Factors
Storage of equipment.	Execution Factors
Poor material storage.	Material Factors
Poor distribution of labor.	People Factors
Unsuitable methods of construction.	Execution Factors
Old-fashioned tools	Execution Factors

The degree of waste identified as a result of waste ranking in the construction operations, displays that most recurrent waste  taking place in construction operations are normally linked to both contributory time wastes and non-contributory time wastes. The implementation of the lean concept, for example, Just In Time concept and KANZAN in the construction processes, can be further updated by decreasing or reducing those flow waste elements (Duncan, 2012, p. 441).

In order to straight back profits; there is need of ensuring that every cent is saved by eliminating all waste within your processes. All waste needs to be reduced in any given organization and various waste include;

• The inventory waste; these are the unfinished works, raw material as well as the finished goods you hold.
• The waste of overproduction; it entails production of products in advance or in large quantity as you target future change in demand.
• The waste of over processing which involves making more thus surpassing the customers’ needs.
• The waste of defects whereby the customer requirements are not met by the services or parts.
• The waste of resources where one fails to conserve the resources he or she depends on for example electricity, water and gas.
• The waste of waiting where one must be told what to do or waiting for work to arrive.
• The waste of creativity; this is whereby employees are not involved in business operations

This paper mainly concentrates on two wastes that is;

• Transport
• Defects

The use of the new concept that was introduced that is, lean construction will greatly help in solving the issues related to transportation waste. Among the seven wastes of lean production, overproduction is the worst of all since it entails making the product in large quantity or making the product when still not required by the organization, therefore causing the problem of excess inventory (Levinson, 2016, p. 441). Transport is one of the lean manufacturing wastes, and it entails movement of product from one location to another. For example in construction, it may involve the movement of construction materials from the extraction sites to the construction site. Their nothing transportation adds to the product since it does not transform it. The overall lead time is reduced as a result of reducing or eliminating the type of waste mentioned above (Hartman, 2015, p. 213).

Production Area

Storing of products far away from the point of use will cause existence of waste of transportation. This is the reason why it is necessary to have a small store of inventory near the area of production. And this will eliminate the burden of bringing in and out products to a warehouse. All the components needed should be within the facility since any distance further than an arm’s length will be considered as a waste. This will also assist in eliminating unnecessary movement (Cameron, 2007, p. 339).

Material delivery areas

Comparing to production area, waste material is more evident in the material delivery zones. Waste entails moving products further than necessary and bringing in the products from a temporary location only when it is needed and lastly moving with empty delivery carts.

Supply Chain

A key role is played by the transportation in supply chain and there   is need to reduce waste related to supply chain. For example, a product should be picked for numerous suppliers on a route. Some of the measures put in place to counter wastes related to transport are creation of flow between processes, creation of a U-shape line of production and avoid over-producing of work in process items (Vatalaro, 2013, p. 332).

Reducing Transportation Waste in the Construction Industry

Waste background

The waste of transport is a syndrome which causes hemorrhage money to the company at an alarming rate. This because the company incur a certain cost, for example, paying for material handling equipment, training staffs, provision of extra space to allow the movement of materials freely, staff to operate and safety precautions. As a result of transportation, there is an interruption of production since the operations having to wait for delivery of product due to delays and this may cause numerous problems such as extending the lead times, too many expenses and creating problems with delivery.  Extreme transport may also give countless chances for dealing with losses and harms (Plenert, 2016, p. 89).

Where waste comes from

The waste of transport is contributed upon by several factors but the major one being the waste of overproduction which later leads to the waste of inventory. And this entails inventory that needs to be transported throughout the facility. Overproduction in the organization layout normally leads to the need to distribute the goods to a certain location then back to the original location. (Dave, 2014, p. 463).

Increase in savings and reduction in savings will only be achieved by reducing defects. Removal of a waste of defects and other wastes of lean manufacturing will help you attain these goals;

• Eliminating waste inventory by reducing work in progress, raw material and finished goods(Levinson, 2016, p. 438).
• Eliminating waste of waiting by providing materials and instructions on time.
• Eliminating waste of motion by reducing excessive motion.
• Eliminating waste of overproduction by making only those products needed by the customer in the number required(Smith, 2009, p. 211).
• Eliminate waste of resources by using resources sparingly. Eliminating waste of transport by reducing the transportation of goods within the organization.

Examples of a waste of transport

• Transportation of goods from one purposeful, for example, pressing, to a new region such as welding.
• Moving material batches by using material handling devices from one mechanism to one more.
• Transporting components which are cheaper from one country to another(Middleton, 2007, p. 873).
• Product shipment from one functional factory to another.

As per the lean principles, there is a need for changing the layout, generate value streams and make that value flow at the pull of the customer. Using both process mapping as well as the stream mapping will greatly help in improving factory layout and in turn saves time and money (Cameron, 2007, p. 321)

Defects are one of the seven mudas or seven wastes of lean construction and defects are a situation whereby the services or products deviate from the customers’ specifications or requirements (Chou, 2009, p. 234).

The waste background

This particular cost is not initially what it meant to be since the cost of rejects and rework are often compared to an iceberg because a small fraction is what can be seen above the level of water. There are several costs associated with transport, paperwork, failure in deliveries, materials, rework, problem-solving and rescheduling of materials.

There are several problems which may cause defects and some need to avoided during product design. An incorrect method as a result of non-standard operations causes defects, the different manner in which processes are being carried out by dissimilar operators on different shifts. Errors are also being accumulated by failing to think about how the assembling of items can be done after the design (Hartman, 2015, p. 222). Failing to align components in the correct manner by the operators can cause incorrect assembling. Defects may also occur by failing to maintain machines, equipment and fixtures the way they should.

Production Area

A culture should be brought giving the operators confident to set out the problems and solving them. Defects can also be caused by rewarding poor behavior, competing and paying quantity instead of quality, forcing workers to perform their duties as quick as they can and sometimes punishing those failing to attain the objectives set (Porwal, 2013, p. 89).  

Examples of waste defects

• Production of scrap by fixtures poorly maintained.
• Assembling of scrap by incorrect orientation.
• Omitting some screws as a result of a lack of controls.
• Use of incorrect components due to missing or incorrect instructions.
• Excessive handling causing damaging of parts.
• Faulty parts that have reached the customer.

In production, the error is simply referred to as the gap existing between them should have happened and what happened. Prevention of error will cause a reduction of waste and errors are categorized in so many ways, for example, the error of omission, human error, and intermittent error, the error of commission and process error.

• Process error is errors that come as a result of following the process and in the course, the process designer got it wrong.
• The error of commission is errors that arose from doing the wrong thing, for example, installing the wrong option(Quigley, 2013, p. 186).
• Human errors are the type of errors which is caused by human maybe due to negligence or even coming up with a bad decision.
• Errors of omission are types of errors arising when one forget to do something. For example during construction, one may forget to add certain requirement needed during the construction.
• The intermittent error shows up once in a while it is normally linked to the poor process.

The introduction of lean concept helps in prevention of errors numerous ways;

• Design of quality process entailing testing for robustness and effectively training personnel maybe through job instruction
• Prevention of error by lean can also be done through inspection and inspection is an important process in the lean system and there is a need to accept that we are no smart. Inspection adds no value but it is not a waste but people need to check the work during and after the process and this may involve both the managers as well as the team leaders to carry out the inspection directly according to the standard time routine.
• Lean fights for a continuous improvement culture whereby having a crew that is having a greater objective and improves speed up the process with minimized human errors.
• Lean promotes visual control by making the status of process jump out to assist in the prevention of errors.
• Lean technology pushes for polka yokes which are mistake-proofing device going a long way towards prevention of errors.
• Lean reduces inventory by ensuring inventory are not in excess and apart from that, it ensures that right inventories are transported as well as no inventories are damaged during the transit.
• Lean enhances standardization such that when a process is not followed then errors abound(Ries, 2017, p. 623).

There are several techniques for eliminating defects after the identification; however, lean technology prevents them from occurring in the first place. Defects prevention can be carried out successfully by techniques such as Poka-yoke devices and Jidoka or automation. Defects can also be reduced by empowering employees to enable then solve their own problems, and by harnessing employees' talents as quickly as possible to prevent defects from occurring. 

The Building Information Modeling entails the use of the computer-generated model to stimulate the planning, design, construction and operation of a facility. BIM as a tool promote the communication between engineering, architectural and construction industries.

To reduce waste related to defects, errors are tackled in the design stage and the information is updated in case any changes are made in the building model. Fewer defects will be incurred due to possible drawings omissions or drawings.  Participation of players during the operation is facilitated by the BIM since it enhances collaboration, which in turn shortens the design time as well as reducing omissions and errors.  Defects which come as a result of presenting work which is not the customers’ expectations or requirements can be mitigated by ensuring there are enough materials put in place to enhance the operation. Building Information Modeling acquires the bill of quantities at every stage of the design and these values are used in acquiring accurate cost estimation at an early stage of a project (Bell, 2015, p. 312).

Potential solutions for these two wastes by using BIM

The following techniques should be employed to deal with these two wastes

Visual management

The Building Information Modeling entails tools which produce high-quality virtual models through documentation, operations, design and construction. Sustainable design, geographic information and construction sequencing are incorporated by the Building Information Modeling solutions.  Immersive visualization is used in the design process and the use of Building Information Modeling helps in exploring the design, validating decisions and quickly creating immersive experiences for client presentations. The introduction of Building Information modeling has helped in transforming the manner in which buildings are designed by combining the power of visualization to explore the design model and acquire a more accurate understanding of the final product before moving into constriction. This will increase customers' satisfaction (Steves, 2014, p. 289).

Material Delivery Areas

Just in Time technique

The Just in Time technique is implemented by building Information Modeling such that construction materials are delivered when there are needed and quickly. Using this technique, materials are acquired and produced only the amount needed by the customer so long as the customer needs are met. There is no need of purchasing excess materials than what is needed and at the end, they are left lying leading to damage or theft (Vatalaro, 2013, p. 234).

Employee involvement

There is a need of ensuring employees are involved in every construction process and this can be achieved by introduction of Building Information Modeling which enhances collaborations. Responding to problems rapidly needs empowerment of workers. Involvement of employees promotes togetherness and this will help in minimization of certain defects or errors resulting from the process. The processes in place will be followed to the latter by the employees without omitting anything.  To get rid of the waste related division of labor, a team which is multi-skilled has been established for project based on production (Tu, 2011, p. 448).

Total Quality Control

Quality of the outcome is considered in any project undertaken to avoid defects and to ensure customer satisfaction. To ensure the quality of the project is achieved, Building Information modeling is used in the project to ensure planning of the projects is done plus all the information required in the project long run are in place. BIM also ensures that all Bill of Materials required in the construction process is put in to avoid a shortage of materials during the construction process. This will help in ensuring the quality of the construction is achieved as well it is accurately done within the specifications (Alarco, 2011, p. 231).

Time-based competition

In any project, there is a need of ensuring that a minimum amount of time is used to achieve a certain objective. The production should be done quickly without delays so that the needs of customers are met thus to keep away customers from waiting. There are benefits which are gained as a result of lessening the lead times in the firm.

Re-engineering

This technique entails the configurations of tasks and processes through the implementation of information technology. The main issues involved in re-engineering are the recognizing and breaking away from outdated rules and fundamental assumptions (Trent, 2008, p. 155).

Total Productive Maintenance

This entails maintaining machinery used in production by a certain group of operators. This technique aims at maximizing production by ensuring the area of production is in good condition. Training is carried out to the personnel in charge of the production sector to ensure the production is efficient and the quality outcome is achieved. With this, errors which create a bad image to the organization will be mitigated therefore increasing customer satisfaction. Customers will only be satisfied in case the good quality of produce as well as services is offered to the public by the organization in charge (Agustiady, 2012, p. 125).

Continuous improvement

This strategy aims at enhancing the principle of togetherness by ensuring the entire bottom to top managers is included in the operations. It ensures the cost, quality and delivery targets are achieved by maintaining and improving the working standards through tiny or gradual improvements (Jackson, 2016, p. 78).

Conclusion

The new concept will try to examine the personnel working in the construction industry plus their level of understanding and practicability. There are certain challenges that will be addressed by the lean construction in several industries, for example, the issue of time waste or nonproductive time in construction. In construction, classification of waste is done in three major segments which include direct waste conversion, non-contributory time waste and contributing time waste (Jones, 2009, p. 78).

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