Implementing Lean Design & Construction with BIM

MODULE | LEAN INTEGRATED DESIGN & PRODUCTION | ANDREW FLEMING

Lean and BIM arrive ‘Just In Time’ Implementing Lean principles within a BIM enabled UK Commercial Architectural Office

06-May-16

MSc BIM and Integrated Design 0

“Never be satisfied with inaction. Question and redefine your purpose to attain progress”.

Taiichi Ohno (founder of TPS)

Fig 1: Photo of Taiichi Ohno (leanproduction.co) 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE NOS.

1.0

SYNOPSIS

04

2.0

SCENARIO

05

3.0

INTRODUCTION

06

4.0

UK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

08

5.0

CHAPMAN TAYLOR - A COMPANY PROFILE

10

6.0

LEAN PRODUCTION AND TPS

14

7.0

WASTE - CLEAN IT UP, MAKE IT VISUAL

20

8.0

BIM HELPS REDUCE WASTE

24

9.0

THE BENEFITS OF A BIM PROCESS

28

10.0

THE SYNERGIES BETWEEN IPD, BIM & LEAN

29

11.0

OFFICE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

34

12.0

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

40

13.0

POST SCRIPT

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14.0

BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES

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15.0

APPENDIX A – LEAN GLOSSARY OF ABREVIATIONS

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16.0

APPENDIX B – BIM GLOSSARY OF ABREVIATIONS

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17.0

APPENDIX C – LEAN PRESENTATION ON STANDARDISATION 2

LIST OF FIGURES

PAGE NOS.

Fig 1: Photo of Taiichi Ohno (leanproduction.co)

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Fig 2: Chapman Taylor Logo (chapmantaylor.com)

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Fig 3: BIM Level 2 Maturity Ramp (Bew & Richards - bimtaskgroup.org)

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Figs 4 & 5: Construction 2025; HM Government (July 2013)

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Fig 6: Chapman Taylor Profile (chapmantaylor.com)

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Fig 7: Sample Chapman Taylor Projects (chapmantaylor.com)

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Fig 8: A ‘4P’ Model of the Toyota Way (Liker, 2004)

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Fig 9: Diagram adapted from Pascal Van Cauwenberghe & Portia Tung

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Fig 10: Table showing problems linked with The Toyota Way/Lean

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Fig 11: Table showing problems linked with The Toyota Way/Lean

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Fig 12: Toyota Production System House (Liker, 2004)

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Fig 13: Elevation of standardized building components within a residential block

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Fig 14: The Patrick MacLeamy Curve 2004 (aecmag.com)

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Fig 15: McGraw Hill Construction Report on the value of BIM for construction 2014

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Fig 16: Information flow in the design & construction process

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Fig 17: Lean Principles (Sacks et al. 2010)

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Fig 18: Toyota’s Practical Problem Solving Process (Liker, 2004)

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Fig 19: Process mapping with the design team in the Obeya ‘War Room’

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Fig 20: A typical A3 Report (sloanreview.mit.edu)

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Fig 21: Plan-Do-Check-Act (O’Connor et al. 2013)

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Fig 22: Eliminating Waste by using the 5S’s (Liker, 2004)

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Figs 23-26: Examples of following the 5S philosophy (lean lectures 2016)

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Fig 27: Possible path of an intern's growth within the company (Tetervov, 2013)

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Fig 28: Image source: Ben Wallbank, BIM Lecture 2015. University of Salford

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3

1.0

Synopsis

The focus of this report is to analyze and provide a comprehensive background to current lean principles and lean thinking, and its application to a commercial, BIM enabled commercial architectural practice in Manchester.

I hope to critically evaluate and distinguish key lean elements from ‘The Toyota Way’ along with current BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodologies and look at bringing these together for the attention of senior personnel within the organization, and to allow for possible implementation, as both lean and BIM are being widely adopted as Dave et.al (2013) explains: “In the last 10 years, both (lean and BIM) have been started to diffuse into advanced practice with accelerating speed.”

And, as the use of BIM grows, there is an increasing need for construction practitioners to understand the principles behind it and how work practices change to accommodate it. Full collaboration across the entire project team and standardised, well-structured information are at the heart of BIM and can enable enormous efficiencies and reductions in waste within the construction industry.

Much attention is therefore currently focused on the construction industry for all projects to include lean principles and BIM in some form or another.

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2.0

Scenario

Currently in my job as Senior Architectural Technologist and BIM coordinator I hope to put forward this report to senior management at Chapman Taylor, an AJ top 100 international architectural practice in Manchester, with a current global workforce of around 260 people.

Having worked within various private architectural practices for 15+ years, I have seen first hand both good and bad practices in many offices. Chapman Taylor is the third private architectural ‘BIM enabled’ practice I have been involved with. I hope to combine the best BIM practices I have witnessed from the two previous offices and take these along with key lean principles from ‘The Toyota Way’ and investigate how these can be successfully implemented to give long-term value to the office as a pilot before expanding these ideas throughout the organization.

To do this, I hope to critically evaluate current challenges faced at Chapman Taylor as a world-leading design practice and suggest key improvements with a focus on lean and BIM and offer these findings to the Director and BIM Manager for discussion and possible implementation.

Fig 2: Chapman Taylor Logo (chapmantaylor.com) 5

3.0

Introduction

Construction productivity lags behind most industries in terms of time, cost savings and minimizing waste. Recently the UK construction industry has been forced to improve its productivity, quality and incorporate new technologies such as BIM due to the Governments UK BIM Level 2 mandate which came into force on 4th April 2016.

With recent developments in the UK construction industry, introduction of BIM has had a significant influence on ‘leaner’ construction. Both lean and BIM are complimentary in several ways. More and more companies are adopting BIM as an acceptable waste reduction tool and recent case studies conducted show that BIM is crucial in reducing project costs, time, site conflicts, project duration, drawing errors, better and faster design development.

Although BIM has been around for over 30 years, it has only recently increased in popularity.

BIM involves representing 3D design objects that carry their geometry, relations and attributes (Eastman, 2009). Separate drawings for contract documents and then developing a separate set of detail drawings are considered waste and inefficiency in terms of time and cost. BIM not only helps reduce this waste and inefficiency but also helps in reducing the potential for litigation (Eastman, 2009). Thus, BIM helps enhance the leaner outcomes in any company or project that is on a lean journey (Slacks et al. 2010).

A comprehensive study of lean theory (The Toyota Way) and BIM was conducted, underscoring ways for BIM to help achieve a leaner construction. These results are broadly conducted in five parts:

1. Critical evaluation of the current (lean & BIM) processes.

2. Rehearsal of the lean principles.

3. Development of a target process based on consideration of alternative approaches.

4. Lean implementation plans.

5. Proposals for instituting continuous improvement with performance measurement.

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Currently, both lean and BIM are effecting fundamental changes in the AEC industry by reducing waste and inefficiencies (Slacks et al. 2010). This report will show how through BIM we can reduce waste, help implement lean techniques and principles within a commercial architectural office. A comprehensive analysis, conclusion along with recommendations is derived from a broad range of research material addressing my report………Lean and BIM arrive ‘Just In Time’.

Fig 3: BIM Level 2 Maturity Ramp (Bew & Richards - bimtaskgroup.org)

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4.0

UK Construction Industry

According to a survey conducted by the Government Service in 1998 in the UK, the construction industry produces over 70 million tons of waste, which is about 4 times the rate of household waste production produced by every person in the UK every week (Keys at al.

1998).

Many variables and constraints affect the design process that in turn affects the wastes arising and the resultant opportunities for designing out waste. Such issues include materials choice, complexity, collaboration, communication and co-ordination.

In May 2011, the UK government published its Government Construction Strategy Report outlining the following targets: “15-20% cost and carbon reduction on centrally procured government construction projects within the current parliament�.

Figs 4 & 5: Construction 2025; HM Government (July 2013)

With increased foreign competition, the scarcity of skilled labour and the need to improve construction quality, there is an urgent demand to raise productivity, quality and incorporate new technologies within the industry (Koskela, 1992).

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Constructing the Team, written by Sir Michael Latham and published in 1994, identified a very inefficient and wasteful industry, subtly describing industry practices as: ‘adversarial’, ‘ineffective, ‘fragmented’, ‘incapable of delivering for its clients’ and ‘lacking respect for its employees’.

The second, a response to the recommendations in the Latham Report, was produced by an industry task force led by ex-jaguar car chief executive Sir John Egan. Published in 1998 and titled ‘Rethinking Construction’, it took experiences from other industries (not surprisingly car manufacturing) and identified key areas of change required, one being integrated processes and teams.

Both reports recommended a focus on collaboration, and combined with another Egan Report, ‘Accelerated change’, which identified the importance of IT in achieving greater integration, they went on to inform the UK Government’s 2011 Construction Strategy Report which set out their commitment to BIM.

One of the many initiatives to come out of these reports was the Avanti Project, better known today as BS 1192 (the document which underpins almost all of the information production requirements for BIM). The Avanti project set out to structure and standardise the way information is produced in the construction industry using BIM to support collaborative working.

With the lean construction paradigm (and BIM), the construction industry is being viewed as an industry with possibilities of implementing lean principles of production concepts in the construction industry processes to optimize the overall construction performance on the construction stage as well as the design stage.

Lean production philosophy is laid on the concepts of conversions and flow (Ningappa, 2011).

Therefore, performance improvement opportunities in construction can be addressed by adopting waste identification/reduction strategies in the flow processes in parallel with value adding strategies with the introduction of BIM tools and with proper lean training and education.

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5.0

Chapman Taylor – A Company Profile

Chapman Taylor (CT) are an international practice of architects, master-planners and designers, established 57 years ago. There international team currently operates from 19 regional offices, undertaking projects worldwide. Combining a strong ethos for high quality design with a deep understanding of commercial requirements enables Chapman Taylor to deliver schemes that exceed client expectations and provide award-winning, sustainable environments that people enjoy.

Fig 6: Chapman Taylor Profile (chapmantaylor.com) SECTORS CT have established a reputation for delivering commercially successful, creative and innovative environments across a variety of sectors worldwide, including:

 Master Planning

 Residential

 Transportation

 Mixed Use

 Hospitality

 Healthcare

 Retail

 Sports & Leisure

 Conservation

 Workplace

 Interiors & Graphics

 Design and Build

CT have grown from a practice of just three people into a large international firm and one of the UK's largest exporters of commercial architectural services and awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise International Trade.

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CT HISTORY The practice was founded in 1959 by Bob Chapman, John Taylor and Jane Durham, and the early work was predominantly residential and workplace-based, such as the landmark headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, New Scotland Yard. After being appointed Architects for Eldon Square - part of the redevelopment of Newcastle's city centre and the largest indoor shopping mall in Europe at the time - CT began to establish their expertise in retail-led schemes. CT designers cultivated the architectural principles of North American retail projects to meet the needs of the UK and European markets, pioneering new concepts in the exploitation of levels, sloping malls and pedestrian flow.

Based on their strong track record, clients appoint CT for developments across most sectors. In particular, they have built a reputation as experts in urban regeneration and master-planning, culminating in such recent projects as Etten-Leur Centrum - The Netherlands, Prague Marina - Czech Republic, and Princesshay - Exeter, UK.

Fig 7: Sample Chapman Taylor Projects (chapmantaylor.com)

MY CT EXPERIENCE Currently I work within Chapman Taylor’s Manchester office as Senior Architectural Technologist & BIM Co-ordinator. There are approximately 50 people in the office made up of 3 Directors, 4 Associate Directors, a BIM Manager, with Architects, Technicians and Interior Designers making up the remaining numbers. After having spent over 18 months at CT, I know the daily operations of the office very well and I have observed the following aspects of the office that could do with improvements to allow it to become leaner, reduce waste and become more efficient: 11

1. Projects lack in having a completed Employers Information Requirements (EIR) and/or BIM Execution Plan (BEP) as required under PAS 1192-2: an information management process to support BIM Level 2 in the capital/delivery phase of projects and setting out a framework for collaborative working (bimtaskgroup.org).

2. Team members do not have a program/schedule on the running of projects except for deadlines received from the Associate Directors.

3. There are always several projects running at the same time and at different stages within the office – some lack resources, in terms of design/technical input, whilst other projects seem to have too much resource.

4. There is good communication between project team designers, but there is a lack of weekly group meetings to review/highlight progress and problems.

5. Lack of communication between design team members on aspects of the projects being worked on (resulting in no.4 above) 6. Directors and Associate Directors have a basic knowledge BIM Level 2, but do not know how to use Revit (BIM software).

7. Interns come and go every year and it is difficult to implement a standardized approach to team working on projects.

8. High turnover of staff – I have noticed that several Senior Architects/Designers have left the office to join similar commercial offices elsewhere, possible due to the lack of progression within the company.

9. Lack of project team contact information listing external design consultant’s names, addresses, emails etc – hence there is reliance on other members of the team to pass these details on when required.

10. Individual employee ability’s and strengths are unknown to fellow office members – hence employee creativity and skills may be underused.

11. Work load during final week of deadlines is always extremely high, requiring staff to work late into the evenings and on weekends.

12. Although staff are highly versed in Revit software to carry out their duties and are given regular cpds on Revit, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding the UK BIM Level 2 mandate. Ie most people in the office incorrectly presume that Revit is BIM! 13. CT is a ‘BIM enabled’ architectural practice but is not BIM Level 2 certified.

14. Lack of traditional drawing schedules, hence drawing requirements are unknown.

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15. Knowledge and experience of Senior Designers not effectively transferred to younger designers – there is a lack of group discussion and collaborative problem solving.

16. Most projects are internationally based and as a result knowledge of local building codes are unknown to design team members.

17. The checking of drawing information received from external consultants takes a lot of time, experience and expertise and the time to do these checks is mostly unavailable.

18. Lack of interoperability between Architects and Engineers BIM models. IFC interoperability is only 90%.

19. Design changes leading to rework & repetition of drawing tasks could be minimised if prior planning and reviews are undertaken with the BIM Manager and Project Architect at the earliest possible stage of the project.

20. Clash detection/error checking between architecture, MEP and structural coordination drawings is not undertaken on a regular basis.

Chapman Taylor has an international reputation for providing creative and innovative architectural solutions hence I would recommend the above issues to be reviewed and acted upon to allow for a more lean and efficient office to operate.

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6.0

Lean Production & TPS

Lean Production was originally developed by Toyota, led by Engineer Taiichi Ohno. The term lean was coined by the research team working on international auto production to reflect both the waste reduction nature and to contrast it with craft and mass forms of production.

The basic idea behind lean production is the elimination of inventories and other wastes through small lots of production, reduced set up times, semi-autonomous machines, cooperation and collaboration with suppliers (Monden 1983, Ohno 1988, Shingo 1984).

The success of Toyota’s performance is a direct result of its operational excellence. This is based in part on tools and quality improvement methods made famous by Toyota within manufacturing such as: Just-In-Time, Kaizen, One-Piece-Flow, Jidoka and Heijunka.

Liker (2004) describes the “Toyota Way” within 14 principles. These principles are also the foundation of the Toyota Production System (TPS) practices at Toyota manufacturing plants around the world. Liker (2004) has divided the 14 principles into four categories as the 4Ps: Philosophy, Process, People/Partners and Problem solving.

Liker has incorporated a further 4 high-level principles from Toyota’s internal training document and these are: Genchi Genbutsu, Kaizen, Respect and Teamwork, and Challenge.

Fig 8: A ‘4P’ Model of the Toyota Way (Liker, 2004)

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TPS is the basis for much of the lean production movement along with Six Sigma in the past 10 years. James Womack and Daniel Jones define lean, in their book Lean Thinking, as a fivestep process: defining customer value, defining the value stream, making it ‘flow’, ‘pulling’ from the customer and striving for excellence.

Fig 9: Diagram adapted from PascalVan Cauwenberghe & Portia Tung T

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C

I produced a matrix to evaluate The Toyota Way’s 14 principles against the issues highlighted by my observations at Chapman Taylor, in Chapter 5.0.

I have used a simple method of a cross (X) to indicate no relevance and a tick (✓) to show a connection between the problem raised against the 14 principles. As shown within the following tables (pages 17, 18), some issues cross over to more than one principle. The results raised by this analysis can be viewed quickly and analysed with the design team to highlight, and discuss the problem areas within the company, and how they could be resolved by applying one or more of the Toyota Way Principles.

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“Kaizen is a total philosophy that strives for perfection” (Liker, 2004)

The Toyota Way is more than tools and techniques. It is a system designed to provide the tools for people to continually improve their work (kaizen). The Toyota Way means more dependence on people, not less. It is a culture, you depend upon the workers to reduce inventory, identify hidden problems and fix them straight away. Everyone is involved in continuous problem solving and improvement, which over time trains everyone to become better problem solvers (Liker, 2004).

To help explain the Toyota Production system to its employees and suppliers, the ‘House of Toyota’ (below) was created by Taiichi Ohno disciple Fujio Cho (Liker, 2004). He chose the house shape because it was familiar and conveyed stability. The roof contains the primary goals of TPS: superior quality, cost and delivery through waste elimination.

Each element of the house by itself is critical, but more important is the way all the elements reinforce each other. The sub-systems and improvement tools within the TPS house are the building blocks for a world class operating system that continuously improves by engaging people to find creative ways to eliminate waste.

Fig 12: Toyota Production System House (Liker, 2004) 19

7.0

Waste – Clean It Up, Make It Visual

What is waste? Toyota defined waste (muda) as: “Anything that is different from minimum quantity of equipment, materials, parts and labour time that is absolutely essential for production”. (Alacorn, 1995).

Significant research had been done related to waste in the construction industry. However, most of the studies focus on the waste of materials, which is only one of the sources involved in the construction process. The flow aspects of the construction have been historically neglected. Hence current construction demonstrates a significant amount of waste, loss of value and non-value adding activities (Formoso et.al, 1999).

Toyota has identified seven major types of non-value adding wastes, with an eighth included

by Liker (2004): 1. Overproduction – Producing more than is needed or which there are no orders.

2. Waiting Time – People, equipment or products wait for other processes to finish.

3. Unnecessary transport – Carrying work in process (WIP). Unnecessary movement of products/materials that do not support immediate production.

4. Over-processing (or incorrect processing) – Inefficiently processing due to poor tool and product design causing unnecessary motion and defects.

5. Excess Inventory – Excess raw material causing long lead times, damaged goods, transportation and storage costs and delays.

6. Unnecessary Movement – Any wasted motion employees have to perform during their work, such as looking for, reaching for, or stacking parts, tools etc.

7. Correction (or Defect) Waste – Production of defect parts. Repair or rework, scrap, replacement production, and inspection mean wasteful handling, time and effort.

8. Unused Employee creativity – Losing time, ideas, skills, improvements, and learning opportunities by not listening to employees.

Ningappa (2011) lists an additional 3 types of waste in her book BIM a Lean Tool: 

Confusion – Caused when there is missing or misinformation, causing uncertainty.



Unsafe or Un-ergonomic – Work conditions that compromise health & productivity.



Unutilized human potential – Restricting employee’s authority and responsibility.

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Taiichi Ohno considered the fundamental waste to be overproduction, since it causes most of the other wastes.

Toyota managers and employees use the term muda when they talk about waste and eliminating muda is the focus of most lean manufacturing efforts. Liker (2004) refers to the elimination of the three M’s:

Muda – Non-value added: extra movement, excess inventory, lead times, waiting.

Muri – Overburdening people or equipment: pushing a machine/person past their limits.

Mura – Unevenness: more work than the person or machine can handle, or lack of work.

Focusing on muda is the most common approach to implementing lean tools (Liker, 2004), because it is easy to identify and eliminate waste. But what many company’s fail to do is the more difficult process of stabilizing the system and creating ‘evenness’ – a true balanced lean flow of work. This is the Toyota concept of heijunka, leveling out the work schedule.

Achieving heijunka is fundamental to eliminating mura, which in turn is fundamental to eliminating muri and muda (Liker, 2004).

Most business processes are 90% waste and 10% value-added work (Liker, 2004). A good place to start for any company to begin its lean journey is to create continuous flow wherever possible in its core manufacturing or service processes. Flow is at the heart of the lean message that shortening the elapsed time from raw materials to finished goods (or services) will lead to the best quality, lowest cost, and shortest delivery time.

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In a TPS/lean environment the goal is to create “one-piece flow” by constantly cutting out wasted effort and time that is not adding value. How to distinguish the value added work from the waste? For example, in an architectural practice where all the Architects are busy designing buildings, sitting in front of a computer, looking up technical specifications, and having meetings with co-workers – are they doing value added work? To measure this you would need to follow progress from initial concept design through to the final completion in terms of drawing output & production. You would need to ask: 

At what points do the Architects make decisions that directly affect the designs?



When do Architects undertake checks or analysis that impacts those decisions?

When these types of questions are asked then you find that very little work is truly ‘valueadding – ie. work that ends up shaping the final design.

Therefore, you need to take the right people with the right skills to do the value-added work, and flow the project through those people with appropriate support/meetings to work on integration and you will get speed, productivity, and better quality results (Liker, 2004).

By following flow with the other Toyota Way principles – pull, standardization and visual management, you get control over lead times. Standardisation is critical to controlling lead times and also to bringing people on and off projects to address peak workloads/deadlines.

When you try to attain one-piece flow, you are also setting in motion numerous activities to eliminate muda (wastes). Below I have listed some benefits of one-piece flow and how they can help to eliminate waste and improve efficiency within an architectural office:

Building in quality – it is much easier to build quality in one-piece flow as every designer is also (to an extent) an inspector and is able correct or highlight any errors or omissions within the drawings/BIM models they create before they are passed on to the Director to sign off.

Creates flexibility – If there are dedicated ‘hot-desks’ within the office then additional staff, interns or visitors are able to use these terminals instead to waiting for IT staff to set one up.

Creates higher productivity – It is easier to see who is busy and who isn’t and decide which and how many people are needed to achieve the deadline for the required drawings.

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Frees up desk space – With everything organised and in its place. Eg sketches in one drawer, detailed drawings in another, freeing up desk space.

Improves safety – With drawings, models, folders, stationary etc. all organized in their relative places allowing for you to move around more safely.

Improves morale – If designers are allowed to manage/run projects from initial design through to completion they can do much more value-added work and can immediately see the results of that work, giving them a sense of accomplishment and job satisfaction.

Reduces cost of inventory – With BIM, both time and cost savings of up to 20% capital expenditure cost savings can be achieved (BIM Task Group).

Fig 13: Elevation of standardized building components within a residential block.

(Baku Knightsbridge - Chapman Taylor) 23

8.0

BIM Helps Reduce Waste

Analysis of various literature, case studies and discussions with BIM experienced professionals all suggest that BIM helps reduce waste in the construction industry. After a detailed survey of ‘lean’ literature from various research articles, journals and books, it was found that BIM plays a major role in lean project delivery. BIM helps implement several lean techniques to achieve several fundamental lean principles which in turn help reduce construction waste (Ningappa, 2011).

The MacLeamy curve below was introduced in the Construction Users Roundtable in 2004.

The black curve represents the traditional design effort from conceptual stage through to construction. The heavy work effort (and costs) comes at the construction documents stage.

In Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) the bigger effort (and cost) is moved to earlier in the project. The blue descending curve (1) represents the declining ability to impact cost and functional capabilities of a design, ie. early changes can be implemented cheaply, reduce costs efficiently, and this declines as the design is developed into construction drawings. The red ascending line illustrates that, as the project proceeds, cost of making changes goes up.

The MacLeamy curve suggests that if we move the design effort earlier in the project (to the left), this should be more efficient than the traditional design process.

Fig 14: The Patrick MacLeamy Curve 2004 (aecmag.com) 24

A summary of some of the key benefits of a BIM and lean partnership include: 

Reduced design co-ordination errors by identifying early on in the design stage, conflicts inherent in the design through clash detection simulations.



Lower engineering and detailing costs through increased use of parametric design and analysis software packages, leading to reduced re-work.



Increased use of automated manufacturing technologies for steel fabrication and offsite construction.



Increased preassembly and prefabrication.

As a result, more structurally diverse buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles or the Dublin Aviva Stadium can become possible and increasingly more of the standard part of buildings can be prefabricated economically (Eastman, 2011).

From first hand experience of using BIM, over the past 3 years, on live projects based in the UK and internationally, it has become clear that every BIM user, be it Architect, Engineer or Designer has realized its benefits and each user agrees that BIM did in fact help reduce waste in the construction process. BIM helps reduce wastes such as rework of designs, over production of details, confusion, over processing, waiting, under-utilized potential and errors and omissions within the designs and drawings.

With its benefits realized, BIM certainly can be used as a waste reduction tool along with many of the lean principles mentioned previously. According to a market survey conducted

by McGraw Hill Construction, the use of BIM has increased to 48% in 2011 from 28% in 2007.

And also, 75% of contractors globally reported a positive Return On Investment (ROI), with Japan, Germany, France all at 97%.

This trend shows that people are Realizing the benefits of BIM more often and soon the majority of the industry will be using it.

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Lean is a process that was originally adopted by the manufacturing industry to reduce waste in the processes adopted. Though several attempts have been made to adopt lean in the construction process, its full benefits have not been realised due to the ‘one off’ nature of construction projects. In a traditional construction process, the project is divided into smaller activities, which does not support implementation of lean process effectively, however, BIM is helping get over this issue by getting all the professionals involved on the project to participate early in the design and tender process and treat the entire project as one process.

BIM not only helps detect collisions and provide clearer understanding of the design intent, but also helps in making the construction process leaner. The results below show the many benefits of utilizing BIM and we find a similar paradigm between these and the seven wastes identified by Taiichi Ohno within the categories of unproductive manufacturing practices.

With benefits realized so far by BIM in various construction projects, it would be safe to call BIM a Lean tool.

Fig 15: McGraw Hill Construction Report on the value of BIM for construction 2014.

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9.0

The Benefits of a BIM Process

The process map below shows the typical information and product flow of materials on a construction project. This process has three major parts: 

Preliminary design and tendering



Detailed design (engineering & co-ordination)



Delivery & installation (including fabrication)

Fig 16: Information flow in the design & construction process (Eastman, 2011).

This process includes cycles that allow the design proposal to be formulated and revised repeatedly. This will typically occur between preliminary design and detailed design stages where the contractor is required to obtain feedback and approval from all the design teams.

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There are a number of problems with this process. It is labour intensive, with much effort spent producing and updating drawings, specifications etc. Sets of drawings and other documents will have high rates of inaccuracies and inconsistencies, which will not be discovered until the erection of the products onsite. This workflow has so many intermediate points for review that rework is common and cycle times are long. Leveraging BIM can improve the process in several ways. First, BIM can improve the efficiency of most existing steps in the 2D CAD process by increasing productivity and eliminating the need to manually maintain consistency across multiple drawing files.

When implemented in the context of lean construction techniques, such as with ‘pull-flow’ control of detailing, production, and installation, BIM can substantially reduce lead times and make the construction process more flexible and less wasteful.

To enable a pull-production system where preparation of production drawings is driven by the production sequence. Short lead times reduce the system’s ‘inventory’ of design information, making it less vulnerable to changes in the first place. Detailed drawings are only produced once the majority of changes have been made. This minimizes the likelihood that additional changes will be needed. In this ‘lean system’ of working, detailed drawings are produced at the very last possible moment.

These benefits derive from the high degree of automation that BIM systems are capable of achieving, when attempting to generate and communicate detailed fabrication information.

Parametric relationships between building model objects and their data are two features of BIM systems that make these improvements possible.

To sum up: 

Use pull systems to avoid overproduction.



Only produce information at required stages.



BIM Coordinator to ‘police’ flow of design information.



Supply drawings only on demand by using Takt Time.

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10.0 The Synergies between IPD, BIM & Lean With lean construction, value to the client is maximized through continuous process improvements that optimize flow and reduce waste. These basic principles are drawn from lean production and much has been learned from The Toyota Way and TPS. Therefore, significant adaption is needed before these ideas and tools can be applied to construction.

Lean daption has been both practical and theoretical, and the process has given rise to new ways of thinking about production in construction, such as the Transformation-Flow-Value (TFV) concept defined by Koskela (1992, 2000). Some lean tools and techniques, such as the Last Planner System (Ballard, 2000), requires commitment and education, but can generally be implemented with little or no software support. There is a strong synergy between lean construction and BIM, as BIM fulfils many lean principles and greatly facilitates fulfillment of other principles. As discussed previously, there are many causes of waste in construction that result from the way information is generated, managed, and communicated using drawings.

Many of these, such as inconsistencies between design documents, restricted flow of design information in large batches, and long cycle times for requests of information, have been discussed earlier. BIM goes a long way to improving these wastes, but it also does something more – it improves workflow for everyone in the construction process, even if they make no direct use of BIM.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has provided information on Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) which is closely aligned to BIM and lean construction methodologies. IPD shares principles with BIM and lean including: collaborative innovation and decision making, which is encouraged when information is freely exchanged, early goal definition which is comparable to hoshin kanri, which aligns all participants to agree on a common purpose, intensified planning, similarly to lean it tries to eliminate waste and increase efficiency, open communication, which lean thinking persuades by providing a set of tools, appropriate use of technology, mutual rewards and benefits which is promoted by teamwork, mutual trust and respect through collaboration between partners and co-workers (AIA 2007, Tetervov 2013).

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In the US, BIM is viewed as a separate but integral part of IPD. The AIA state that: “BIM is a tool, not a project delivery method, but IPD process methods work hand-in-hand with BIM and leverage the tool’s capabilities”. Thus, IPD and lean processes provide the framework to address these deficiencies, allowing a project team to get the most out of BIM.

When all three components of collaboration (IPD/BIM/Lean) are implemented together, we see project teams successfully work together for maximum benefit of the project. With IPD agreements structuring people's interactions and incentives, and with lean processes to increase value and efficiency, and with reliable, pervasive BIM to provide clarity and a single source of truth, practically any project can be successful in the 21 st century.

In the study of the relationship between lean and BIM, Sacks (et al. 2010) lists 24 lean principles and 18 BIM functionalities and has identified 56 interactions between them, of which 52 were positive interactions (see next page). The first area of significant synergy is that the use of BIM reduces variation. The ability to visualize form and to evaluate function, rapid generation of design alternatives, the maintenance of information and design model integrity (clash checking) and automated generation of schedules, reports, all result in more consistent and reliable information that greatly reduces waste of rework, duplication and waiting. This affects all members of the design team, but its economic impact on those involved in construction is much greater.

The second area of synergy is that BIM reduces cycle times. In all production systems, an important goal is to reduce the overall time required for a product from entry into the system to completion. This will help reduce the amount of work in process (WIP), accumulated inventory, and the ability of the system to absorb and respond to changes with minimal waste. The Sutter Medical Centre reports how BIM enabled the project team to reduce cost-estimation cycles from months to just 2 weeks (Eastman, 2011). BIM use for automated generations of construction tasks, construction process simulation, and 4D visualization of construction schedules all serve to reduce cycle times for construction operations because they help reveal process conflicts and design errors.

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Principle Area Flow Process

Principle Reduce Variability Get quality right first time (reduce product variability) Improve upstream flow variability (reduce prod. variability) Reduce Cycle Times Reduce production cycle durations Reduce Inventory Reduce Batch Sizes (strive for single-piece flow) Increase flexibility Reduce changeover time Use multi skilled teams Select an appropriate production control approach Use pull systems Level out the production Standardise Institute Continuous Improvement Use Visual Management Visualise production methods Visualise production process

Value Generation Process

Problem-solving Developing Partners

Design the production System for Flow and Value Simplify Use parallel processing Use only reliable technology Ensure the capability of the production system Ensure comprehensive requirements capture Focus on concept selection Ensure requirement flow down Verify and validate Go and see for yourself Decide by consensus, consider all options Cultivate an extended network of partners

Fig 17: Lean Principles (Sacks et al. 2010).

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Thirdly, BIM enables visualization of both construction products and processes. Where BIM systems are integrated with supply chain partner databases, they provide a powerful mechanism for communicating signals to pull production and delivery of materials and product design information.

The most obvious place BIM supports a number of lean principles is in the design stages.

Clients understand design intent better when it is expressed in 3D models, and designers can perform better performance analyses. Requirements capture and information flows are improved. The much reduced cycle times for drawing production means that the conceptual design stage can be extended allowing greater analysis of alternatives to be evaluated thereby minimizing design errors later on.

BIM’s support for prefabrication leads to leaner practice in all areas. Prefabrication reduces variation in product quality and process timing, reduces cycle times for production and installation, and supports the use of various tracking technologies that help make the process visible.

We must remember BIM is only a tool. BIM will not create, correct nor prevent errors.

However, BIM will help find and fully expose errors earlier in the construction process, particularly when the project teams work responsibly together. Accordingly, full interoperability is critical to the construction team and to the success of BIM. To maximize interoperability between disciples, one standard software package must be chosen, and this needs to be incorporated within the BIM Execution Plan (BEP).

With the recent passing of the BIM Level 2 mandate, the construction industry will now proceed towards BIM Level 3, mandated for 2019. In its purest form, a BIM Level 3 project would be single data model for all purposes. Each discipline would access the model, adding content that could be accessed immediately by everyone in real-time. Exploration, analysis and evaluation would take place within the model, with information being exported as contract drawings, fabrication drawings, bills of materials etc.

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It looks like BIM is here to stay. It offers a technologically driven opportunity for all built environment stakeholders to break free of the archaic chains of 2D ‘dumb’ information that bind the process, and to revolutionize the system of design, construction and management of the built environment.

BIM can help the construction industry improve productivity and waste fewer materials.

Construction can be a wasteful process and BIM tackles this by creating a robust, data accessible model and making it available to everyone who needs it.

Construction does not lend itself to automation as every piece of the built environment is a prototype that must address its own unique set of user requirements, site constraints, aesthetic and social goals, economic realities and cultural context (Cousins, 2014). There are few opportunities to build and test large elements of the projects or to pressure the supply chain for parts that are frequently bespoke and require a great deal of skill to make.

And this is where BIM comes in. A true building information management system holds the data in one place. My experience at Chapman Taylor is that this will allow people to use their time for design issues rather than for chasing information to support the design work.

BIM information can be voluminous and easy access to a single source can help to reduce the time we need to complete a design. A comprehensive BIM model can also help to reduce the quantity of material needed (inventory). The 3D BIM model improves both our understanding and the contractor’s understanding of what is being built, and any re-work due to misunderstandings can be significantly reduced.

Finally, BIM can keep the whole design and construction team enthusiastic about their projects. Readily available information saves time, improves communication between disciplines and reduces re-work both at the design stage and on site. This leads to a greater focus on doing things right and better project outcomes. So, it’s clear: BIM reduces waste.

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11.0 Office Implementation Plan “Applying the Toyota Production system outside the shop floor can be done, but this takes some creativity” – Fujio Cho, President of Toyota Motor Corporation (Liker, 2004).

Manufacturing companies around the world have applied the Toyota Production system on the shop floor to varying degrees, and interest in TPS or lean manufacturing continuous to grow. As company’s experience great improvements on the shop floor, it is natural to ask how this can apply to technical or service operations. Many service companies that initially look at Toyota are attracted most by the technical TPS principles of flow and how they can apply it to a highly variable and often chaotic process (Liker, 2004).

In service organizations, such as Chapman Taylor, the work is often organised around projects that vary in size, complexity, number of people involved and lead times. But if we start with the client, define value, and then map the process that adds value to the client, identifying workflows can be more manageable. And waste in this case is mostly information waiting for someone to act on, and because this is information inventory, rather than physical inventory, it is more difficult to determine the amount (Liker, 2004).

In order to make an appropriate lean implementation within Chapman Taylor, the design teams will need to work together and with their partner contractors in the mapping process.

With the sole intension of capturing all tasks which are included in the delivery of the project.

An example is to use post-it notes to allow everyone to see the various activities on a wall. In this case, everyone would see how much work is needed to be done, who is responsible for the various tasks and how different trades should work together in terms of sequential or parallel working (O’Connor et al. 2013). Once a decision is made it should be implemented quickly (Nemawashi).

Don’t identify a problem, but identify the root cause of the problem by using the 5 Why approach. This is to keep asking why until the root cause of the problem is determined. This is one part of the Toyota’s Practical Problem Solving Process. At Toyota it is said that problem solving is 20% tools and 80% thinking (Liker, 2004).

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Fig 18: Toyota’s Practical Problem Solving Process (Liker, 2004)

Fig 19: Process mapping with the design team in the Obeya ‘War Room’.

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The step of mapping the process should be organised as early as possible before starting the work, as a kaizen workshop, in order to agree on the main objectives delivered in the project (hoshin kanri), and in order to get a tight but realistic and achievable programme (O’Connor et al. 2013). Liker (2004) suggests using the Obeya ‘War Room’ for making the key decisions and reviewing the process of the project. However, to seek achievable results, the group working together should not exceed fifteen people in order to keep the balance within the Obeya room (Liker, 2004).

There are three phases to a kaizen workshop: Preparation, the actual workshop, and sustaining and continuous improvement after the kaizen workshop.

When the first workshop of weekly process mapping is completed, objectives of the project are agreed and deadlines discussed, the second workshop should be arranged. The plan from the first kaizen workshop should be developed further within the second workshop.

O’Connor et al. (2013) suggests that the plan for the next four to six weeks should be developed in detail into a day-by-day programme.

Design processes are often complex and involve many activities with many stakeholders. If you try to map everything all at once, it leads to a mess. But, by developing a ‘big-picture’, macro value stream map of the current system, you bring everyone together to agree on all the waste in the processes. A macro-future state map can then identify the big issues and help identify where the biggest opportunities are for reducing waste in the value stream.

Although the process of mapping can become long and complex, a simpler method that could be used to arrive at decisions would be to use Toyota’s A3 Report method which would allow you to put only key information on one side of an A3 sized paper. As Liker (2004) says: “A typical A3 Report is not a memo – it is a full report documenting a process”.

The advantages of the A3 Report includes increased productivity, helps meet deadlines, lowers costs, reduces defects and mistakes, and as a problem solving device, the A3 Report would state the problems, document the current situation, determine root cause, suggest alternative solutions, suggest the recommended solution and include a cost-benefit analysis.

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This would all be on one side of an A3 paper, using figures and graphics as much as possible (see below). The information from these A3 Reports can become a key part of the process of efficiently getting consensus on complex decisions with the design team.

Fig 20: A typical A3 Report (sloanreview.mit.edu)

The A3 Report is read from the top-left down then onto the second column, and should be refined to include only critical and visual information. Embedded in the A3 Report is Toyota’s problem solving process, is based on the Deming Cycle. Deming said any good problemsolving process should include all of the following elements: Planning, Doing, Checking and Acting (PDCA). You can use the A3 Reports to identify the most obvious 5-10 high level phases to work on to eliminate waste. The kaizen workshops are typically one-week events where the current process is analysed by all participants, a lean vision for the process is developed, and most importantly, begin implementation.

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On completion of a live project, a reflective and constructive follow up should be carried out to capture any mistakes and difficulties experienced during the whole process. As Liker (2004) describes continuous improvement (kaizen) cannot exist if hansei (relentless reflection) is not done. Therefore, each week and then after finishing the project, the team has to look back to process and note where it had made mistakes and where possible improvements could be implemented.

Liker (2004) and O’Connor et al. (2013) also make reference to the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle which could be used for further improvements after the workshops have ended. This improvement cycle could be adopted by the architectural practice as well, in order to strive to become a learning organization (Tetervov, 2013).

Fig 21: Plan-Do-Check-Act (O’Connor et al. 2013)

Liker (2004) says that creating lean flow is the technical backbone of TPS in both service and manufacturing organizations. And that there are five steps to creating flow: 1. Identify who the customer is for the processes and added value they want delivered.

2. Separate out the repetitive processes from the unique, one-of-a-kind processes and learn how you can apply TPS to repetitive processes.

3. Map the flow to determine value added and non-value added activities.

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4. Think creatively about applying the broad principles of the Toyota Way to these processes using a future-state value stream map.

5. Start doing it and learn by doing using a PDCA cycle and then expand it to the less repetitive processes.

A transformation of this size even in one office will not be an overnight process and will require a continual cycle of improvement and stabilization. And more importantly, it will require focused leadership from management.

Folowing on from the mapping process and kaizen workshops the implementation teams could meet on a weekly basis to: 

Review the status of the open action items from the project.



Review process metrics to ensure improvements are being achieved.



Discuss additonal opportunities for improvements.



Continue to improve the process.

Management should undertake monthly reviews of the lean status board to evaluate metrics, open items on the project plan, and resolve any issues to implementation. They should also provide recognition to the team as it achives key milestones in implmentation.

Fleming (2016), says there are 3 steps to adopting a Lean Paradigm, these are: 

Build a vision, establish need, make comittment.



Record current state of operations.



Chart the flow of information.

Lean is a holistic model – it can be widely implemented if management: 

Understands it



Are comitted



Have patience

Otherwise, implement lean in select parts of the organisation or as a pilot (Fleming, 2016).

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12.0 Recommendations for Continuous Improvement “The power behind TPS is a company’s commitment to continuously invest in its people and to promote a culture of continuous improvement” (Liker, 2004).

A number of initiatives or plans need to be set in motion to allow lean principles to be implemented within the office, with many of the lean principles mentioned previously allowing for a culture of continuous improvement to exist.

Collaborative planning would allow current problems and challenges to surface within the office so that improvements could be made. Firstly, proper planning would be put in place for everyone involved in the office, with a dedicated lean ‘Champion’ to oversee and push the lean initiatives on a regular basis. The design team would have clear goals on project delivery and would encourage closer collaboration between Architects & external disciplines.

Weekly meetings would allow the teams to discuss previous and upcoming tasks. Problems as ‘overburdening’ and ‘unevenness’ in the work flow of the office would significantly decrease since leveled-out planning would take place in the office, in turn leading to an increase in the teams efficiency and hence to a less stressful workplace. This would also allow the design team to reflect on previous projects and the employees would be highly encouraged to make improvements continuously.

When these procedures become standard practice within the office, then continuous improvement can be implemented, as Liker (2004) says: “Standardised tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment”.

This quote also fits in well with Toyota’s own view that: “Today’s standardization…..is the necessary foundation on which tomorrow’s improvement will be based. If you think “standardization” as the best you know today, but which is to be improved tomorrow – you get somewhere. But if you think of standards as confining, then progress stops” (Liker, 2004).

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As part of my own ‘lean learning’ a personal study was undertaken on the subject of standardization and a presentation was given to MSc lean students (see Appendix C).

Following Principle 10 of The Toyota Way, ie “Develop Exceptional People and Teams Who Follow Your Company's Philosophy”. Within the design office, I would advocate a lean ‘champion’ or facilitator to create a future state vision that eliminates waste, improves firsttime quality in terms of drawing production, and optimizes the flow through the entire process and to lay out new flow of tasks.

Similarly, a BIM coordinator (or BIM ‘Policeman’) would be placed on each project no matter how small or large - if there is only one person working on a project, then he/she would be the principle designer as well as the nominated BIM coordinator. This should be implicit within the BIM Execution Plan as it would help ‘police’ the flow of information on the project from inception to final completion, making sure he/she are working to the prescribed BIM standards such as PAS1192 etc. Liker (2004) says: “People are the most flexible resource you have. If you have not efficiently worked out the manual process, it will not be clear where to need automation to support the process”.

As a cursor to implementing lean principles within the office, I would begin with the basics using Japan’s 5S program. The 5S program comprises of a series of activities for eliminating wastes that contribute to errors, defects and injuries in the workplace. The 5S’s comprise: 

Sort (seri) – Sort through items and keep only what is needed.



Staighten (seiton) – A place for everything and everything in it’s place.



Shine (seiso) – Cleaning process, form of inspection exposing errors/defects.



Standardise (seiketsu) – Develop systems/procedures to maintain the first three S’s.



Sustain (shitsuke) – Maintaining a stable workplace in an ongoing process of continuous improvement.

The 5S’s together create a continuous process for improving the work environment around us, by firstly sorting through what is in the office to separate what is needed every day to perform value-added work from what is seldom or never used.

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Fig 22: Eliminating Waste by using the 5S’s (Liker, 2004)

Lean systems use the 5S program to support a smooth flow of Takt Time. 5S’s help to make problems visible and can be part of the process of visual control of a well-planned lean system. Some examples of 5S application are shown below.

Traditional Plan Holder/Chest

Design Office heijunka box!

Figs 23-26: Examples of following the 5S philosophy (lean lectures, Fleming 2016) 42

Liker (2004) has listed 13 tips for transitioning your company into a lean enterprise, they are: 1. Start with action in the technical system; follow quickly with cultural change.

2. Learn by doing first and training second.

3. Start with value stream pilots to demonstrate lean and provide a ‘go see’ model.

4. Use value stream mapping to develop future state visions and help ‘learn to see’.

5. Use kaizen workshops to teach and make rapid changes.

6. Organise around value streams (processes or functions).

7. Make it mandatory.

8. A crisis may prompt a lean movement, but may not turn a company around.

9. Be opportunistic in identifying opportunities for big financial impacts.

10. Realign metrics with a value stream perspective.

11. Build on your company’s roots to develop your own way.

12. Hire or develop lean leaders (or champion) and develop a succession system.

13. Use experts for teaching and getting quick results.

If you want a lean organization, you will need to bring lean (expert) knowledge into the company. Hence I advocate, that each office would have a lean facilitator or lean champion who would help quick start the process by educating others through action - Starting off any continuous improvement scenario with the foundational tools of Lean: Ie. 5S, standardized work, process mapping, and value stream mapping. These tools, can help to create a baseline understanding of where a process, work cell or company is operating at. Ie, They help answer the question “where are we now?”

Another, overlooked ‘lean’ method that could be used is benchmarking. Chapman Taylor could use benchmarking to bring knowledge of applications of lean principles and practices to the entire office. Benchmarking is the process of comparing the company’s current performance against the world leader in any particular area (Camp 1989, Compton 1992).

Quality, cost and time are the typically measured performance indicators. It is, in essence, finding and implementing the best practices in the world (Ningappa, 2011). Bench marking is essentially a goal setting procedure and should stimulate the continuous improvement process.

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Staff retention is also a major problem for many architectural offices in the North West.

Employees who are on a year-out placement or have been with the organisation for several years are leaving. The solution would be to focus on the Toyota principle of: “Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy and teach it to others”.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Liker, 2004) looks at motivating people as equivalent to satisfying their internal needs. Your highest level of motivation will be to do things that better you as a person called ‘Self-Actualisation’. The company needs to ensure that they provide job security, good pay and safe working conditions which would satisfy lower level needs (Liker, 2004). If the needs are met then interns could go on to become permanent employees; creating a stable team environment allowing for growth within the company both personally and professionally.

Fig 27: Possible path of an intern's growth within the company (Tetervov, 2013) Frederick Herzberg‘s theories are similar to Marlow’s, as they focus on characteristics of work that are motivators. He refers to Maslow’s lower level needs as ‘hygiene factors’. He recommends that if you wait to motivate people, you have to go beyond the hygiene factors and enrich jobs so that they are intrinsically interesting. People performing the work need feedback on how they are doing. They need to be given a whole piece of work and a degree of autonomy, followed by recognition and approval/feedback on the work undertaken – as having the responsibility of participating in the project from the beginning to end enriches and empowers the employee. For example, if a designer is given the same task to do repeatedly and is only responsible for a small part of the project, then interest levels and motivation starts to drop and the designer may look elsewhere for employment.

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There are many things people find rewarding beyond money. It could be praise or recognition from the Senior Designer or Supervisor, and as Liker (2004) says: “People are motivated by challenging but attainable goals and measurement of progress towards these goals…..careful measurements everyday let teams know how they are performing”.

Hence people drive continuous improvement. And this is done by building a system that follows The Toyota Way Principle 10: “Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy”.

People must have a degree of security and feel that they belong to a team. You must design jobs to be challenging and people need some autonomy to feel they have control over their aspect of the job. As Liker (2004) eloquently puts it: “Building exceptional people and teams derives from having in place some forms of respect for a humanity system”.

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13.0 Post Script Start small!

At the beginning, the architecture office could adopt a few key lean principles. Once the results are clear to see then the office could go on to implement more advanced lean concepts. A simple way to begin this process would be to introduce lean to people by playing quick lean ‘games’. It is important that the office is supported by senior management and that employees are involved in the change process. This will require a ‘change agent’ such as a lean champion or facilitator who would be cultivated from within the company. But, the most important part of the process is that the office is willing to sustain this process and as Liker (2004) says: “Become a Lean Learning Enterprise”.

IMPLEMENTING BIM & LEAN

Fig 28: Image source: Ben Wallbank, BIM Lecture 2015. University of Salford.

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14.0 Bibliography & References B

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15.0 Appendix A – Lean Glossary of Abbreviations Continuous Flow Process: Achieving sequential flow of production, ideally one piece from station to station.

5S: A five step housekeeping discipline that includes methods for creating and maintaining an organized, clean, high performance workplace.

5 Whys: When a problem arises, keep asking the question "why" until you reach the underlying root of the problem, and until a robust counter-measure becomes apparent.

Jidoka: used in the TPS (Toyota Production System) can be defined as ‘automation with a human touch’. The word jidoka traces its roots to the invention of the automatic loom by Sakichi Toyoda, Founder of the Toyota Group Machinery capable of inspecting parts after producing them, then notifying if a defect is detected.

Just-in-Time: A production scheduling concept that calls for producing the necessary part, at the necessary time and in the necessary quantity using minimum necessary resources.

Kaizen or Incremental Continuous Improvement: A philosophy that advocates continually improving products, processes, and activities of a business to effectively and efficiently meet or exceed changing customer requirements and standards set by the organization.

Continuous improvement focuses on the elimination of waste or non-value added activities throughout the organization. Conversely, it also attempts to alter processes for the purpose of adding value.

Kanban: Literally translated means sign card. A card or other visual control that authorizes the production or movement of product. A tool for managing Just-in-Time.

Lean Production (Lean Manufacturing): An English phrase coined to describe Japanese manufacturing techniques as exemplified by Toyota.

Level Production: A prerequisite for Just-in-Time production. The smoothing of production requirements over time. The intent is to take customer orders and sequence them over time.

Mistake Proofing: A manufacturing technique of preventing mistakes by designing the process, equipment and tools so the operation cannot perform incorrectly.

Non-Value Added (NVA): Refers to any activity that does not raise or increase value to the customer value or to the organization; also known as waste. NVA reflects the belief that the activity is wasteful and can be redesigned, reduced or eliminated without reducing the quality, responsiveness or quality of output required by the customer or organization.

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Poka-yoke: See Mistake Proofing.

Pull System: A manufacturing planning system based upon the communication of downstream needs to upstream suppliers and processes.

Push System: A manufacturing system that schedules upstream processes based on a projected or planned downstream needs.

Work In Process (WIP): The minimum number of unfinished products required for smooth completion of a work sequence prescribed for a given purpose.

Standardised Work: Documents, centered around human movement, that combine the elements of a job into the most effective sequence, without waste, to achieve the most efficient level of production. Standardized work forms the basis of continuous improvement.

Standardised Work Chart: One of three Standardized Work forms. It shows an operator’s work sequence, takt time, and Standard Work in Process (SWIP) as well as quality checks, and operator safety.

Takt Time: Calculation that describes the time required to produce one unit of production given the available production time and customer requirements. Takt time is one of the three elements of Standardized Work and supports the concept of Just in Time.

Value Added (VA): Any activity that advances the process or increases the value of the parts produced or value to the organization’s needs. Focus should be on reducing costs by eliminating waste for NVA activities. The higher the proportion of work that adds value, the greater the efficiency of that operation.

Work Standards: Documents that detail the most suitable operating conditions, work methods, and control methods. Work standards form the basis for processes in manufacturing.

Note: The above abbreviations have been adopted from the Toyota Production System Basic Handbook. Art of Lean, Inc. (www.artoflean.com)

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16.0 Appendix B – BIM Glossary of Abbreviations A

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