About the Lean Construction Institute

ABOUT THE FOUNDERS

Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell founded the Lean Construction Institute (LCI), a non-profit research organization, in August 1997. LCI's purpose is to reform the management of production in design, engineering and construction for capital facilities. LCI developed the Lean Project Delivery System™ (LPDS) that applies principles pioneered in manufacturing to construction. LPDS tools facilitate planning and control, maximizing value and minimizing waste throughout the construction process.

Howell and Ballard are the leading Lean theory researchers and educators for the construction industry. They regularly conduct seminars and address industry organizations on Lean Project Delivery, restructuring workflow, maximizing value and minimizing waste. Tools and techniques developed by LCI remove waste from design and construction processes and lead practicing companies to enhanced competitiveness and profitability.

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LEAN CONSTRUCTION AND CURRENT FORMS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Lean construction is a new way to design and build capital facilities. Lean theory, principles and techniques, taken together, provide the foundation for a new form of project management. From roots in production management, lean construction has produced significant improvements particularly on complex, uncertain and quick projects. Key differences between lean construction and other forms of project management include:

Control is redefined from "monitoring results" to "making things happen." Planning system performance is measured and improved to assure reliable workflow and predictable project outcomes.
Performance is maximizing value and minimizing waste at the project level. Current practice attempts to optimize each activity and thus reduces total performance.
Project Delivery is the simultaneous design of the facility and its production process. This is concurrent engineering. Current practice, even with constructability reviews is a sequential process unable to prevent wasteful iterations.
Value to the customer is defined, created and delivered throughout the life of the project. In current practice, the owner is expected to completely define requirements at the outset for delivery at the end, despite changing markets, technology and business practices.
Coordinating action through pulling and continuous flow as opposed to traditional schedule driven push with its over-reliance on central authority and project schedules to manage resources and coordinate work.
Decentralizing decision making through transparency and empowerment. This means providing project participants with information on the state of the production systems and empowering them to take action.

In summary, Lean construction is a production management based project delivery system emphasizing the reliable and speedy delivery of value. It challenges the generally accepted belief that there is always a trade between time, cost and quality.