Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

Learning to see work flow: an application of lean concepts to precast concrete fabrication
Glenn BallardNigel HarperTodd Zabelle
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Learning to see work
flow: an application of
lean concepts to precast
concrete fabrication
Glenn Ballard
Nigel Harper and
Todd Zabelle
The authors
Glenn Ballard is Research Director at Lean Construction
Institute, Oakland, California, USA.
Nigel Harper is Operations Director for Malling Products,
O'Rourke Ltd, Grays, UK.
Todd Zabelle is Principal at Strategic Project Solutions,
Downloaded by New York University At 02:34 07 February 2016 (PT)
San Francisco, California, USA.
Keywords
Cycle time, Flow, Lead time, Lean production, Production,
Systems design
Abstract
Reducing the lead time for engineered-to-order products
can allow more time for exploration and testing of design
alternatives, reduction of project durations, or some
combination of both. Combined with improved reliability
of work flow on site, more fabricated products can be
pulled to site when needed, thus avoiding unnecessary
inventories. Lead time reduction benefits both the design
and the construction phases of projects, and it benefits
the fabricator as well. Integration of engineering and
detailing may offer the greatest potential for lead time
reduction. However, fabrication lead times can also be
reduced. This paper describes the application of lean
production concepts and techniques to structural precast
concrete fabrication. The key change was learning to
identify and utilise work flow as opposed to focusing
management effort on keeping workers and plant busy.
Results included shop cycle time and lead time reduction,
increased throughput rate, and improved productivity.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-9988.htm
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . pp. 6-14
# MCB UP Limited . ISSN 0969-9988
DOI 10.1108/09699980310466505
6
Introduction
This paper reports the results of an
experiment in lean production carried out by
Strategic Project Solutions, a management
consulting firm, working with Malling Precast
Products Ltd, a subsidiary of the O'Rourke
Group, located in Grays, Essex, UK. The
Lean Construction Institute participated in
shaping and guiding the experiment. The
experiment was initiated as part of a larger
effort to develop a standard product and
process model of multi-story precast car parks
for BAA (formerly known as British Airport
Authority). The specific focus of the work
with Malling was to reduce the time required
to fabricate precast elements. Cycle time
reduction brought with it a substantial
improvement in factory productivity.
Most precast concrete elements (walls,
beams, columns, etc.) are engineered-to-
order products. Engineered-to-order
products include elevators, some electrical
and mechanical equipment, curtain wall,
HVAC duct, structural steel, and many more.
One opportunity for improvement in the
construction process is to standardise design,
so that products can be made to order rather
than engineered to order. However, in some
cases, customization is necessary in order to
meet customer needs. Consequently, the
International Group for Lean Construction
(IGLC, http://cic.vtt.fi/lean/) includes
``Reducing lead time for engineered-to-order
products'' in its research initiatives. The first
author of this paper is champion for that
IGLC initiative.
Reducing the lead time[1] for engineered-
to-order products can allow more time for
exploration and testing of design and
engineering alternatives, reduction of project
durations, or some combination of both. In
the following, we focus on the benefits to the
fabricator. We provide some background
explanation of interconnected concepts,
describe in overview what was done at
Malling, present the specific experiments that
were performed in restructuring production
cells, review the results from those
This case study would not have been possible
without the generous support and participation of
O'Rourke Ltd, Malling Precast Products, Strategic
Project Solutions, and BAA. The authors are also
grateful to Greg Howell, Lauri Koskela and
Mark Spearman for their valuable suggestions.
 Learning to see work flow
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle
experiments, and conclude with an invitation
to collaborate in further research.
Lead time, demand reliability, system
robustness, and customer value
Application of the last planner system of
production control[2] on projects has been
demonstrated to increase plan reliability
(Ballard, 2000), which is measured by percent
plan complete (PPC): the percentage of
weekly or daily releases of work from
``supplier'' to ``customer'' compared to what
was planned. How far in advance releases
(work flow) can be accurately predicted from
plans establishes a window of reliability within
which the supplier's production can function
effectively. With regard to engineered-to-order
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products such as precast concrete, it is
important that lead times, the advance notice
of need for delivery provided by a construction
site, fall within that window of reliability. For
example, suppose a construction site achieves
80 per cent PPC looking one week ahead, but
the precast supplier's lead time is two weeks.
PPC two weeks in advance might only be 60
per cent, assuring that perhaps 40 per cent of
requested precast elements will not be able to
be installed, thus building up unneeded
inventory at site. If lead times do not fall
within the window of reliability of the
``customer'' process, then pulling materials
from suppliers will inevitably build up
unneeded inventory. On the other hand, if
pull mechanisms can be used effectively, site
inventories can be reduced and the production
system's robustness vastly increased[3]. A
production system is said to be more robust if
it can function effectively under a wider range
of conditions and is less vulnerable to upset or
disruption (Taguchi et al., 2000). A shorter
lead time increases system robustness because
it allows less wasteful and more rapid recovery
from upsets. In other words, if something goes
wrong, it can be fixed quickly with minimal
disruption to factory operations and to other
orders.
Lead time reduction contributes to the
objective of delivering products while
maximizing value and minimizing waste
(Koskela, 2000) in a number of ways. Clients
receive value when projects deliver what they
need, when they need it (Womack and Jones,
1996; Ballard, 2001). Reducing lead time for
fabricated products can allow more time for
7
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14
exploration and development of design
options, since commitment to a single option
does not have to be made so early. Increased
production system robustness and the ability
to rapidly recover from upsets also provides
value to clients by increasing project control
and assuring on-time delivery, in addition to
the benefits to producers, which include fewer
defects and higher productivity. Work-in-
process inventories shrink, reducing carrying
costs, material handling, and the risk of
damage or obsolescence. More rapid
feedback cycles allow faster identification of
problems and more rapid learning and
improvement.
An overview of what was done
The Malling experiment involved numerous
initiatives, some of which extend beyond the
scope of this paper[4]. Below are some of the
most important actions taken or initiated.
(1) Critical success factors were established
focusing attention on means rather than
results[5]:
. 100 per cent reliability of information
and product delivery;
. lead time towards zero;
. six sigma quality standard;
. zero safety incidents; and
. continuous and sustainable
recommendations for improvement
by all team members.
(2) A 5S[6] initiative was implemented and
work-in-process (WIP) reduced to the
minimum to better understand the flow
of work through the production areas,
setting the stage for physical
reorganization into cells.
(3) The factory was reorganized from a
functional structure into cross functional
production cells, each of which was
responsible for a specific product or
family of products. For example, at one
point there was a columns cell, a shear
wall cell, a Ts cell, and a beam cell, plus
various cells dedicated to architectural
precast elements for specific projects.
(4) Material deliveries from suppliers were
reduced from large batches to weekly or
even daily deliveries. Supplies previously
issued from a central storeroom were
distributed to production cells and
controlled through a min/max process.
 Learning to see work flow Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14

(5) The overall work flow through the factory Figure 2 Malling make ready process
was structured around a decoupling
buffer[7] (Figure 1) in response to low
demand reliability from projects. Precast
elements (walls, beams, columns, etc.)
were made ready in accordance with
project programmes, but were released to
the factory floor for actual production
when triggered by a call off, a specific
request for delivery made seven calendar
days prior to need.
(6) After it was observed that drawing errors
were common and that as much as a
week's production was often required
before achieving production quality and
quantity targets on new designs, steps
were taken to ensure adequate review of
drawings for accuracy and buildability
prior to assignment for production. The
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ultimate solution will involve using 3D

modeling and simulation, which will
allow detection and correction of most
errors prior to production of physical
prototypes. The interim solution was to
issue drawings earlier to cell leaders so
they could review them before the
element is due to be produced. For new
products or new product designs, a first
run study is done, approximately a week
before the product is scheduled to begin
production, as shown in Figure 2. First
run studies involve the production of
physical prototypes in order to assure that
product and process design meet criteria
for safety, quality, timeliness, and cost
(Howell and Ballard, 1999).
Other innovations in Malling's practice
indicated in Figure 2 include:
. three month and six week forecasts;
. a kickoff meeting required for each
project or delivery contract;
. constraints analysis to be performed
on each precast element (the basic
idea is to establish stage gates in the
overall make ready process, with
specific criteria to be met for release
of work from one process phase to the
next; e.g. from engineering to
procurement or from prototyping to
release into factory backlog);
. weekly work plans for staff performing
make ready actions (make ready
actions include securing engineering
drawings, purchasing special fittings,
conducting first run studies, etc. (for
details, see Ballard (2001));
. the preparation of a standardized
product spreadsheet showing all the
data and characteristics of each
precast element; and
. measurement of both staff weekly
work plans and production cell daily
work plans, as well as action on
reasons for failing to complete
planned tasks.

Figure 1 Decoupling buffer

8
 Learning to see work flow Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14

(7) Workforce supervision was engaged in Plate 1 Shear walls production cell
leadership of factory restructuring.
(8) Direct workers were engaged in the
restructuring of cell production processes
(described in the next section).
(9) A quality of work life (QWL) council was
formed to periodically evaluate
orderliness, safety, and working
conditions and to recommend
improvements. The QWL council charter
was to conduct site evaluations bi-weekly,
make changes within the power of council
members to improve QWL, and advise
management regarding changes beyond
council member powers. Quality of work
life includes safety, orderliness of working
areas, and the conditions in which
workers work, take breaks, move on and placed rebar mats in moulds. Steelfixers
off the job, etc. It also includes cultural (reinforcing ironworkers) kept three mats
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issues such as managerial practices and
reward system issues; e.g. the extent to
which individuals are encouraged to make
suggestions and the extent to which those
suggestions are taken seriously. The site
evaluation process consists of examining
each production cell and other areas of
the site and evaluating each by
completing an evaluation form. Charts
are prepared and posted by management
so all plant workers can see the council's
QWL evaluation and how it improves or
deteriorates over time. The QWL council
consists of four to five people at a time,
rotating at least every two months, drawn
from production cell leaders and other
members of the workforce.
Structuring production cells
In February 2001, experiments were
performed in two production cells, shear walls
and nap Ts, to demonstrate the feasibility and
benefits of lean production concepts,
including one piece flow and pull. Plate 1
shows the shear wall cell and a mould being
prepared for filling with concrete.
A process flow chart for the shear walls
production cell, shown in Figure 3, reveals
the new flow oriented design of that
production system, which then served as a
model for other cells[8]. Redesign began by
structuring for that output rate demanded by
the client project, which needed to have nine
shear walls delivered each day for an
indefinite period. Three two-person teams
9
tied and ready for placement. When a mat
was taken, they tied another. This pull
mechanism prevented build up of work-in-
process inventory, keeping cycle times low
and increasing cell robustness and flexibility.
Once ready for concrete, moulds were filled
immediately, as opposed to the previous
practice of batching pours late in the day.
The new system produced three shear walls
in every three hour period because three
individual walls proceeded through each of
the process steps in each of those three hour
periods. Further, work flow was controlled
locally, by the workers in the cell, each of
whom learned to ``see'' how the entire system
was performing.
Although workers in the production cells
were not given a choice about whether or not
to change how work was done, they were
given a voice in deciding how to make the
changes that had been determined by
management. Prior to implementation of the
new production system design in the cell, a
meeting was held with all cell workers to
explain the plan, to go through a learning
exercise intended to communicate lean
concepts (Airplane Game ± details available
at: www.leanconstruction.org) (Plate 2), and
to solicit their agreement to the following
guidelines, observance of which would move
each cell towards self management:
. follow the sequence;
. inspect your own work;
. do not get more than one step ahead of
your ``customer'' ± do one at a time;
. help others maintain workflow;
 Learning to see work flow
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle
Figure 3 Process flow diagram ± shear walls production cell
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Plate 2 Workers playing the airplane game
. make suggestions to improve safety,
product quality, productivity, or quality
of work life ± based in part on worker
suggestions, various steps were taken to
remove obstacles to better performance in
the production cell;
. provide the cell with its own equipment
for cutting and bending rebar to make
them self sufficient;
. set up a carpenter in the cell with needed
equipment ± he had previously worked
out of a central carpenter shop;
10
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14
. move inventoried materials to the
workplace to reduce unnecessary
movement and material handling;
. acquire additional trailers needed to ship
the increased number of shear walls
produced each day;
. clear the work area; and
. get additional chains for the overhead
crane.
Results achieved
(1) Lead times were reduced for structural
precast elements to one week,
corresponding to a reduction in
manufacturing cycle time[8] to one to
11/3 days:
. one-sixth of a day to cut and bend
rebar, and to fabricate the wooden
end pieces to close the end of the
mould;
. one-sixth of a day to tie rebar mats;
. one-sixth of a day to place mats in
moulds, prepare for pouring, and
pour;
. a half day to cure (with heat, if
necessary);
 Learning to see work flow
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle
. a third of a day (varying somewhat
with transport distance) to strike,
load, and deliver.
(2) The shear wall production cell had
previously averaged 3.2 walls per day, with
12 workers. In the first week the new
structure was used in the cell, the number of
workers was increased to 14 and an average
of six walls per day was achieved. That
amounts to a productivity improvement of
59 per cent. By the third week, the number
of workers was back down to 12 and
average daily output was nine, an increase
in productivity from the pre-experiment
level (3.2/day) of 181 per cent.
(3) The Ts production cell was restructured
in a very similar way, resulting in an
improvement from a baseline of nine Ts
per day to 18 Ts per day, an increase in
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productivity of 100 per cent. No change
was made in the number of workers.
(4) One piece flow and pull concepts were
rapidly extended to other production
cells. In consequence, factory throughput
as measured by revenue, shown in
Figure 4, changed from an average weekly
rate of £130,000 sterling prior to
February 2001 to an average weekly rate
of approximately £260,000 sterling
afterwards, with an increase in workforce
from 115 to 122.
(5) Quantitative measurements of quality
were not available at that time, however,
construction sites reported an
improvement in quality, specifically from
Figure 4 Malling revenue ± April 1999 to August 2001
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Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14
the production cells where the initial
experiments were performed, i.e. NAP Ts
and shear walls.
(6) A number of actions and changes
signaled a shift in management
philosophy toward employee involvement
and empowerment; specifically:
. formation of the Quality of Work Life
Council and immediate action on its
first recommendations;
. involvement of factory personnel in
design and implementation of
process improvements; and
. making direct workers responsible for
controlling work flow within their
production cells.
(7) Production system robustness was
increased in direct consequence of
reducing cycle time. The ability to rapidly
recover from disruption was illustrated
during the Malling experiment when a
shear wall element had been mismarked
and sent to a project for erection. The
project discovered the error, alerted
Malling, which was able to fabricate and
deliver the correct element the next day, a
consequence of having radically reduced
the manufacturing cycle time[9] within
the factory. Since the factory production
schedule is fixed only one day in advance,
it was not necessary to ``break in line'' in
order to react so rapidly. In fact, nothing
unusual was required at all. The day's
release to the shear wall production cell
simply included the needed element in
 Learning to see work flow
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle
first position, ensuring that it would
emerge first from the manufacturing
process. No orders were interrupted or
delayed, no additional resources were
expended. The system recovered from the
upset and returned to normal.
(8) Continuous improvement was
successfully launched.
Additional improvement initiatives are
underway at Malling, including:
. Make demand more reliable by
application of work flow control to
O'Rourke projects.
. Train workforce to be multiskilled and
possibly uplift pay for each additional skill
acquired.
. Fully implement 3D CADD (the
software they intend to use is IDEAS
Downloaded by New York University At 02:34 07 February 2016 (PT)
from EDS).
. Radically reduce the lead time for
acquisition of materials and equipment.
e.g. fabrication of wooden and metal
moulds.
. Measure and improve product quality
and worker safety.
. A plan produced for a system consisting
of wheeled pallets running on rails and
carrying bases for moulds. Horizontal
moulds (beams and other relatively flat
items) are to be placed on the bases and
moved through a series of workstations,
including a pour station. The system will
include a covered, heated curing area.
Estimated daily production from this
system is 72 precast elements,
approximately equal to total previous
factory capacity.
Reflections on the Malling case
Substantial improvements in factory
performance at Malling resulted from
application of lean production concepts and
techniques. The work outlined in the paper
was performed with a capital investment of
£40,000 sterling to build some walls for
weatherproofing a cell. Note that
improvements were achieved without any
change in technology or in work methods,
which may well be other areas for
improvement, but the starting point is the
structure of the production system itself.
Most production systems can be
understood as multiple, connected systems.
12
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14
That is true for Malling and for fabrication
systems in general. The relevant production
systems in the Malling case include:
. the factory-plus-project production system;
. the factory production system; and
. the individual cell production systems.
Making work flow smoothly and reliably is the
first step in performance improvement at
every level in the production system complex.
For example, demand reliability on the
factory is a function of the lead time and
quality of requests for delivery received from
its customer, the construction sites.
The secret to making work flow reliable is
for the people doing the work to control work
flow, rather than relying on schedules or a
boss to tell them what to do next. Without
changing how rebar was cut or bent, how
mats were tied or placed, or how moulds were
filled with concrete, substantial improvements
were made in performance at Malling, and
the foundation was established for making
further improvements.
Prior to the restructuring, factory
management and supervision focused their
attention on resource utilization, following
standard practice in manufacturing and in
production management generally. When
walking through the shops, they looked to see
if the overhead cranes were loaded and
moving, and to check if any workers were
standing unoccupied. The assumption had
been that keeping workers and equipment
busy would result in optimum production
performance. Given that management
behavior, naturally the workers attempted to
look busy even when doing so either concealed
problems that needed to be addressed or
produced work-in-process inventory that
could not be processed by downstream
workers. After the restructuring, management
and workers had learned to ``see'' workflow, as
advocated in Rother and Shook (1998). For
example, they learned to see if three and only
three rebar mats were in place between the
steelfixers and the placers. They learned to see
if moulds ready for concrete were sitting idle.
In short, they learned to look at the work-in-
process to see if the production system was
operating in accordance with its own rules.
Resources assigned to the production system
``kept busy'' as long as work was flowing to
them. Cost was built into the production
system design, so it made no sense to try to
minimize cost by urging people to work faster.
 Learning to see work flow
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle
They came to understand that resource
utilization and production rates are functions
of production system design and control and
that, consequently, designing the system for
flow and empowering workers to control work
flow is decisive.
To what extent can this approach and
results be duplicated in other fabrication
processes? Fabrication shops often have
multiple flows, at least some of which can be
structured as line flows with fixed processing
sequences, and so can directly apply
techniques such as one piece flow and pull, as
illustrated in the Malling experiment. Even
though the individual structural precast
elements moving through the Malling factory
tended to be different one from another, they
all went through the same sequence of
processing steps. If elements can be mixed to
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yield a stable average processing duration over
a relatively short time period, then lean
production techniques can be applied to such
``semi-standard'' products. For example,
sheet metal shops can structure the
fabrication of straight run duct as a line flow
(Holzemer et al., 2000). Whether or not some
or all of duct fitting fabrication can be
structured as line flows is under investigation.
Included in the IGLC research initiative
previously mentioned are:
. Precast concrete.
. HVAC sheet metal duct.
. Plumbing.
. High purity piping.
. Industrial piping.
. Pipe supports.
. Structural steel.
. Curtain wall.
. Elevators.
. Switchgear.
Researchers are documenting current work
processes and exploring, through experiments
when possible, restructuring those processes
using lean concepts and techniques. Others
who would like to collaborate in this area of
research are invited to contact the first author.
Conclusions
The last planner system of production control
(Ballard, 2000) can be beneficially applied to
any work process that is driven in part or whole
by directives[10]. Included are processes that
have the character of projects and also those
13
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 10 . Number 1 . 2003 . 6-14
that are types of fixed position manufacturing;
where workers move through the partially
completed product rather than vice versa.
However, in this initiative, techniques such
as one piece flow and pull were also applied.
Substantial improvement in performance can
be achieved through the application of these
lean production concepts and techniques to
fabrication of standard and semi-standard
products such as structural precast walls,
beams, and columns. The key is to restructure
and control production with attention to work
flow rather than to resource utilization.
Even though some fabrication and assembly
processes cannot be structured as line flows,
they can still be improved through designing
and controlling those processes for value
generation and waste reduction[11]. Research
is now under way exploring various types of
engineered-to-order products to see what
concepts and techniques can help reduce lead
times and achieve other performance
improvements that increase customer and
stakeholder value, while minimizing waste.
Notes
1 Lead time and cycle time reduction are central to
the success of the Toyota production system (Ohno,
1988; Shingo, 1992). The term ``lean production''
was coined by a member of the research team
whose work is reported in Womack et al. (1990).
Goldratt and Cox (1986) also developed major
elements of his production management thinking
around lead time reduction and shortened cycle
times. For current thinking on the role of lead time
reduction in product development and
manufacturing, see Thomke and Reinertsen (1998)
and Lin and Hui (1997) respectively.
2 Last planner is a hierarchical planning and control
system designed for dynamic projects. Last planner
can be summarized in the following general principles:
. Limit master schedules to major milestones and
long lead items.
. Produce phase schedules with the team that will
do the work, using a backward pass, and making
float explicit.
. Drop activities from the phase schedule into a
(typically) six week lookahead, screen for
constraints, and advance only if constraints can
be removed in time.
. Try to make only quality assignments; i.e.
assignments that are well defined, sound,
sequenced, and sized to available capacity.
Require that nonconforming assignments be
rejected. (This is the construction equivalent of
stopping the manufacturing line.)
. Track percent plan complete and act on reasons
for plan failure.
3 For more on pull mechanisms and system
robustness, see Ch. 10 of Hopp and Spearman
(2000). For more on the general issue of
 Learning to see work flow
Glenn Ballard, Nigel Harper and Todd Zabelle
interdependence and uncertainty in construction,
see Crichton (1966).
4 For another ``lean'' approach to fabrication shop
improvement, see Skinner (1999).
5 For more on managing by means versus managing
by results, see the work of H. Thomas Johnson,
especially Johnson & BroÈms (2000).
6 5S is a set of practices employed in manufacturing
facilities to organize the physical workplace, often
in preparation for changes in process.
7 One of the primary functions of inventory is to
buffer against work flow variability. For a study of
inventory buffers in sheet metal fabrication, see
Tommelein and Weissenberger (1999).
8 The flow chart is modeled after Toyota's materials
and information flow diagrams. For details, see
Rother and Shook (1998), who use the term ``value
stream maps''.
9 Manufacturing cycle time is the time it takes for a
product to be transformed from raw material to
finished product. In this case, the starting point is
release of an element to the factory for production.
Lead time is that amount of time in advance of
Downloaded by New York University At 02:34 07 February 2016 (PT)
delivery that ``orders'' must be sent to the supplier.
Typically, suppliers set lead time greater than cycle
time in order to allow better matching of load to
capacity, i.e. production leveling. Captive
fabrication shops often have the problem that their
own projects provide inadequate lead time.
10 Fully mechanized processes, in which work flow is
determined by machine layout, are examples of
processes not driven immediately by directives.
11 The Lean Construction Institute uses the term
``lean'' to refer to production systems structured to
pursue the goals of delivering a product, while
maximizing stakeholder value and minimizing
waste, following Koskela (2000). Others restrict the
term ``lean'' to those production systems structured
in imitation of the Toyota production system, i.e. to
line flows heavily reliant on one piece flow and pull
mechanisms.
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Johnson, H.T. and BroÈms, A. (2000), Profit Beyond
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Koskela, L. (2000), ``An exploration towards a production
theory and its application to construction'',
PhD dissertation, Helsinki University of Technology,
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Lin, Z. and Hui, C. (1997), ``Adapting to the changing
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making proficiency of lean and mass organization
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Ohno, T. (1988), The Toyota Production System: Beyond
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Rother, M. and Shook, J. (1998), Learning to See: Value
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Tommelein, I.D. and Weissenberger, M. (1999), ``More
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Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T. (1996), Lean Thinking:
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Further reading
Ballard, G., Koskela, L., Howell, G. and Zabelle, T. (2001),
``Production system design in construction'',
Proceedings of the 9th Annual Conference of the
International Group for Lean Construction,
Singapore, p. 15.
Chua, D. and Ballard, G. (Eds) (2001), Proceedings of the
9th Annual Conference of the International Group
for Lean Construction, National University of
Singapore, Singapore, available at: www.vtt.fi/rte/
lean
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