New Orleans, La.—Lean construction was a hot topic during the Canadian Construction Association’s (CCA) 98th annual conference in New Orleans, La. with several sessions and simulations aimed at educating members about the value of adopting lean principles and practices.
Art Winslow of Graham Construction gave several presentations on the subject, as he was selected to lead Graham’s lean integrated project delivery (IPD) journey. Graham has embarked on a company-wide transformation towards developing a lean culture with Winslow at the forefront.
Essentially lean is a set of tools for all types of delivery models, but it’s also a mindset based on the lean principles of defining value; mapping a value stream; creating flow; establishing pull; and the pursuit of perfection. The idea behind lean is to capitalize on efficiencies in every construction process on a project. It ensures all parties are working together, the owner, architect, contractor and any others involved.
"Understanding what your owners needs are is very important and having aligned your team members around that common understanding," Winslow says is vital to making lean a success.
With more than 25 years experience, Winslow has been involved with several IPD projects (lean is an integral component to the IPD model), including Canada’s first fully integrated lean IPD project, the Moose Jaw Hospital in Saskatchewan. More recently, he was the lean facilitator for Canada’s first post secondary project that used IPD, the St. Jerome’s University campus renewal project in Waterloo, Ont.
"It used to be that I was presenting and people would come up to me and say ‘oh that’s cute, I like what you’re doing.’ Now, a few years later, it’s ‘how can I do this? What can I do internally to make this happen for us’," he explains.
"We’ve had tremendous success. But it’s not my success so much as it’s our success as a team, which involves not only Graham but its subtrades and the owners too."
He says the benefits of lean construction are significant and can save on time and money.
"We’ve delivered projects that are 14 months ahead of schedule. We’ve done projects that are 20 per cent below market cost using this model, not just once, but it’s repeated on several of the projects that we’ve done," he states.
"So I want to shout from the rooftops and go, why isn’t everyone doing this?"
Winslow’s question is the same one always put to him.
"I always say it’s because it’s tough to procure this work, because we have established procurement requirements that you have to check off a check box and IPD and lean doesn’t always fit those check boxes," he explains.
"It’s not the normal way of doing business. This is a new way of thinking, hiring a team that includes the general contractor, as a service, as you would an architect."
The CCA has been trying to encourage the industry to learn about lean and established the Lean Construction Institute — Canada (LCI-Canada) in the summer of 2015.
"CCA’s been tremendous support to not only our journey as an industry down the lean path, but also they’ve spearheaded the Lean Construction Institute of Canada," Winslow adds. "So it’s through their guidance that we’ve been able to create this entity and do a road show."
LCI-Canada will host its first annual conference and annual general meeting in Calgary this April where attendees can be trained in lean methods and learn from speakers.
Winslow says as long as the message about lean’s success continues to spread, the model will gain traction and attitudes will change.
"It takes a champion and some momentum and some energy to make this happen. People want to live in their existing paradigms because it’s comfortable," he says. "Some go willingly; some get angry when I’m suggesting change. You’re going to get people who are onside with it and people who aren’t."
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