Evaluating the potential benefits and challenges of lean construction adoption in the portuguese construction industry: a survey study

Proceedings IGLC-18, July 2010, Technion, Haifa, Israel

As Lean Construction (LC) steadily grows all over the world, not much is heard about this new paradigm in the Portuguese Construction sector. Because LC has been embraced in other countries for its positive, cost-effective results, it is assumed that it can also greatly contribute to the Portuguese construction sector. This paper thus intends to analyze the ways in which LC can be beneficial in the Portuguese context. This article first seeks to identify the causes of delays and material losses in the Portuguese construction sector by analyzing three main phases in the construction process: the contract phase (CP), the planning phase (PP) and the production phase (PrP). Secondly, this work intends to assess how to improve those areas of difficulties using Lean Construction solutions and how to bring out the full potential of these solutions in the Portuguese construction context. Through these findings, this work seeks to foster the acceptance and use of Lean Construction and reveal its benefits to the Portuguese construction sector. The goal is to alert planners to the importance of ―stopping the line‖ according to LC principles, thereby stopping the small problems and wastes from becoming bigger and costly in the future.