Journal Pre-proof

Implementing Lean Construction Techniques and Management Methods in Chinese

Projects: A Case Study in Suzhou, China

Weiqi Xing, Jian Li Hao, Liang Qian, Vivian W.Y. Tam, Karol S. Sikora

PII: S0959-6526(20)34988-X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124944
Reference: JCLP 124944

To appear in: Journal of Cleaner Production

Received Date: 5 June 2020

Revised Date: 29 October 2020
Accepted Date: 2 November 2020

Please cite this article as: Xing W, Hao JL, Qian L, Tam VWY, Sikora KS, Implementing Lean
Construction Techniques and Management Methods in Chinese Projects: A Case Study in Suzhou,
China, Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124944.

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition
of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of
record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published
in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that,
during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal
disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

CRediT authorship contribution statement
Weiqi Xing: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Analysis, Writing – original draft and
revision. Jian Li Hao: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review and editing, Project
administration, Funding acquisition. Liang Qian: Methodology, Data curation, Supervision.
Vivian W. Y. Tam: Supervision, Writing – review and editing. Karol Sikora: Supervision,
Writing – review and editing.

of
ro
-p
re
lP
na
ur
Jo
 1 Implementing Lean Construction Techniques and Management Methods in
2 Chinese Projects: A Case Study in Suzhou, China
3
4 Weiqi Xing
5 PhD candidate, School of Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney,
6 Australia; Email: 19918642@student.westernsydney.edu.au
7
8 Jian Li Hao
9 Senior Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Xi’an
10 Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, P.R. China; Email:
11 JIANLI.HAO@xjtlu.edu.cn
12
13 Liang Qian

of
14 Department Manager, Corporate Real Estate Realization - Asia Pacific, BOSCH

ro
15 China Investment Ltd., Shanghai, China; Email: Liang.Qian@cn.bosch.com
16
17
18
Vivian W.Y. Tam -p
Professor, School of Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney,
re
19 Australia
20 Honorary Professor, School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology,
lP

21 Hefei, China; Email: v.tam@westernsydney.edu.au

22
na

23 Karol S. Sikora
24 Assistant Professor, Head of Civil Engineering Department, University of
ur

25 Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, UAE; Email: KarolSikora@uowdubai.ac.ae

26
Jo

27 ABSTRACT
28 Aimed at maximizing project value while reducing waste and cost, the lean
29 construction (LC) approach was formally and successfully introduced to the
30 architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry in 1993. Although LC has
31 rapidly developed since that time, it was not applied to a Chinese construction project
32 until 2005. However, due to insufficient knowledge and poor execution, this first
33 attempt at lean construction in China was inadequate. The aim of this study was
34 therefore to discover if the Chinese construction industry has since discovered how to
35 use lean practices to maximize project value, shorten the project schedule, improve
36 project quality, and reduce waste. This was achieved by conducting a case study of a
37 LC project in Suzhou, China. The case study revealed that implementation of lean
38 practices during the project, including Last Planner System (LPS), Kanban system,
39 Just-In-Time (JIT), prefabrication, Internet of Things (IoT), quality and safety
40 management, and continuous improvement, all contributed to the improvement of
41 project performance. To supplement the case study and to provide insights on the
42 differences between Chinese and international LC, interviews with project

1
43 stakeholders and a questionnaire survey of global lean experts were conducted.
44 Results indicated that interviewees and survey respondents both held the view that
45 project waiting times and defects can be greatly reduced through the implementation
46 of LC, and that improvement of construction workflow along with project
47 productivity and quality were the two most valuable benefits of using lean practices;
48 there was also a consensus that lack of trust and the abilities of stakeholders are the
49 biggest challenges.
50
51 Keywords: Case study; Kanban system; Last Planner System; Lean construction
52 management
53
54 1. Introduction
55 The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry in China has

of
56 developed rapidly and successfully over the past fifty years and is now one of the

ro
57 country’s pillar industries. The gross output of China’s AEC industry was USD3.5
58 trillion in 2018 (NBS, 2019), which was 20 times more than in 1978 (Xing et al.,
59
60 people (Wang, 2019).
-p
2019), accounting for 54% of the social fixed assets, and employing 55.6 million
re
61 Even though the AEC industry is prosperous and underpins both urbanization
62 and the gross domestic product (GDP), there are those in the industry who complain
lP

63 about the low profit margins (Gao and Low, 2014). It has been claimed that the
64 dynamic and complex properties of the AEC industry, extensive management methods,
na

65 and insufficient construction technology has resulted in rapid expansion at the

66 expense of low profit (Wang, 2015). Along with this unsatisfactory economic pattern,
ur

67 reverse social and environmental impacts are two areas of public concern. For
68 instance, some Chinese construction companies are exposed to the risks of project
Jo

69 delays, quality flaws, cost overrun, and safety hazards when they undertake a
70 construction project (Li et al., 2017). In addition, construction related activities in
71 China cause more than one third of national raw material and energy consumption
72 (Zhou et al., 2018), and 1.5 billion tons of waste generation (Hao et al., 2019). These
73 statistics suggest that traditional construction methods and management approaches
74 have serious drawbacks that are in urgent need of attention, since both quality and
75 safety are more important than construction speed and output. As a consequence,
76 government, scholars, and industrialists need to help innovate the AEC industry in
77 terms of policy, concept and technology.
78 With a deeper understanding of sustainable development and environmental
79 protection, advanced theories and practices such as green building and lean
80 construction management (LCM) have become more closely aligned with
81 corresponding policies. For instance, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural
82 Development of the People’s Republic of China (MOHURD, 2020) informed all
83 regions within China that green construction strategies should be implemented in

2
 84 accordance with local conditions. The transition to lean development of the AEC
85 industry promotes industry reform and stimulates economic growth (Yang, 2017).
86 However, implementing LCM in China’s AEC industry is at the initial stage for
87 residential and commercial buildings. Relevant studies focusing on the domestic
88 market are rare, since local construction firms tend to use traditional construction
89 methods. Consequently, this study chose a lean practice case study from the industrial
90 sector to examine the implementation of LC and LCM in Suzhou, China. Interviews
91 with stakeholders in the case project and a questionnaire survey of global lean
92 practitioners and scholars were conducted to obtain opinions of LCM from both a
93 local and global perspective. This allowed for a comparative analysis to better
94 understand the opportunities and threats of LC implementation in China.
95 This research addresses LC implementation in a Chinese industrial construction
96 project to fill a knowledge gap. Findings from the study provide a means by which

of
97 lean principles and techniques can be adapted to construction projects in China,

ro
98 provide a mechanism for stakeholder cooperation, and identify the lessons learned for
99 future improvements. It also provides both theoretical and practical guidance to the
100
101
-p
construction firms that intend to implement LCM in future projects.
re
102 2. Literature review
103 2.1 Worldwide lean practice implementations
lP

104 Formally put forward by Koskela (1993), LC received great attention from the
105 AEC sector. It aimed to implement lean thinking from manufacturing to construction
na

106 for improving project quality and efficiency, while reducing construction costs and
107 waste generation. Along with the LC concept, scholars have concentrated on LC
ur

108 techniques to achieve higher productivity. For example, LPS (Ballard, 1994), JIT
109 (Ballard and Howell, 1995), pull-scheduling (Tommelein, 1998), and Lean Project
Jo

110 Delivery System (LPDS) (Ballard and Howell, 2003).

111 LC has been successfully utilized in the AEC industry globally. Among 32 lean
112 practices identified from the literature, the most common one applied to construction
113 project was LPS, with JIT and pull-scheduling used in building and infrastructure
114 planning, design and construction activities (Babalola et al., 2019). Other more
115 comprehensive lean practices have been attempted to improve project performance,
116 including concurrent engineering (Li et al., 2017), visualization (Dave et al., 2016),
117 Kanban (Sarhan et al., 2017), and the 5S method (Sort, Straighten, Standardize, Shine,
118 and Sustain) (Salem et al., 2006). The positive economic, environmental and social
119 impacts of implementing lean practices have been well recognized by scholars. For
120 example, Issa (2013) found that the implementation of lean practice effectively
121 minimized the risks of time overrun, while Meng (2019) found LC with supply chain
122 collaboration helped to significantly boost time, cost and quality performances
123 through focusing customer requirements, learning and innovating, and eliminating
124 non-value adding activities. Such advantages are in accord with the sustainability
125 agenda, although the economic benefits are claimed to be the primary motivator for

3
126 the AEC industry (Carvajal-Arango et al., 2019).
127 The current trend in construction projects is to integrate lean philosophy with
128 other techniques and concepts. Such synergies have been demonstrated to be mostly
129 positive to obtain higher productivity in construction projects (Tezel et al., 2020).
130 According to Li et al. (2019), research interests and visualizations of LC have shifted
131 from cost management to a combination of BIM and prefabrication. Saieg et al. (2018)
132 explored the combination of lean, green and BIM to strengthen the synergies and
133 interrelationships of these concepts/tools within the AEC industry, which allows for
134 more complicated and sustainable construction projects. The positive effects on
135 energy consumption and carbon emission reductions through integration of
136 prefabrication and lean practices have also been studied (Heravi et al., 2020).
137
138 2.2 Implementation of lean practices in China

of
139 Having witnessed the advantages of lean practices applied the AEC industry in

ro
140 many parts of the world, some Chinese scholars and local construction firms
141 considered that this new approach could be adopted by China’s AEC industry (Li et
142
143
-p
al., 2020). Despite LC having been introduced in 1993 (Koskela, 1993), the first
attempt at implementing lean thinking in China’s AEC industry was not until 2005
re
144 (Low and Min, 2005). Also, only a few large firms in China have the ability and
145 resources to apply LC techniques and LCM to projects, since initial investigations and
lP

146 preliminary work are extensive and resource consuming. The attitude towards making
147 changes (Liao, 2018), insufficient theoretical support (Li et al., 2020), and delayed
na

148 planning information (Li et al., 2017) are several more impediments to implementing
149 lean practice in China. Consequently, the delayed adoption and slow
ur

150 impediment-laden development has created a giant gap between China and other
151 countries with regard to the practice of LC.
Jo

152 Early LC research in China was more on the theoretical level than the practical
153 level, and the majority of studies emphasized individual LC techniques rather than
154 LCM. The first systematic research on LCM in China was in 2004 (Jiang and Su,
155 2004) and focused on LCM’s potential for China’s construction market and local
156 enterprises (Li et al., 2020). In 2007, Min and Su (2007) developed a construction
157 management model based on the transformation, flow, and value (TFV) theory,
158 adapting a lean practice from Denmark to investigate the suitability of it to China.
159 They found that changing the constructors’ mind, pursuing continuous improvement,
160 and adjusting the methods to local condition were three key points for successful
161 implementation of LCM in China. Feng and Liu (2008) presented LCM through the
162 lens of theoretical and practical knowledge and identified the challenges China’s AEC
163 industry face when implementing LCM. For instance, a lack of implementing time,
164 personnel training, effective organization and critical thinking are possible threats
165 when adopting LC techniques such as the LPS, value engineering and JIT. Starting in
166 2010, more comprehensive investigations on LC applications and LCM were carried
167 out in China, usually combined with other sustainable and advanced concepts. Aiming

4
168 to strengthen the efficiency of the domestic AEC industry, Zhao et al. (2011) explored
169 interactions between LCM and BIM by constructing an interactive matrix. Twenty
170 one interaction points were summarized and suggestions provided but no case was
171 studied to validate how the suggestions could be implemented in a project. Huang and
172 Gao (2011) integrated lean principles with the unique characteristics of China’s AEC
173 industry to find ways of making LC and LCM suitable for China.
174 LC applications and LCM offer theoretical and methodological support to
175 China’s domestic AEC industry. Research focusing on Chinese construction
176 enterprises implementing LCM, identified three forms of LCM: TFV theory, Japanese
177 style management derived from Toyota Production System (TPS), and detailed
178 management aimed at achieving standardization to meet the demands of customers
179 (Liao, 2018). The periods 2001 to 2007, and 2008 to 2012 were LC in its infancy and
180 the early stage of LC in China respectively. LC in China is now in the third stage

of
181 called the high-speed development period, with extended research interests and areas,

ro
182 and enriched functionality (Li et al., 2020). However, there are still several barriers
183 that need to be overcome when implementing lean principles in China’s AEC industry
184
185
(Li et al., 2017). -p
re
186 3. Research methodology
187 The multi-method model of research is recommended to develop robust research
lP

188 design (Gable, 1994). Further, based on Anisimova and Thomson (2012), it is
189 favorable to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to conduct the empirical
na

190 study. This work therefore follows the multi-method research comprising the
191 strategies of case study, interview and questionnaire survey, in combination with
ur

192 qualitative and quantitative approaches for data collection, and statistical methods for
193 data analysis. Figure 1 shows the research framework regarding the phases and
Jo

194 objectives.a semi-structured questionnaire survey was conducted containing six

195 questions with a choice of answer, two scoring questions using 5-point Likert scale,
196 and two open-ended questions. The purpose of the survey was to test the validity of
197 the LCM group members’ perspectives by comparing their experience of LC
198 implementation with experiences from global lean practitioners. The survey was
199 delivered to members of the Lean Construction Institute, to scholars who had
200 published peer-reviewed articles in the LC field, and to practitioners currently
201 working on LC projects. Since the aim of the study was to investigate the difference
202 between implementation of LC in China and LC implementation globally, the
203 questionnaire was distributed only to potential respondents working outside of China.
204 The results from both case project stakeholders and global lean experts were
205 evaluated and compared by statistical analytical methods including mean value and
206 ranking, standard deviation (SD), and inter-rater reliability by Cronbach’s alpha
207 (Bajjou and Chafi, 2018; Aslam et al., 2020). The frequency of lean practices used on
208 construction projects was ascertained, and potential benefits and challenges were
209 analyzed. Recommendations to further utilize lean practices were made according to

5
210 the comparative results.
211
212 4. Implementation of lean practice in the case study project
213 4.1 Project information
214 The case study was conducted on an industrial building construction site in
215 Suzhou, China from June to August 2019. The case was researched and evaluated as it
216 applies to several LC techniques and LCM methods throughout the whole project
217 process. The case study building is a six-storey car park with two spiral ramps that
218 occupies 31,349.47 m2 with parking for 1,000 cars. Its structure is made up of precast
219 steel beams and reinforced concrete columns, and the roof is covered with 412 kW
220 photovoltaic panels. The estimated budget to construct the building was
221 approximately USD12 million, and it took 360 calendar days to complete from the
222 start of construction in December 2018.

of
223 A temporary LCM group was established to manage issues occurring on site

ro
224 during the project. The group included representatives from the client, the design
225 institute, the management company, the site supervision company, the main contractor,
226
227
-p
and subcontractors. The aforementioned stakeholders were selected based on their
understanding of LCM and their acceptance of it being implemented on the case study
re
228 project. The management company undertook to equip all their personnel working on
229 the construction site with basic knowledge of LCM. Figure 2 shows the personnel
lP

230 allocation of the 25 members of the temporary LCM group.

231
na
ur
Jo

232
233 Figure 2. Personnel allocation of on-site temporary LCM group
234
235 4.2 Last Planner System and Kanban system
236 As shown by Figure 3, the LPS and the Kanban system were closely associated
237 in the case study project, since LPS was used for planning and scheduling while
238 Kanban was used as a visual tool to show detailed daily and weekly schedules. Both
239 techniques were intended to reduce variances and improve the project’s workflow.
240

6
241

of
242 Figure 3. Components and relationships of LPS and Kanban system in the case

ro
243 The master schedule was prepared based on forecasts from the LCM group and
244 the contract handover deadline. Phase planning, presented as ‘pull-scheduling’ in this
245
246
-p
project, was also implemented to connect to more detailed plans, takt time planning,
and percentage of plan completed (PPC). On the construction site, a method similar to
re
247 concurrent engineering but focusing more on the workflow than takt planning, was
248 adopted. It divided construction assignments into a series of tasks and coordinated
lP

249 operations of the LPS, achieving an optimal workflow sequence and synchronize
250 production of the project. Based on the characteristics of the building structure, the
na

251 multi-storey car park was separated into two construction regions: the parking area
252 and the spiral ramp. The construction tasks within the parking area were further
ur

253 divided into practical areas, considering the target-takt-time, the time per output unit,
254 and the capacity needed.
Jo

255 The 4-week look-ahead, weekly plan, daily stand-up meetings, and the Kanban
256 system were interconnected in this project by using a moveable Kanban. The weekly
257 assembly was an opportunity to give an account of construction progress and issues
258 encountered over the past week and to put forward a plan for the upcoming week.
259 During the assembly, the PPC and weekly plan for each activity were reported by the
260 corresponding disciplines, such as civil engineering, mechanical, electrical and
261 plumbing, and decoration. This follows the principle of the LPS that construction
262 plans should be established by the construction personnel as the last planners, which
263 involves them more closely in production of the project schedule. After the assembly,
264 representatives from the stakeholders would hold an extra meeting to draw up a plan
265 for the next month, namely the 4-week look-ahead. Discussions during this meeting
266 was not as detailed as the weekly plan but more prospective and holistic, assisting
267 with the layout of future works. Stand-up meetings, the smallest unit in LPS, is one of
268 the most significant supports for operation of the LPS and the Kanban system, since it
269 strengthens the communications among the managers and construction personnel at an
270 operation level. LCM group members convened at the end of each day to review the

7
271 status of the day’s activities and discuss the issues detected on-site. Issues that need to
272 be solved within the week were recorded by post-it notes attached to the moveable
273 Kanban time box, while those that had been addressed were removed. Different
274 colored post-it notes represented different disciplines.
275
276 4.3 Just-In-Time and prefabrication
277 One important reason for implementing LCM in this project was to fully utilize
278 resources without waste, because the available on-site space was not sufficient for
279 material production and storage. Accordingly, prefabricated components were widely
280 adopted and the JIT logistics principle applied to accommodate the characteristics of
281 this construction method. See Figure 4.
282

of
ro
-p
re
lP
na

283
ur

284 Figure 4. JIT logistics for resource management in the case study project
285
Jo

286 JIT highlights the importance of workflow sequencing and logistics, which
287 optimizes the arrangement of resources to eliminate waste. With the assistance of LPS,
288 the construction schedule is clearly defined, whilst JIT logistics provide for resources
289 to be available at the right time, in the optimum quantity, with the necessary materials,
290 labor and equipment, and only when the preceding assignments have been completely
291 finished. The contractor’s daily report records the intraday work, outlines plans for the
292 next day, including arrangements of labor, materials, and equipment, and predicts
293 future demands. The report is checked for accuracy by the site supervisor and for
294 accuracy and rationality by the manager.
295 Prefabrication is a production method that creates inventory off site, which
296 allows for continuous on-site workflow, and waste minimization (Tam and Hao, 2014).
297 The prefabrication rate of this project exceeded 50%, which is made up of
298 prefabricated steelwork for the main structure, deck paneling, and preassembled
299 scaffolding. Off-site production brings remarkable environmental, economic,
300 technical and managerial benefits to the project, as shown in Table 1. Furthermore, the
301 deck panels act as a permanent mould for the cast-in-situ concrete floor, which

8
302 follows the concept of modern timber-concrete composites (Richard et al., 2019). By
303 not requiring concrete to be placed in the bottom part of the floor slab where the
304 concrete is in tension and therefore ineffective, increased bending strength and
305 savings in the quantities of concrete used are achieved. It also increases durability by
306 limiting crack propagation and reducing water ingress that can freeze or/and carry
307 damaging salt ions (Sikora and Klemm, 2014). The utilization of these prefabricated
308 elements, require the application of JIT to save materials and guarantee a smooth
309 workflow.
310
311
312
313
314

of
315 Table 1. Main benefits of the prefabricated elements used in the case study project

ro
Item On-site application Main benefits

-p
re
Precast
steelwork
lP

Minimizing on-site noise and dust;

na

Reducing on-site inventory, defects and

waiting times;
ur

Lowering the cost of on-site labor, material

Deck
and equipment;
panel
Jo

Decreasing energy consumption;

Maintaining standardization of the design;
Reducing on-site health and safety hazards;
Avoiding overproduction.

Assembled
scaffolding

316
317 4.4 Digital Technologies and Internet of Things
318 Digital technologies and the IoT are effective tools that aided the project and
319 supported the LCM group with decisions over critical work processes and elimination
320 of possible risks. The applications used in this project included BIM, Aconex and
321 Aconex Field, I-site and QR code, where they integrated with LCM to promote

9
322 productivity from design to maintenance phases.
323 Figure 5 illustrate the functions of each application in different project phases.
324 BIM was used to present a clear visual presentation of the design scheme to the LCM
325 group before commencement of construction work to help them understand the details
326 of the structural design and appearance of the project, to show them how client design
327 changes were incorporated, and to demonstrate how clash detection was easier with
328 the help of 3D visualization. During the construction stage, construction simulation
329 (4D feature) coordinated with the schedule was used to present the dynamic
330 characteristics of the construction progress, and arrange the material, labor and
331 equipment resources accordingly. Contrary to traditional manual calculation of the
332 schedule and resources distribution, BIM relies on the input of accurate information
333 and scenario simulation. Consequently, manual calculation mistakes with
334 consequential risks, waste, and uneven distribution of resources decline sharply with

of
335 the use of BIM.

ro
-p
re
lP
na

336
ur

337 Figure 5. Applications of digital technologies and IoTs in the case study project
338
Jo

339 Aconex is an information collaboration platform providing project information

340 and process management services, while Aconex Field, a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
341 inspection tool, is responsible for site inspections. Both rely on a cloud-based
342 platform accessed by mobile and web terminals. In this case study project, Aconex
343 was the primary tool for the LCM group members to inspect the project status and
344 track the workflow. It was especially significant for the storage of important files and
345 for document approval, as members were able to visit it anytime and anywhere,
346 thereby reducing paper documentation on site to a minimum. The site inspection and
347 issues track functions of Aconex Field provided a significant boost to the quality and
348 efficiency of inspections and acceptance of construction tasks by using a holistic
349 approach. Once a site supervisor detects an undesirable on-site issue, they record it on
350 the platform to inform the contractors and track the solutions. Contractors can follow
351 the recorded details, such as the issue type, the location, the issue description and due
352 date, and respond to the supervisors through the mobile service anytime when they
353 rectify the problems on site, instead of submitting a paper report.
354 The client for this project established an I-site content management platform,

10
355 which was connected to intelligent safety helmets worn by site personnel. The
356 platform receives a signal emitted from the helmet and transfers the signal into digital
357 information that is presented as a flow heat map. The system also classifies the
358 construction personnel in terms of different work areas, job duties and disciplines,
359 providing a convenient manpower management tool. An automatic count of
360 attendance and work hours, as well as risk pre-warming can also be integrated into
361 intelligent safety helmets.
362 QR codes make full use of IoT by reducing direct human-to-human or
363 human-to-computer interactions. The case study project employed QR codes to record
364 production and inspection procedures for all prefabricated components. There are
365 several advantages of QR codes, such as low probability of code error, large
366 information capacity, and strong fault tolerance, which allows project information to
367 be stored and accessed in a convenient and accurate manner. Furthermore, QR codes

of
368 enrich the quality control of projects in terms of supply chain management and

ro
369 inspection tracking.
370 4.5 Quality and safety management
371
372
-p
Clients have their own standard for quality and safety of their construction
project, where the integration of digital technologies and IoTs are adopted as shown
re
373 by Figure 6. Both the management company and the site supervision company took a
374 major role in quality and safety monitoring in the case study project. They did so
lP

375 through inspecting on-site construction work, organizing weekly quality and safety
376 meetings, holding meetings for specific issues, and using Aconex Field software to
na

377 track issues. For quality and safety monitoring, the management company focused
378 more on establishing a framework of related issues, while the site supervision
ur

379 company was in charge of executing the quality and safety plans.
380
Jo

381

11
382 Figure 6. Quality and safety management in the case study project
383
384 Before the construction work started, the project personnel were required to
385 complete a site environment, health and safety (EHS) orientation. Apart from the
386 initial training, weekly safety education and tool-box meetings were held to
387 strengthen the safety consciousness of construction personnel.
388 On-site inspections included daily, weekly, and specific inspections, as well as a
389 safety audit. The purpose of the weekly quality and safety meetings was to review the
390 construction status of the previous week and identify the quality and safety plans for
391 the upcoming week, whereas specific meetings were to address specific quality and
392 safety matters as necessary. In addition, risk management was applied to identify,
393 evaluate, and control risks based on the likelihood and potential consequences of any
394 given hazard.

of
395 For more quality and safety management measures, digital technologies and IoTs

ro
396 played important roles. BIM was employed to conduct clash detection and
397 construction process simulation, demonstrating interference or design flaws prior to
398
399
-p
construction activities, while Aconex Field was used to report issues in real time,
which avoided checking omissions and shortened the response time. In addition, the
re
400 LCM group implemented an intelligent helmet integrated with I-site for real-time
401 communication and personnel positioning. The intelligent helmet was equipped with a
lP

402 motion sensor that sent out a signal to support the real-time positioning function
403 visualized on I-site. Its two-way communication promoted the exchange of
na

404 information and instructions, so as to achieve remote commend and reduce the
405 unnecessary movement of personnel. It is an effective way to reduce the likelihood of
ur

406 severe injury occurring, especially for projects with a large construction area,
407 complicated structure, and/or a large number of on-site personnel. Regarding supply
Jo

408 chain management and quality control by QR codes, suppliers were required to record
409 the manufacturing process and properties of the prefabricated elements, then input
410 into a QR code label attached to the element. All the prefabricated parts got a unique
411 birth certificate QR code when they were delivered to the construction site, showing
412 how they were produced and thereby improving the transparency of the supplier’s
413 production system. The QR code requirement also applied to concealed works that
414 contained vital parts or parts prone to damage. Every work stage was documented to
415 assist QR code users to follow the construction progress and ascertain responsibility
416 in case of quality issues.
417
418 4.6 Continuous improvement and Scrum
419 The core principle of the continuous improvement is the self-reflection of the
420 existing processes along with PDCA model (Heigermoser et al., 2019). To add value
421 to project activities and make profitable progress during the construction period, the
422 case study project integrated continuous improvement based on lean thinking, the
423 Scrum iteration software program, and Agile project management methodology.

12
424 Generally, several elements were reviewed during the stand-up meetings, including
425 the work done today, the work needed to be finished tomorrow, and obstacles that
426 needed to be addressed. Through a continuous round of daily reviews, better informed
427 decisions were iterated on the basis of the current construction progress in line with
428 the Scrum iteration process. A similar approach was taken at the weekly meetings of
429 the LCM group where tasks were prioritized from immediate action to inclusion in the
430 upcoming weekly plan. Construction personnel were then notified accordingly of the
431 tasks they had been assigned to.
432 The Kanban used in this project was continuously upgraded from the lessons
433 learned from previous projects and current experience. Initially, the level of detailing
434 of the LCM cards on which the information was recoded was simplified based on
435 feedback from previous users. However, some users were still unhappy with the
436 card’s complex format and complained that hidden regions of the card were prone to

of
437 neglect. As a consequence, post-it notes on the moveable Kanban replaced the cards

ro
438 to show the construction issues, as shown in Figure 7.
439
-p
re
lP
na
ur
Jo

440
441 Figure 7. Improvement of Kanban system
442
443 5. Results and discussion
444 5.1 Local perspective on lean practice from interviews
445 5.1.1 Factors influencing lean practice implementation
446 According to Li et al. (2020), although LC is in a stage of rapid development in China,
447 it is extremely unbalanced in terms of geographical location, enterprise size and
448 project type. Consequently, exploring the benefits and challenges of implementing
449 lean practice becomes one of the incentives for promoting LC in China.

13
450 While there are eight types of on-site waste in LC philosophy (Gao and Low,
451 2014), seven types of waste reductions were observed as a result of implementing lean
452 practices in the case study project. The effectiveness of LCM to inventory associated
453 with waiting time are fully addressed by the case study project. The limited
454 construction space influenced the quantity of inventory and its storing period,
455 therefore a complete and detailed schedule, and smooth workflow were vital for
456 preparing the resources on time and accordingly shortening the waiting time. One of
457 the goals of LCM is to arrange and maintain the workflow properly through
458 well-established schedules, so the waste reductions from inventory and waiting time
459 are obvious. More than 90% of the defects were effectively solved or observed in
460 advance, owing to the employment of LCM and elaborate preliminary work, which
461 ultimately reduced waste and saved resources. The smooth workflow also had positive
462 impacts on underutilizing people and transport as the top down activities were tightly

of
463 linked. There was no evidence of overproduction because the construction activities

ro
464 followed the design and construction plan strictly, and prefabricated elements were
465 extensively used. However, the interviewees noted that prefabrication requires a
466
467
-p
higher degree of completeness and precision in design. In terms of energy efficiency,
the client considered that energy waste was mainly connected to over-design, which
re
468 can be diminished through greater BIM collaboration.
469 However, interviewees felt that there were several obstacles that LPS could not
lP

470 fully address on the construction site, which can be attributed to inharmonic
471 relationships among different stakeholders (Miller et al., 2002). From the perspective
na

472 of construction-related personnel, since managers from the contractor’s side are less
473 academically qualified, their awareness of the significance of work division and the
ur

474 ability to scientifically break down the work tasks are deficient. Even if the managers
475 may fully understand the construction management methods, it is ultimately the
Jo

476 construction personnel who execute the work and their activities may deviate from the
477 essence of the LPS. This confirmed the study of Li et al. (2017). From the perspective
478 of project stakeholders, there is a contradiction between the client and contractors that
479 hinders work division. Since contractors are profit driven, it is advantageous for them
480 if less labor is allocated to a task with a longer construction period permitted. On the
481 other hand, the client would prefer to use more labor and resources to minimize the
482 duration of the task. These two different requirements are difficult to reconcile and so
483 the division of work has to be balanced to mitigate the differences to ensure further
484 cooperation. The client gets involved in setting the work schedule and participates in
485 on-site monitoring, while the managers from the contractor assign the tasks to the
486 construction personnel and guarantee the construction schedule. In view of the
487 aforementioned difficulties, it would seem that the successful implementation of LCM
488 in China remains a challenge.
489
490 5.1.2 Suggestions to promote implementation of lean practice
491 Different from the manufacturing industry, the construction industry is more

14
492 complex and sensitive to unpredictable issues and external factors (Paez et al., 2005),
493 such as the weather, government policies, and supply chain problems as encountered
494 in the case study project. According to the construction manager, construction plans
495 never keep up with on-site changes so that it is ineluctable to have to adjust the
496 schedule throughout the construction period even if a comprehensive plan is set. In
497 short, managers need to provide enough buffer in construction assignments and set a
498 more flexible schedule to allow for occasional setbacks.
499 In terms of daily stand-up meetings, its efficiency improved as the construction
500 process advanced. Lessons learned from previous project experiences, summarized in
501 Table 2, show it is better to limit the duration of meetings so that participants can
502 concentrate on the most urgent issues and avoid unnecessary discussions. The Kanban
503 system used in the case study project was essentially an improved version that
504 includes Scrum iteration, where the tasks in terms of deadlines and responsibilities are

of
505 more visible to managers. Accordingly, the fineness of LPS decreases since the target

ro
506 receivers are LCM group members rather than on-site construction personnel.
507 Nevertheless, the client recognized that the theory-based actions of the LPS should be
508
509
-p
combined with practice and that corresponding adjustments sometimes need to be
made. The idea is similar to the view of Meng (2019), who emphasized the
re
510 coexistence of learning from other industries and pursuing an individual path when
511 promoting LCM.
lP

512
513 Table 1. Lessons learned from previous project experiences for continuous
na

514 improvement
Stakeholders Lessons learned & Continuous improvement
ur

Contractors LCM process generally helps to maintain the workflow;

Mapping out 4-week look-ahead takes lots of effort;
Jo

LCM only works if everybody follows commitment;

LCM Kanban board is inconvenient to see the details.
Site managers Lots of unforeseen construction stops means that the LCM
Kanban board has to be continuously updated;
Reward and punishment system should be implemented to
ensure contractors fulfill their targets.
Client LCM Kanban card should be simplified;
For complex areas an additional more detailed schedule will be
used on a separate board;
LCM manager as a single role is necessary for each contractor
and for the site managers;
Daily LCM meeting is in the afternoon, verification of works
can be done properly in advance so meeting duration can be
reduced.
515
516 The interviewees also stated that the future of construction will be more

15
517 integrated with IoT technology. BIM virtually verifies the quality and buildability of a
518 construction design, so that the work will not be interrupted by design failures and can
519 be fully realized on the construction site. The next level of BIM application is design
520 and build so that construction can be made in advance with higher precision among
521 different disciplines. The online virtual model coheres all the stakeholders, such as
522 clients, designers and builders, remotely to provide for more efficient collaboration.
523 This opinion is exactly aligned with scholars who suggest that LC should be
524 supported by visualization tool for improving process transparency (Sacks et al.,
525 2009), and LCM level (Heigermoser et al., 2019). The utilization of Aconex and
526 Aconex Field provides for the distribution of paperless documents and
527 mobile-accessible workflow. They also offer netlike and on-time communications
528 among stakeholders. However, the contract manager mentioned that the efficiency of
529 applying QR codes to structural elements was not as good as anticipated, since all the

of
530 information had to be uploaded and classified to the system manually.

ro
531 The interviewees provided comprehensive feedback from their experiences of
532 implementing LC techniques and LCM in the case study project, highlighting both the
533
534 benefits and challenges.
-p
potential benefits and possible challenges. Table 3 provides a summary of these
re
535
536 Table 3. Benefits and challenges learned from implementing LC and LCM in the case
lP

537 study project

Benefits
na

More forecasts and optimizations before construction begins

Plan
means that less risk and better control of costs.
ur

Well-established schedules generate higher productivity and

Schedule
improve the quality of the project.
Jo

Various LC techniques, LCM and other technologies combine

Waste
to reduce on-site waste and lower costs.
Implementations of LC techniques and LCM promote
Communication stakeholder collaboration and communication resulting in
smoother workflow and less rework.
Completion of defects detected on-site reached 90%, which is
Defect
much higher than traditional construction projects.
Quality and safety management in LCM resulted in zero
Health and safety
accidents occurring on site.
Continuous Lessons learned and Scrum help to continuously improve
improvement project quality and productivity.
The use of LC techniques and LCM promotes their acceptance
Involved
by traditional construction companies and helps to extend the
stakeholders
further applications in China.
Challenges
User requirement Difficulty of convincing the user to align their requirements

16
 with lean thinking.
Stakeholders’ Stakeholders lack time and willingness to learn lean thinking,
willingness LC techniques and LCM.
Educational level Difficult to change conventional customs and knowledge of
and customs traditional construction methods to LC techniques and LCM.
Dealing with the workload and worktime of construction
Manpower
personnel is a challenge since respect for humanity is the
management
principle of lean.
Implementing LC techniques and LCM may cut down the
Profit distribution
profits of contractors when they first use them.
Insufficient design and construction time given but high
Project quality
demand due to the rapid expansion of the AEC industry.
Adjustment of government policies may delay the schedule

of
Policy and increase the cost of the project, which may even result in

ro
abandoning the project.
Controlling the construction investment as the price of
Material market -p
construction material is always fluctuant.
538 5.2 Global perspectives on lean practice from survey
re
539 5.2.1 General information about respondents
lP

540 A total of 22 LC practitioners and scholars provided valid responses to the

541 questionnaire survey. Several respondents had multiple roles in the AEC industry.
na

542 Consultants accounted for 31.8%, followed by researchers (27.3%), contractors

543 (27.3%), architects (13.6%), civil engineers (9.1%), and construction managers
ur

544 (9.1%). Figure 8 displays the proportions of respondents regarding business type,
Jo

545 working experience, and number of LC projects they had previously worked on. A
546 majority of respondents (59.1%) worked for a private company, and more than half
547 (54.5%) had worked for more than 10 years in the AEC industry. Although all
548 respondents were either LC practitioners or scholars, only 45.5% of them had
549 participated in more than 10 LC projects and could therefore be considered experts in
550 this field. According to data from the returned questionnaires, commercial
551 construction was the predominant (72.7%) business type using LC that respondents
552 had worked on; 10 respondents had worked on LC residential projects; 7 respondents
553 had been involved in industrial LC projects; and 5 respondents had worked on
554 infrastructure projects.
555

17
 (a) Business type (b) Working experience (c) Number of LC projects
Figure 8. Business type, working experience, and number of LC projects worked on
556
557 5.2.2 Waste reduction through lean practice

of
558 Table 4 shows the main LC techniques that respondents had prior experience of.
559 LPS and JIT had been used by the greatest number of respondents, while quality and

ro
560 safety management, and constraint analysis had been used by about half of the
561
562
-p
respondents in their previous projects. The survey result strengthens the contention by
some researchers that LPS and JIT are the most widely used lean practices in
re
563 construction (Babalola et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020). Seeking the reason why such lean
lP

564 practices have high implementation ratio, it can be explained that compatibility and
565 profitability are the topmost criteria when considering whether or not to implement
na

566 lean practice (Aslam et al., 2020). Apart from those listed, other lean techniques
567 experienced by respondents were shadow boards, PPC boards, value stream mapping
ur

568 (VSM), A3 thinking, big room methodology, lean integrated project delivery,
569 retrospectives, team health assessments, and cost benefit analysis. As would be
Jo

570 expected, respondents who had worked in the AEC industry for more than 20 years
571 had the most experience of implementing LC techniques and management methods in
572 projects.
573
574 Table 4. LC techniques with which respondents had prior experience
Ranking LC techniques No. of respondents Percentage
1 LPS 17 77.3%
1 JIT 17 77.3%
3 Quality and safety management 13 59.1%
4 Constraint analysis 11 50%
5 Concurrent engineering 8 36.4%
6 Kanban system 7 31.8%
7 LPDS 4 18.2%

18
 8 Target value delivery 3 13.6%
9 5S method 2 9.1%
575
576 On the question of waste reduction, Table 5 clearly shows that the majority of
577 respondents experienced practical benefits from the implementation of LC techniques
578 and LCM, with reduction of waiting times, defects, and underutilization of personnel
579 being the three most obvious. The results are generally in agreement with the findings
580 of Sarhan et al. (2017), although they also claimed that divergence on types of waste
581 reduction might occur due to the lean practices used, the project type, and the
582 enterprise size. As a result, the opinions from respondents on waste reductions are

of
583 well connected to their experiences of lean practice implementation. In general, LPS
584 encourages the pull-driven method to match all the resources and requirements on-site

ro
585 including labor, materials and equipment arrangement (Song and Liang, 2011), and
586
587
-p
JIT is best for shortening the waiting time for material delivery and corresponding
transport issues (Solaimani and Sedighi, 2020). Also, the increasing trending of digital
re
588 technologies and prefabrication applications have been identified in LC projects
lP

589 recently (Li et al., 2019), which significantly improves standardization and brings
590 benefits to the project by reducing defects, inventory, and overproduction. Since most
na

591 of respondents had experiences of LPS and JIT, the reduction of waiting times,
592 defects and underutilizing people may be due to those lean practice techniques.
ur

593
594 Table 5. Respondents’ opinions on the three most significant types of waste reduced
Jo

595 through lean practice implementation

Ranking Waste reduction No. of respondents Percentage
1 Waiting time 16 72.7%
2 Defects 14 63.6%
3 Underutilizing people 13 59.1%
4 Inventory 8 36.4%
5 Overproduction 6 27.3%
6 Motion 4 18.2%
7 Transport 3 13.6%
8 Energy 1 4.5%
596
597 5.2.3 Benefits and challenges of lean practice implementation
598 The values from Cronbach's alpha indicate that the result obtained in Table 6 are

19
599 reliable. Of the nine benefits of using lean practice, “improvement of project
600 productivity and quality” obtained the highest level of importance score from the
601 respondents. “Improvement of construction workflow”, “elimination of waste”, and
602 “improvement of health and safety at work” were also regarded as fairly important
603 benefits. Although “reduction of material, water and energy consumption” received
604 the lowest score, the respondents nevertheless rated it as an important benefit. This
605 result is in line with the study of Bajjou and Chafi (2018), where construction time
606 and cost were considered to be less important than quality and safety, whilst they were
607 still the key benefits of employing lean practice on construction projects.
608
609 Table 6. Level of importance scores for benefits of using LC techniques and LCM

of
610 (1=Not at all important; 2=Slightly important; 3=Important; 4=Fairly important;

ro
611 5=Very important)
Level of importance
Ranking Benefit identified
-p score
Mean
score
SD
re
1 2 3 4 5
Improvement of project
lP

1 0 0 3 7 12 4.409 0.734
productivity and quality
Improvement of construction
na

2 0 1 4 5 12 4.273 0.935
workflow
Improvement of health and
ur

3 0 1 6 4 11 4.136 0.990
safety at work
Jo

4 Elimination of waste 1 1 3 8 9 4.045 1.090

Reduction of construction time
5 1 0 8 4 9 3.909 1.109
and cost
Improvement of interpersonal
6 0 2 7 7 6 3..773 0.973
relations and communications
7 Reduction of variability 0 5 3 7 7 3.727 1.162
8 Improvement of standardization 1 4 8 4 5 3.364 1.177
Reduction of material, water and
9 0 6 10 3 3 3.136 0.990
energy consumption
Cronbach's alpha = 0.809: Good
612
613 Table 7 shows respondent scores for the five possible challenges of using LC
614 techniques and LCM. It can be seen that the respondents considered the biggest
615 challenge to be “lack of trust and abilities in the implementation of LC techniques”

20
616 with a score bordering on the fairly difficult level of 4. The other four challenges are
617 closer to the difficult level score of 3. Respondents raised additional possible
618 challenges, which primarily concerned subjective factors, such as resistance to change,
619 lack of respect, and fear of negative consequences and blame. However, it should be
620 noted that the result is less reliable than benefits obtained based on Cronbach’s alpha
621 value.
622
623 Table 7. Scores of challenges when using LC techniques and LCM according to its level
624 of difficulty (1=Not at all difficult; 2=Slightly difficult; 3=Difficult; 4=Fairly difficult;
625 5=Very difficult)
Level of difficulty

of
Mean
Ranking Challenge identified score SD
score

ro
1 2 3 4 5
Lack of trust and abilities in the
1
implementation of lean
-p 1 2 5 6 8 3.818 1.181
re
Unwillingness of participant to
2 2 3 8 4 5 3.318 1.249
face the drawbacks
lP

3 Ineffective communication 0 7 5 9 1 3.182 0.958

Level of education of labor
na

4 2 4 7 7 2 3.136 1.125
resources for lean
Insufficient knowledge about
ur

5 1 7 5 6 3 3.136 1.167
lean
Jo

Cronbach's alpha = 0.582: Poor

626
627 Since the defined levels of importance and difficulty are classified using a
628 similar scoring method, it is possible to compare the benefits and challenges of using
629 lean practice in a project by comparing scores. Accordingly, a comparison of scores
630 reveals that the benefits of implementing lean practice in a project outweigh the
631 challenges. This is strong evidence to support the contention that the use of LC
632 techniques and LCM should be promoted for all projects.
633 Overall, there is too much focus on data showing how LC improves safety,
634 quality and efficiency, and not enough on the barriers to implementation of LC to the
635 AEC industry. The respondent in question felt that it is better to deal with the
636 challenges before implementing a greater degree of lean practice in AEC projects. As
637 a result, suggestions can be made from the perspectives of the individual, team,
638 government, and the AEC industry. One suggestion from an individual perspective

21
639 was that individual LC performance should be incentivized in order to encourage LC
640 thinking at the individual level of the project. Accordingly, training and continuous
641 education either from internal or external LC experts should be provided for both
642 individual and project teams to build and maintain enthusiasm for lean practice.
643 Furthermore, developing an understanding of LC and bringing lean concepts to the
644 team should be proportional to their maturity level in terms of LC experience. It was
645 also suggested that government and regulatory authorities should play a greater role
646 regarding the implementation and awareness of LC and LCM by providing both
647 financial and political support. Finally, a national LC initiative involving all
648 stakeholders in the AEC industry should be implemented. If LC is expected by all
649 stakeholders and people are held accountable from the top down, the full benefits of

of
650 LC techniques and LCM can be realized.

ro
651
652 5.3 Comparative analysis
653
-p
Since the interview and survey questions were similar, it is reasonable to conduct
a comparative analysis. Through a comparison of results, closer insights of LC
re
654
655 techniques and LCM are provided. In order of their levels of significance, Table 8 lists
lP

656 the comparative results from the case study interviews and questionnaire survey with
657 regards to LC techniques and LCM methods used, types of wastes reduction, benefits
658 obtained, and challenges encountered.
na

659
660 Table 8. Comparative analysis of results from case study interviews and survey
ur

661 questionnaire
Case study interviews Questionnaire survey
Jo

LC techniques LPS; LPS;

and LCM Kanban system; JIT;
methods JIT; Quality and safety
Concurrent engineering; management;
Constraint analysis; Constraint analysis;
Quality and safety Concurrent engineering;
management. LPDS;
Target value delivery;
Kanban system;
5S method.

Three most Inventory; Waiting time;

reductions of Waiting time; Defects;
waste Defects Underutilizing people.

Three most Improvement of construction Improvement of project

22
 important benefits workflow;
obtained Improvement of project
productivity and quality;
Improved collaboration and
communication among
stakeholders.
productivity and quality;
Improvement of construction
workflow;
Elimination of waste.

Three most Educational level and customs Lack of trust and abilities in the
difficult of stakeholders; implementation of LC
challenges Lack of trust and abilities in the techniques;
encountered implementation of LC Unwillingness of participants
techniques and LCM; to face the drawbacks of
Fully address user requirement. traditional construction;

of
Inefficient communication

ro
among stakeholders.
662
663
664
-p
LPS and JIT were widely recognized by interviewees and by the largest number
of survey respondents, which means that these two techniques may be the most
re
665 appropriate to use when construction firms first start to implement LC practices.
666 Although concurrent engineering, constraint analysis, and quality and safety
lP

667 management are all part of traditional construction management, their use as a part of
668 a lean thinking approach will give these strategies a new meaning and stimulate
na

669 improvements in project quality and productivity. Although the Kanban system was a
670 core method that supported construction progress in the case study project, according
ur

671 to global LC experts it is rarely used. However, since the case study project achieved
672 the expected results on the workflow, resource distribution, and communication
Jo

673 between stakeholders, there is a strong case for recommending that the Kanban
674 system be further developed for use in China’s ACE industry. Since survey
675 respondents identified a number of additional LC techniques, there is a good
676 possibility of increasing the level of LC implementation once ACE stakeholders
677 become more familiar with applying lean principles to their projects.
678 Interviewees and survey respondents held a similar view that waiting time and
679 defects are reduced through the implantation of LC techniques and LCM.
680 Interviewees observed that inventory waste was the most significant type of waste
681 reduced, but this was mainly due to the measures taken to deal with the project’s
682 limited working space; the strictly controlled material quantity and entering sequence
683 helped avoid unnecessary material storage. As for underutilizing people, survey
684 respondents felt that the application of LC helped to coordinate labor resources
685 between different disciplines and thereby reduced labor costs. Other potential benefits
686 and possible challenges observed by interviewees and survey respondents were
687 aligned.
688

23
689 6. Conclusions, limitations and recommendations
690 6.1 Conclusions
691 To better understand how LC techniques and LCM can be implemented in ACE
692 projects in China, a case study of a project in Suzhou, China was conducted. The LC
693 techniques and LCM employed were divided into five categories: ‘LPS and Kanban
694 system’, ‘JIT and prefabrication’, ‘digital technologies and IoT’, ‘quality and safety’,
695 and ‘continuous improvement and Scrum’. Interviews were conducted with
696 stakeholders of the case study project to elicit their views on the benefits and
697 challenges of implementing LCM in the project. A questionnaire survey in line with
698 the interview questions was conducted among global LC practitioners and scholars to
699 collect their opinions of LC techniques and LCM. Through a comparative analysis of
700 the case study interviews and results from the questionnaire survey, valuable
701 conclusions can be drawn from both the Chinese and global perspectives.

of
702 Implementation of lean practice in the case study project brought significant

ro
703 benefits to the project in terms of schedule, workflow, quality and safety issues. The
704 adoption of prefabricated elements led to more precise engineering, reduced on-site
705
706
-p
waste generation, better mechanical and durability performance, avoidance of hazards,
and accelerated construction progress. The 3D visualization, the construction process
re
707 simulation, the clash detection, the in-time inspection, all assisted by digital
708 technology and IoT allowed the LCM group to be in better control of the project.
lP

709 With respect to the comparative analysis, both the case study project
710 stakeholders, and the global LC practitioners and scholars shared the view that the
na

711 most distinguishable benefits of implementing lean practice in a project are the
712 reduction of waiting time and of defects. The benefits accruing to construction
ur

713 workflow and schedule, project quality and productivity, on-site health and safety, and
714 communication and collaboration among stakeholders are also obvious and promising
Jo

715 for maximizing the value of future LC projects in China’s AEC industry.
716
717 6.2 Limitations and recommendations
718 Firstly, there is the question of whether the LC case study project is
719 representative of the normal conditions in China’s AEC industry. The client and the
720 construction manager were familiar with lean principles and strongly believed in
721 implementing them in construction projects. In addition, other stakeholders had been
722 trained before the project. By contrast, the majority of local construction firms in
723 China are still steeped in traditional construction methods. Therefore, in order to
724 obtain findings that are more representative of the local situation in China’s ACE
725 industry, it is recommended that a purely domestic LC project should be investigated
726 with particular regard to the project type, the contract form, the construction method,
727 and the management system.
728 Secondly, according to some case study interviewees, lean practice applied to
729 industrial construction projects are slightly different to other types of projects,
730 particularly with respect to the lean assembly process and lower tolerance of quality

24
731 flaws. Also, prefabrication as used in the case study project is not as efficient for
732 industrial construction projects as it is for residential projects, where modular
733 construction makes it easier to achieve project value and reduce on-site waste.
734 Consequently, since findings from the case study interviews are based on an industrial
735 type project, they can only be partially applied to residential and other types of
736 project.
737 Thirdly, even though the questionnaire survey sought the views of LC
738 practitioners and scholars in the global AEC community, since the interviews focused
739 exclusively on a LC industrial project in China’s AEC industry, there is a limitation
740 with regard to universally applying the study’s findings. This limit is exacerbated by
741 the fact that only three interviewees volunteered feedback from their individual
742 experiences, with other stakeholders such as designers, contractors, and construction
743 personnel neglecting to do so. There is no denying that the aforementioned

of
744 stakeholders are crucial when implementing LC practices, as they greatly influence

ro
745 the construction workflow and project quality. While it may be understandable that
746 they would pay more attention to the execution of their own particular discipline
747
748
-p
rather than managerial strategies and interdisciplinary knowledge, it is nevertheless
important that future research make a concerted effort to elicit their feedback on the
re
749 implementation of LC techniques and LCM.
750 Respondents to the questionnaire were mostly from countries or regions outside
lP

751 of China, therefore their experiences and attitudes are more reflective of the global
752 trend towards implementation of LC. From the comparative analysis, it is clear there
na

753 is a gap between the Chinese and global AEC industries with respect to the practice
754 and experience of LC. Nevertheless, the Kanban system in the case study project
ur

755 played a vital role in improving the workflow and visualization of the construction
756 process, whereas prefabrication, digital technologies and IoTs, and continuous
Jo

757 improvement significantly promoted project performance. Accordingly, it is

758 recommended that the fundamental lean practices of LPS and JIT be adopted by
759 construction projects in China, and that future research should focus on
760 comprehensive lean practice implementation and application of the Kanban system in
761 China’s AEC industry.
762
763 Acknowledgements
764 The authors wish to acknowledge the support from the Department of Civil
765 Engineering, RDF (2016-01-32), Key Special Fund Exploring Program, Xi’an
766 Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou Industrial Park (2018-E-29). The authors are
767 also grateful for LCM group and its staff to provide the opportunity to collect the data
768 for the research.
769

25
770 REFERENCES
771 Anisimova, T., and Thomson, S. B., 2012. Enhancing multi-method research
772 methodologies for more informed decision-making JOAAG, 7(1): 96-104.
773 Aslam, M., Gao, Z., and Smith, G., 2020. Exploring Factors for Implementing Lean
774 Construction for Rapid Initial Successes in Construction Journal of Cleaner
775 Production: 123295.
776 Babalola, O., Ibem, E. O., and Ezema, I. C., 2019. Implementation of lean practices in
777 the construction industry: A systematic review Building and Environment, 148:
778 34-43.
779 Bajjou, M. S., and Chafi, A., 2018. Lean construction implementation in the Moroccan
780 construction industry: Awareness, benefits and barriers Journal of Engineering,
781 Design and Technology, 16(4): 533-556.
782 Ballard, G., 1994. The last planner Northern California Construction Institute,

of
783 Monterey, California: 1-8.

ro
784 Ballard, G., and Howell, G., 1995. Toward construction JIT Lean construction, 291:
785 300.
786
787 Information, 31(2): 119-133.
-p
Ballard, G., and Howell, G., 2003. Lean project management Building Research &
re
788 Carvajal-Arango, D., Bahamón-Jaramillo, S., Aristizábal-Monsalve, P.,
789 Vásquez-Hernández, A., and Botero, L. F. B., 2019. Relationships between lean
lP

790 and sustainable construction: Positive impacts of lean practices over

791 sustainability during construction phase Journal of Cleaner Production,
na

792 Dave, B., Kubler, S., Främling, K., and Koskela, L., 2016. Opportunities for enhanced
793 lean construction management using Internet of Things standards Automation
ur

794 in construction, 61: 86-97.

795 Feng, S., and Liu, Y., 2008. Research on theoretical lean construction system [in
Jo

796 Chinese]. Project Management Technology, 3: 18-23.

797 Gable, G. G., 1994. Integrating case study and survey research methods: an example in
798 information systems European journal of information systems, 3(2): 112-126.
799 Gao, S., and Low, S. P., 2014. Lean construction management: The Toyota way,
800 Springer.
801 Hao, J. L., Yuan, H., Liu, J., Chin, C. S., and Lu, W., 2019. A model for assessing the
802 economic performance of construction waste reduction Journal of Cleaner
803 Production, 232: 427-440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.348.
804 Heigermoser, D., de Soto, B. G., Abbott, E. L. S., and Chua, D. K. H., 2019. BIM-based
805 Last Planner System tool for improving construction project management
806 Automation in Construction, 104: 246-254.
807 Heravi, G., Rostami, M., and Kebria, M. F., 2020. Energy consumption and carbon
808 emissions assessment of integrated production and erection of buildings’
809 pre-fabricated steel frames using lean techniques Journal of Cleaner
810 Production, 253: 120045.
811 Huang, Y., and Gao, S., 2011. Consideration on Lean Construction Applied in China

26
812 Construction Industry [in Chinese]. Construction Technology, 22(40): 93-95.
813 Issa, U. H., 2013. Implementation of lean construction techniques for minimizing the
814 risks effect on project construction time Alexandria Engineering Journal, 52(4):
815 697-704.
816 Jiang, S., and Su, Z., 2004. Lean Construction: A kind of advanced system of
817 construction [in Chinese]. Optimization of Capital Construction, 3
818 Koskela, L., 1993. Lean production in construction. Automation and robotics in
819 construction X: proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on
820 Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC), Houston, Texas, USA,
821 24-26 May, 1993. Elsevier Science Ltd, 47-54.
822 Li, L., Li, Z., Li, X., and Wu, G., 2019. A review of global lean construction during the
823 past two decades: analysis and visualization Engineering, Construction and
824 Architectural Management,

of
825 Li, S., Fang, Y., and Wu, X., 2020. A systematic review of lean construction in

ro
826 Mainland China Journal of Cleaner Production, 257: 120581.
827 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120581.
828
829
-p
Li, S., Wu, X., Zhou, Y., and Liu, X., 2017. A study on the evaluation of
implementation level of lean construction in two Chinese firms Renewable and
re
830 Sustainable Energy Reviews, 71: 846-851.
831 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.12.112.
lP

832 Liao, Y., 2018. Research on implementation strategy of lean construction management
833 in Chinese construction enterprises. 2nd International Conference on Culture,
na

834 Education and Economic Development of Modern Society (ICCESE 2018).

835 Atlantis Press.
ur

836 Low, S. P., and Min, W., 2005. Just in time management in the ready mixed concrete
837 industries of Chongqing, China and Singapore Construction Management and
Jo

838 Economics, 23(8): 815-829. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446190500040638.

839 Meng, X., 2019. Lean management in the context of construction supply chains
840 International Journal of Production Research, 57(11): 3784-3798.
841 Miller, C. J., Packham, G. A., and Thomas, B. C., 2002. Harmonization between main
842 contractors and subcontractors: a prerequisite for lean construction? Journal of
843 Construction Research, 3(01): 67-82.
844 Min, Y., and Su, Z., 2007. Research on lean construction management pattern [in
845 Chinese]. Construction Economy, 291(1): 52-55.
846 MOHURD, 2020. Information on green building implementation in China [Online].
847 Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of
848 China. Available:
849 http://www.mohurd.gov.cn/wjfb/202007/t20200724_246492.html.
850 NBS, 2019. Gross output value of construction 2019 [Online]. National Bureau of
851 Statistics of China. Available:
852 http://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=C01.
853 Paez, O., Salem, S., Solomon, J., and Genaidy, A., 2005. Moving from lean

27
854 manufacturing to lean construction: Toward a common sociotechnological
855 framework Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service
856 Industries, 15(2): 233-245.
857 Richard, P., Liu, Z., Descamps, T., and Sikora, K. S., 2019. Effect of concrete
858 modification on shear of connections for timber–concrete composites
859 Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Structures and Buildings: 1-14.
860 https://doi.org/10.1680/jstbu.19.00046.
861 Sacks, R., Treckmann, M., and Rozenfeld, O., 2009. Visualization of work flow to
862 support lean construction Journal of construction engineering and management,
863 135(12): 1307-1315.
864 Saieg, P., Sotelino, E. D., Nascimento, D., and Caiado, R. G. G., 2018. Interactions of
865 building information modeling, lean and sustainability on the architectural,
866 engineering and construction industry: a systematic review Journal of cleaner

of
867 production, 174: 788-806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.030.

ro
868 Salem, O., Solomon, J., Genaidy, A., and Minkarah, I., 2006. Lean construction: From
869 theory to implementation Journal of management in engineering, 22(4):
870
871
168-175. -p
Sarhan, J. G., Xia, B., Fawzia, S., and Karim, A., 2017. Lean construction
re
872 implementation in the Saudi Arabian construction industry Construction
873 Economics and Building, 17(1): 46-69.
lP

874 Sikora, K. S., and Klemm, A. J., 2014. The effect of superabsorbent polymers on
875 performance of fly ash cementitious mortars exposed to accelerated
na

876 freezing/thawing conditions International Journal of Computational Methods

877 and Experimental Measurements, 2(3): 255-268.
ur

878 https://doi.org/10.2495/CMEM-V2-N3-255-268.
879 Solaimani, S., and Sedighi, M., 2020. Toward a holistic view on lean sustainable
Jo

880 construction: A literature review Journal of Cleaner Production, 248: 119213.

881 Song, L., and Liang, D., 2011. Lean construction implementation and its implication on
882 sustainability: a contractor’s case study Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering,
883 38(3): 350-359.
884 Tam, V. W., and Hao, J. L., 2014. Prefabrication as a mean of minimizing construction
885 waste on site International Journal of Construction Management, 14(2):
886 113-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2014.899129.
887 Tezel, A., Taggart, M., Koskela, L., Tzortzopoulos, P., Hanahoe, J., and Kelly, M., 2020.
888 Lean construction and BIM in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in
889 construction: a systematic literature review Canadian Journal of Civil
890 Engineering, 47(2): 186-201.
891 Tommelein, I. D., 1998. Pull-driven scheduling for pipe-spool installation: Simulation
892 of lean construction technique Journal of construction engineering and
893 management, 124(4): 279-288.
894 Wang, S., 2019. Prospect overview on 2019 Chinese AEC industry development [in
895 Chinese]. Construction and Architecture, 873(01): 15-20.

28
896 Wang, Y., 2015. On theoretic research of lean construction and development [in
897 Chinese]. Shanxi Architecture, 41(22): 226-228.
898 Xing, W., Hao, J., Wu, D., Qian, L., and Sikora, K. S., 2019. Lean construction
899 application: A case study in Suzhou, China. Sustainable Buildings and
900 Structures: Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Proceedings of the 2nd
901 International Conference in Sutainable Buildings and Structures (ICSBS 2019),
902 October 25-27, 2019, Suzhou, China. CRC Press, 365.
903 Yang, J., 2017. The research on green construction management model based on lean
904 construction [in Chinese]. Journal of Changchun Institute of Technology, 18(1):
905 77-79.
906 Zhao, B., Niu, B., and Wang, Y., 2011. The interactive application of lean construction
907 and BIM technology in construction [in Chinese]. Journal of Engineering
908 Management, 5

of
909 Zhou, J., Tam, V. W., and Qin, Y., 2018. Gaps between awareness and activities on

ro
910 green construction in China: A perspective of on-site personnel Sustainability,
911 10(7): 2266. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072266.
912 -p
re
lP
na
ur
Jo

29
Highlights

Lean construction (LC) benefits to the schedule, workflow, quality and safety.
Lean construction management (LCM) application is limited in China.
Applications from China and global experts to LC are compared through a case.
The most distinguishable benefits of LC are to reduce time idles in the process.

of
ro
-p
re
lP
na
ur
Jo
 Declaration of Interest Statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work presented in this paper

of
ro
-p
re
lP
na
ur
Jo