Lean journeys
Lean Construction is of great interest to the global construction industry and it is increasingly acknowledged as being integral to the current and future competiveness of the Irish Construction sector. The fifth Annual WIT Lean Enterprise Excellence Forum saw WIT and Lean Construction Ireland (LCI) deliver a very interesting and insightful Lean Construction track which was sponsored by Suir Engineering.
Lean Construction prominent at WIT Lean Enterprise Excellence Forum 2017
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umming up this year’s Annual WIT Lean Enterprise Excellence Forum, Darrin Taylor, Co-Director of the WIT Lean Enterprise Excellence Group, and Joint Programme Director of the WIT Lean & Operational Excellence portfolio of executive/practitioner programmes, says: ‘This year’s Forum was the largest and most well-attended to date with over 350 delegates from more than 200 organisations from all around the country, and some from abroad. ‘This event is run in association with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, and Lean Construction Ireland and we were delighted to have Suir Engineering sponsor the Lean Construction track at this year’s conference. ‘Fundamental to our work at WIT is enabling collaboration amongst and between industry, academia, and the state with the aim of increasing innovation and economic development in our knowledge society via the production, transfer, and application of knowledge.’ Johnny Crowley, Continuous Improvement Manager at Suir Engineering, said: ‘Throughout the day I witnessed first-hand, how WIT is deploying its knowledge transfer strategy. ‘Right from the offset, this strategy was summarised by means of the following quote from “Strategist of the Century” Peter Senge: ‘Collaboration is vital to sustain what we call profound or really deep change, because without it, organisations are just overwhelmed by the forces of the status quo. ‘It can be difficult for construction companies to know exactly how to begin their Lean journey. ‘For the average company, there is a lot of information available about the different Lean tools, techniques and theories.
‘However, as the adage goes, a wealth of information can create a poverty of attention.’ Professor Peter Hines of WIT addressed this conundrum by drawing on the teachings of Shigeo Shingo. Shingo, who was considered the world’s leading expert on the Toyota Production System, advised that companies should do the following three things: 1. Start by having the leaders create, and advocate, a set of Lean principles. These principles will govern why the organisation conducts its efforts. 2. At the middle management level, Lean systems need to be created. These systems will inform how the company is going to achieve its goals. 3. Finally, at the associate level, the tools need to be implemented. The tools will dictate what specific actions need to be taken in the area where the value is actually created for the customer. In addition to the various presentations and breakout sessions across the day, there were four distinct presentations on Lean in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) sector, including: Christine Pasquire, Professor of Lean Project Management and Head of the Centre for Lean Projects at Nottingham Trent University, UK. Professor Pasquire shared her observations of the last 20 years of the Lean movement in the UK construction industry and beyond, and tackled some fundamental issues of defining principle, and challenging perceptions and aspirations. She re-emphasised the necessity for construction organisations to study and subscribe to Lean management principles before implementing Lean tools.
3 2 | Construction Management | November/December 2017
She specifically mentioned the acclaimed ‘Toyota Way’ by Jeffery Liker. In this book, Liker has dissected the Toyota management philosophy and presented it in 14 key principles. Without the Lean mind-set and principles driving the initiative, Pasquire argues that every Lean strategy will end in a cul-de-sac. Professor Pasquire also likened the statement: ‘We are already Lean!’ to a cry for help. She described how good companies do not proclaim to be Lean but that they continually strive to become a little leaner. Even Toyota will admit that they are, at best, only 3/5ths Lean. She went on to describe how construction is a people industry and that the cultural side to continuous improvement is intrinsically linked with the emotion and morale of the people. When companies ask her: ‘What does Lean look like?’ she postulates that Lean is very much something that one feels. In this vein, she commented on how ‘Lean is the most difficult simple thing one can ever try to accomplish’. Kevin O’Brien, Senior Project Manager at Kirby Group presented a synopsis of the extensive research he conducted investigating the current level of dissemination of Lean principles in the Irish construction sector. Kevin outlined his findings, plus the positives and negatives for the Irish construction sector, as well as a compare and contrast with other countries where similar research was previously conducted. In a similar vein to a point made by Professor Pasquire, Kevin’s research found that a lot of Irish construction companies have a severely inflated perception of their Lean capabilities and competence. This perception results in a false sense