Appropriateness of Lean Construction to Sri Lankan Construction Industry

Lean is about designing and operating the right process and having the right systems, resources
and measures to deliver things right first time following the principles of eliminate waste,
precisely specify value, clearly identify the process that delivers what the customer value, make
the remaining value adding steps flow, customer pull and pursue perfection by continuous
improvement. Lean thinking is perfectly suited for manufacturing where it was initially
pioneered and developed by the large Japanese car manufacturers. It has now been implemented
by a number of Japanese, European and American manufacturers with considerable success.
Is it appropriate to apply lean thinking to manage the constructions in Sri Lanka?
The answer is argumentative.
It is one response to the argument that construction is different from manufacturing due to
following facts and the extension of specific manufacturing techniques such as lean to
construction is uncertain.
1. The final product has its very own nature because construction projects are unique, static
and big in size whereas manufacturing produces repetitive large and movable products.
2. In the construction industry, job security is low and workers perform a range of tasks
during a project whereas in manufacturing the workforce has regular workers with high
employment security and the employees gain job specialization with high experience.
3. Construction depends on the management of information and resource flows of mainly
labour and non-stationary equipment where the production is fundamentally governed by
the machines used in the manufacturing process.
4. Less protection from environmental conditions for construction work since it usually
operates outdoor which causes interruption to construction works.
5. Quality of manufacturing is achieved through controlling the process while quality of
construction is primarily related to product conformance based on specifications and
drawings.
6. The labour intensity in the construction industry increases the risk of human error and
issues.
7. More dynamic and complex supplier relationship in the construction industry.
8. Subcontracting is a common practice in construction and subcontractor performance can
highly affect on the final product due to the interrelations between processes.
As an underdeveloped country, Sri Lanka is desperately seeking a large development of
infrastructure construction in all aspects such as road, drinking water supply, waste management,
irrigation, building construction etc. and highly depends on the foreign funds. This leads lot of
foreign construction companies in various natures to involve in construction work with the local
companies. Therefore the aforementioned facts are quite inevitable and the answer is NO.
However, there are number of similarities between the two industries such as both industries
consist of socio-technical systems (the combination of human and technical elements) and

construction is similar to the manufacturing area of new product development (Kagioglou et al.,
1999). Koskela (1997) states that lean construction shares the same goals of lean production:
elimination of waste, cycle time reduction, and variability reduction.
Sri Lankan construction industry is facing many challenges with the recent economic downturns
and as well as recent major political revolt. Construction sector is one of the major sector that
directly effects with the track of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate in Sri Lanka. Due to
the instability of the economy which is originated through political revolutions and improper
systems, construction in Sri Lanka was suffering all through the time. Considering the decline of
the GDP growth rate and the upturn of inflation, it seems that the unemployment within the
country is accumulating in a notable rate. Government policies and strategies, investments,
foreign aids which are due, available resources and potentiality of getting maximum out of it,
sustainable approaches are few of the main factors that determine the way forward of the
economy of the country (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2015). Filtering into the construction sector,
the construction cost factor is highly determined by some aspects such as labour, materials,
equipment, transport, consumption of energy and time related cost factors that augment with
delays and disruptions.
It is conspicuous that the conventional project management techniques are not suitable for
complex projects anymore. In order to beat this problem in the platform of micro scale; a project
must adhere to set of guidelines that allows both resources and tasks to perform in a
contemporary manner to achieve predetermined project goals (Nesensohn et al., 2013). YES for
lean thinking.

REFERENCES
Alarcn, L. A. (1997). Tools for the identification and reduction of waste in construction
projects. In L. Alarcn (Ed.), Lean Construction. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Balkema.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2015. Research Studies, s.l.: s.n.
Howell, G. and Ballard, G. (1998). Implementing lean construction: Understanding and action.
Kagioglou, M., Cooper, R., and Aouad, G. (1999). Re-engineering the UK construction industry.
The process protocol. In Symposium Conducted at the Meeting of the Second International
Conference on Construction Process Re-Engineering (CPR99). Sidney, Australia: University of
New South Wales.
Koskela, L. (1997). Lean production in construction. In L. Alarcn (Ed.), Lean construction (pp.
14-24). Rotterdam,
Netherland: Balkema Publishers.
Nesensohn, C., Demir, S. T. and Bryde, D. J., 2013. Developping the True North Route Map as a
Navigational
Compass in a Construction Project Management Organisation. Lean Construction Journal, 4-6.