Ten Deep-Dive Lean and IPD Case Studies Show Striking Uniformity of Project Success

Canada’s Integrated Project Delivery Alliance (IPDA) and the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) from the US are pleased to announce the release of “Motivation and Means: How and Why Lean and IPD Lead to Success,” a set of jointly sponsored case studies on projects utilizing Lean and IPD.

These cases demonstrate how new and innovative practices, techniques, and strategies made a significant difference in project outcomes. It explores ten projects from around the US and Canada: four Healthcare projects, two Medical Office Buildings, and four Office Buildings, including both new and renovation. Project scopes range from $9.6M to $119M. All projects utilized an integrated form of agreement and employed Lean design and construction techniques.

Each project case study provides a detailed deep dive in 24 areas across five major categories: Context, Legal + Commercial, Leadership and Management, Processes and Lean, Alignment and Goals, and Building Outcomes. The interactive pdf report is structured to facilitate navigation and comparison between projects, allowing the reader to easily compare takeaways and lessons learned from one project to the next in every area.

The seven-person research team was led by the University of Minnesota and included researchers from the University of Washington and University of British Columbia. From the report’s Executive Summary:

The overall findings are consistent with the larger body of research showing that teams using IPD and Lean are more reliable in terms of the schedule and cost and in meeting the owner’s goals. This research adds to the evidence of effectiveness of IPD and Lean, and by documenting positive examples in a systematic and rigorous manner, begins to identify the motivations and mechanisms for collaboration that are key to project success.

 Our major finding was a striking uniformity of success for all the teams in this study, regardless of project type, scope, geographic location, or previous experience with IPD and Lean. The second finding was that the powerful complementary strength of IPD and Lean supports success.

Another major finding from this study is how critical the team is in driving positive project outcomes: team dynamics, team integration, alignment of goals, and timely decision all critically impact project performance.

LCI and IPDA are excited about this robust addition to the body of design and construction industry research around Lean and IPD. For more on the research findings, and to download a copy of the report, please visit the LCI website at www.leanconstruction.org/pages/learning/ and the IPDA website at www.ipda.ca/research-performance/case-studies.

Questions about the project may be directed to Renee Cheng AIA (University of Minnesota) at rcheng@umn.edu, Markku Allison AIA (IPDA) at president@ipda.ca, and Dan Heinemeier (LCI) danh@leanconstruction.org.

About Lean Construction Institute: Founded in 1997, LCI is a non-profit, membership-based organization with a vision to transform the built environment through Lean implementation. With common language, fundamental principles and basic practices, LCI aims to increase stakeholder satisfaction and project delivery value. The design and construction industry’s productivity level has remained nearly stagnant in 50 years as other industry’s thrive, but LCI sets out to improve the industry by facilitating continuous education through their Transforming Design and Construction book series, Lean instructional training courses and the annual LCI Congress and Design Forum. LCI advocates for using a variety of tools and techniques that help promote collaborative planning, waste elimination and work-site safety. For more information, please visit www.leanconstruction.org.

About IPDA: The Integrated Project Delivery Alliance (IPDA) is a not-for-profit organization founded in February 2015, governed by a board of directors elected by its members. IPDA explores and supports emergent practices demonstrating enhanced industry outcomes and provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge. IPDA’s policies and resources are vetted by a diverse group of practitioners including the owner, architectural, engineering and contracting communities of practice. Learn more at www.ipda.ca.