May 8, 2025
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LCI Celebrates Construction Safety Week
In celebration of Construction Safety Week, the Lean Construction Institute would like to share our four excellent submissions that we received for our Construction Safety Week Member Campaign.
Click on each image to get great insights from Jacobs, DPR Construction, Herrero Builders, and Sundt Construction Company!
Take a Moment to Update Your MyLCI Profile with Your Lean Learning Pathway Stage!
By doing so, you’ll unlock a more personalized and relevant experience with LCI — helping you connect to the right resources, events, and learning opportunities that match your Lean journey. If you aren’t sure where you fall on the pathway, take the quiz. Update today and make the most of your MyLCI membership!
Webinar Recording Now Available: A Lean Safety Story — All Together in a New Culture of Caring
If you missed the live session, great news — the recording of A Lean Safety Story: All Together in a New Culture of Caring is now available!
In this important webinar, Jacobs, this year’s winner of the Construction Safety Week Member Campaign, shares the story of a large-scale greenfield pharmaceutical project that used Lean tools and culture to prioritize both mental and physical safety — all while meeting an aggressive schedule.
This session reminds us that people are the heartbeat of our industry, and safety isn’t just a checklist — it’s a lived value. Learn how Lean practices can help you think differently about safety, create safer workstreams, maximize the safety benefits of prefabrication, and build a true culture of caring on your projects.
Key takeaways include:
- Rethinking safety approaches
- Using Lean tools for safer outcomes
- Unlocking the safety advantages of prefabrication
- Recognizing that lives are priceless, and safety investments should reflect that
Don’t miss this opportunity to explore practical, field-tested ideas that can transform your approach to safety.
Nominations Now Open for the 2025 LCI Design Awards!
Nominations are open for the 2025 LCI Design Award and the 2025 LCI Engineering Design Award. We invite you to nominate your project team for their talent, work, and commitment. If your team leveraged Lean design and engineering practices in an exceptional project, we want to hear from you.
The mission of these awards is to encourage the adoption of Lean approaches and methods to improve project outcomes and elevate design.
Submissions are due by midnight PT, June 26, 2025. Winners will be honored at the 2025 LCI Congress Award Ceremony on October 23 in Arlington, Texas.
Keep in mind: Entries must be submitted by the lead design firm. If the lead design firm is not an LCI corporate member, entries can be co-submitted with a team member who is an LCI member.
Please contact Joan Piccariello with any questions.
Meet a CoP Leader: Nick Rickards (Salt Lake City)
For Nick Rickards, the dynamic nature of the construction industry demands a thoughtful, strategic approach – and that’s exactly what drew him to Lean. As leader of the Salt Lake City Community of Practice, Nick is passionate about spreading the principles of Lean Construction to improve outcomes and industry culture.
Why he joined the CoP:
“The construction industry is very dynamic. I believe the principles of Lean Construction can positively impact both culture and execution. I joined to help spread these principles and improve outcomes across the industry.”
Favorite CoP Event:
“The workshops are by far the juiciest events for me. The hands-on trainings give you a perspective you wouldn’t get otherwise. For example, we recently held a Value Stream Mapping workshop, and it was amazing how quickly you could see the bottlenecks in a process.”
How it’s helped his career:
“I’ve gained valuable perspective from other parts of the industry, including design and ownership, that I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise. It’s been eye-opening to understand the challenges others face and how we can collaborate to achieve better outcomes.”
Biggest Lean challenge (and success!):
“We adopted 5S (Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain!) in our fabrication facility, which presented a cultural shift that took months to fully adopt. Sustaining that culture and expectation takes consistent effort, but it’s well worth it. Prior to this, our fab shop functioned more like a warehouse – now it’s a true fabrication facility with clear processes and expectations, all thanks to the successful implementation of 5S principles.”
Advice to newcomers:
“If you’re into constant improvement, this is the place!”
What he’s most excited about for Lean:
“Getting more involvement from different parts of the industry, especially design, and engaging with construction management programs to get students involved in Lean early on.”
Want to explore how our Community of Practice can contribute to your projects or volunteer opportunities with our core group? Send us a message or learn more here.
Design Forum 2025 Recap
The 2025 LCI Lean in Design Forum was a success. On April 30-May 1 almost 190 attendees gathered in Chicago. This professional development event featured an exhilarating opening keynote speaker Eric Cesal who spoke on Architecture’s Existential Challenge in the Age of AI.
The morning of the core program included three featured panels:
- Applying AI to the Design Process
- TVD: The Good the Bad and The Ugly of Providing More Predictable Outcomes
- Meet the 2024 Design Award and Engineering Design Award Winners
Key takeaways from Design Forum:
- Taking time to learn and reenergize is important
- Out industry is changing – we can learn and lead or let it happen to us
- Change requires a mindset shift
- Move from abstract to specific to implementable as a multidisciplinary team.
The afternoon of the core program showcased 15 roundtable sessions and was preceded by a full day of LCI educational courses.
We closed the event with our closing keynote, Phil Bernstein, Deputy Dean and Professor Adjunct, Yale School of Architecture speaking on: Collective Intelligence, Mediated Agency and Conditions of Satisfaction.
The design focused event is something we are very proud to host annually with the intention of empowering designers to pursue design excellence through the use of Lean approaches and methods.
Thank you to everyone who attended and we hope to see you next year (April 28-29, 2026) in Chicago!
WEBINAR TODAY: LCI Principles of Target Value Delivery
Staying within budget while boosting customer value and reducing waste are hallmarks of successful project delivery—goals that can be achieved through Target Value Delivery (TVD). This webinar introduces the TVD approach, exploring its phases, core components, and how they work together to improve project outcomes. You’ll gain a clear understanding of the methodology, terminology, and strategies that empower teams to make better decisions, apply set-based design practices, and maximize return on investment.
Upcoming Webinars
May 8, 2025
LCI Principles of Target Value Delivery
May 22, 2025
FREE: Steering Production Towards Targets using LPS®
June 5, 2025
FREE: Pathway to Certification: our Ultimate Guide!
Lean Assessments
How strong is your Lean knowledge? Take a Lean assessment to determine your current state so you have a baseline for improvement. Lean assessments are available for individuals, teams, and organizations alike. Whether you’re new to Lean or are an experienced Lean practitioner, Lean assessments are a great way to get started at LCI!
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