International Journal of Civil Engineering Research.

ISSN 2278-3652 Volume 7, Number 1 (2016), pp. 59-65

© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com
60 Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha

Lean Construction Techniques in Indian

Construction Industry: Some Analysis

1. INTRODUCTION
Lean construction is termed as a “Way to design production systems to minimize
waste of materials, time, and effort in order to get the maximum amount of value”.
Construction industry though is unorganized in Indian perspective has a value similar
to any other business. Adopting lean principles is an promising investment in the
future of the project, which will give benefits and give a confirm return on
investment. In Indian scenario there are so many new entrances including corporates
and management firms which have become a part of recent infrastructure
development. Due to the huge requirement and profit margin, there is increasing
competitions among the companies in whole. In Indian construction industry,
availability of skilled labors is a major problem. Due to the unskilled labor and poor
workmanship, sometimes the quality of the project is in question. To avoid such a
problem, and to build a quality, construction firms require use of latest innovative
technology. One of such a technique used in the study is called lean management.
Lean management helps in addressing the problems related to labour and some other
problems related to construction quality. The implementation of lean techniques in the
construction industry will help in increasing the profit and quality of project in
reasonable time. The main prospect of lean management principle is "Drive more
value by using less of everything”.
Lean manufacturing tools can be modified for use in construction projects and
successfully implemented also. The commitment of the top management for
implementation of these tools is one of the most crucial factor in successful
implementation of these tools. [1][2] According to Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe, the
strongest barrier is the provision of inputs exactly when required. Also, the barriers
were ranked according to the ease of overcoming each other. The easiest barrier to
overcome is keeping the required items in the right place. [3] Mohd Arif Marhani et
al. discovered that the knowledge of stakeholders is very significant as the principles
of LC is widely implemented in the work field. However, the stakeholders are
indifferent in their understanding on the basic terminologies of LC hence unable to
reap its full potential. It was proven that by implementing LC, the construction
industry benefits by maximizing value and improved sustainability [4] Huge
challenges of resource constrains which can be managed through effective Project
planning and implementation of concepts of Lean Manufacturing.[5] The main
obstacle in a change of any process lays in the culture of the organization. The
suitable way of dealing with the resistance is through discussions, conversations and
immediate actions by encouraging the employees to take part of the change process.
This way they will be encouraged, motivated and interested in the change. The most
important factor of Lean is to empower the employees, and which will decrease the
resistance towards the change process. [6] The main barriers to applying Lean
principles in Construction industry in India. They have been identified as Lack of
exposure on the need of adopting lean construction tools , Uncertainty in the supply
chain, the tendency to apply traditional management tools , Culture & human
attitudinal issues (Mindset issues), Lack of commitment from top management, Non-
participative management style for workforce. [7] Ashwin Amarshi Maru (2015)
analyzes the benefits in using lean methods in construction. [8]
Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha 61

2. METHODOLOGY, RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The research method used to achieve the objectives of this study is based on the
following steps as shown in Fig. 1. The questionnaire was prepared after thorough
study of literature and by understanding the lean construction techniques with its
advantages and challenges. All the questions are framed in yes/no type format so that
it can be easily answered and wouldn’t take much time. Some of the measure barriers
are listed after studying the literature properly and are asked to scale from 1 to 5 in
respect of their probability of occurrence. The questionnaire was mailed to 50 civil
engineering professionals including contractors, site engineers, government
employees, project managers etc. And they were requested to answer the same as per
their point of view. The answers are analyzed on the probability of their occurrence
and the most probable barriers are listed in the result.The answers to the questionnaire
received were compiled so that we could get a clear view of most probable barriers.

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

ANALYSIS OF SURVEY

SITE IMPLEMENTATION AND OBSERVATIONS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Fig. 1 : Methodology

There was a quick response from the consultants and contractors but government
employees neglected to answer although they handle very large community and social
projects. Most of the consultants are aware of lean and think that it would be a good
initiative for Indian construction industry to minimize the waste and time factor. The
survey concludes that following are the major barriers for implementing the lean in
Indian construction industry which needs to deal with as shown in Fig.2.
 Lack of lean awareness and understanding
 Cultural and human attitude issues
 Commercial pressure
 Lack of proper training
 Long implementation time required
 Lack of top management commitment
 Educational issues
62 Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha

 Lack of proper communication between client and contractor

 Fragmentation and subcontracting
 Financial issues

Fig. 2: Analysis of Questionnaire

Further a construction site of a residential project was selected for implementing the
lean techniques and observations were recorded. The discoveries are explained in
subsequent sections. For site implementation, we have selected a residential building
project located in Ulwe node of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. It consists of G+7
residential building. And the salient features of the project are given in Table 1. The
research was focused on the RCC and concrete process of the building.

Table 1: Project Details of Ulwe Site

Item Description
Project Type Building
Project Value 5.5 cr
Contract Type Premeasured/Design-Bid-Build
Scope of Work Concrete Works/Steel structure
Project Duration 15 months

After studying the process map for the all types of activities of the project, lean tools
were adopted and its impact on the duration of the process was observed. The process
was studied and the construction wastes were classified. The proper lean techniques
Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha 63

were applied after studying the actual data. The improvements were done through the
following steps
1. Improve the efficiency of the value added activities by implementing
alternative methods
2. Improve the work method of the essential non value added activities with the
help of lean techniques.
3. Eliminate the non-added value activities, by proper planning and using just in
time technique.
4. Choosing the appropriate lean tools to achieve the above three steps. The
efficiency of lean tools was calculated based on data from literature. The
percentage of improvement in similar countries in project durations ranged
between 25% - 31%. Therefore, these percentages were taken as a guide to
evaluate the impact on the duration of each activity. The percentage applied in
this research is 25% improvement in each activity.

Table 2 shows the time saved for the NVA, ENVA, VA activities after
implementation of lean techniques. It can be concluded that there is massive reduction
in durations (total no. of days) after applying lean tools. The NVA activities can be
reduced to 100% and ENVA & VA activities to 24% & 23% respectively as shown in
Table 2.

Table 2: Time saved per cycle after imposing the proposed framework

Preparation Material delivery/On-site Execution

Process transportation Process
Type of Time Saved Time Saved
Action Time Saved (Days)
Activity (Days) (Days)
Eliminated/
NVA 35 100% 7 35% 17 25%
Reduced
Reduced/
ENVA 44 24% 0.5 22% 22.5 25%
Improved
Reduced/
VA 12 23% 3 25% 21.5 25%
Improved
Total 91 Days 11 Days 61 Days

Table 3 show the reduction in number of activities after imposing the proposed
framework. The no. of NVA activities can be reduced to 27% , but no. of ENVA &
VA activities can’t be reduced. Overall reduction in no. of activities is 13% as shown
in Table 3. Fig. 3 shows the quantitative analysis of reduction in no. of activities.
64 Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha

Table 3: Number of activities after applying the proposed Framework

Future Map (ongoing projects)

No. of activities
Activity Type No. of activities
Before Lean Reduction %
After Lean
NVA 30 22 27%
ENVA 18 18 0%
VA 14 14 0%
Total 62 54 13%

35
30
30
25
22
20
1818
15 Before
14 14
10 Lean
5
No. Of

0
After
Lean
VA ActivitiesNVA ActivitiesENVA Activities

Type Of Activities

Fig. 3: Number of activities of Future map before & after Lean

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

From the study, it is concluded that more than 80 % of the respondents confirm that in
India, lack of communication by the contractor, changes carried out in issue orders by
the owner and discrepancy in delivering documents, commercial pressure are some of
the main reasons causing delay in actual project durations. 45% of the respondents
were not aware about lean concept and 55% of the respondents had very less
awareness of the concept.
The results of site implementation showed the effect of the various types of activities
on the overall project duration. The factors affecting the use of lean tools have great
impact on the percentage of improvement in the process durations. It can be
concluded that there are generous reduction in durations (total no. of days) after
applying lean tools i.e. around 25% reduction in project duration and 13% reduction
in process activities.
Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha 65

REFERENCES

[1] O. Salem, J. Solomon, A. Genaidy, and M. Luegring (2005), “Site

Implementation and Assessment of Lean Construction Techniques” Lean
Construction Journal 2005, Vol 2, 2 October 2005, pp 1-21.
[2] O. Salem, M.asce, J. Solomon, A. Genaidy, and I. Minkarah (2006), “Lean
Construction: From Theory to Implementation”, American Society of Civil
Engineer’s Journal of Management in Engineering, October 2006, pp 168-175.
[3] Henry Mwanaki Alinaitwe (2009), “Prioritising Lean Construction Barriers in
Uganda's Construction Industry”, Journal of Construction in Developing
Countries, Vol. 14, Issue. 1, 2009, pp 15-29.
[4] Mohd Arif Marhani, Aini Jaapar, Nor Azmi Ahmad Bari (2012), “Lean
Construction: Towards enhancing sustainable construction in Malaysia”, ASIA
Pacific International Conference on Environment-Behaviour Studies Giza,
Egypt, 31 October - 2 November 2012,pp 87-98.
[5] Dr. (Mrs) Seema Sarkar (Mondal), Mr Angshuman Chowdhury (2013),
“Effective Project Management Through Implementation of Lean
Manufacturing Techniques in Project Planning”, Asia Pacific Journal of
Marketing & Management Review, Vol.2, Issue 6, June 2013, pp 137-142.
[6] Inji Salihi (2013), “How to Change a Traditional Construction Company to
Lean”, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Division of
Construction Management Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg,
Sweden, 2013, pp 32-40.
[7] Devaki M. P., R. Jayanthi (2014), “Barriers to Implementation of Lean
Principles in the Indian Construction Industry”, International Journal of
Engineering Research & Technology Vol. 3 issue 5, May 2014, pp 1189-1192.
[8] Ashwin Amarshi Maru (2015), “Lean Construction In Civil Engineering And
Project Management: Case Study Analysis Of Ut Arlington College Park”,
American Journal Of Civil Engineering 2015, Vol. 3, Issue 3, April 13, 2015,
pp 70-74.
[9] Vinaya More (morevinaya91@gmail.com), Dr, Shrikanth Charhate
(scharhate@mes.ac.in), Madhulika Sinha (madhusinha13@gmail.com)
66 Vinaya D. More, Dr. Shrikant Charhate and Madhulika Sinha