New McGraw Hill Construction Report Talks Connection Between Improved Efficiency, Greater Competitiveness

NEW YORK, N.Y. — A gap exists in the construction industry’s awareness of the inefficiencies inherent in construction processes, according to a new report by McGraw Hill Construction on Lean construction in partnership with Dassault Systemes. Lean practices are defined as activities that eliminate waste from construction processes, and adopting these practices can help address these issues. However, the industry must recognize the need for Lean to see wider adoption of this approach.

• Over half (55 percent) of contractors not familiar with Lean practices find the construction industry efficient/highly efficient, compared to 14 percent of those who have implemented Lean.
• In contrast, 62 percent of contractors that have implemented Lean find the construction industry to be inefficient/highly inefficient, compared to 19 percent of all other respondents.

The research demonstrates that once contractors recognize and address these inefficiencies, the greatest benefit they experience is competitiveness.

• 84 percent of Lean practitioners find that Lean practices lead to higher quality projects.
• 80 percent report greater customer satisfaction due to Lean.

In fact, in a qualitative study of Lean experts included in the research, one firm reports that it “never experienced a downturn” because of high customer satisfaction with their work. The Lean experts also report that greater reliability of outcome, including a reliably consistent profit margin, is among the most critical benefits they experience from Lean.

“The construction industry is evolving, and our study reveals that firms with strong Lean practices will have an advantage in the future,” said Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president, Industry Insights & Alliances, McGraw Hill Construction. “They will be able to deliver higher quality projects for their clients—on schedule and on budget. As owners become more familiar with Lean, they will increasingly demand this level of service.”

Contractors familiar with Lean construction but have not adopted any Lean practices find that improved productivity and profitability would be influential in their decision to pursue Lean at their company. Therefore, it is important to note that over three quarters (77 percent) of Lean practitioners find they have achieved greater productivity and almost two thirds (64 percent) find that they are more profitable due to Lean.

“The AEC industry is undergoing an important transformation in the way work is performed and managed,” said Marty Doscher, vice president, Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Dassault Systèmes. “This research highlights the industry’s need for a collaborative backbone and data consistency. All team members need to share the same consistent set of data and to arrive at a shared understanding of objectives, plans and status to be successful.”

The study demonstrates that using the right tools can support a firm’s efforts to increase efficiency. It reveals that the ability of a firm to be more efficient is enhanced by a centralized enterprise backbone and design and management tools that integrate with it.   The study found that 34 percent of firms use an enterprise software backbone to manage data. Of those that do, 65 percent of the firms find that it supports their efficiency efforts, especially those like prefabrication and worker studies that depend on better data.

The research demonstrates that collaboration is a critical component of Lean, and other McGraw Hill Construction studies have revealed that collaboration is also a rising trend in the industry. The ability to exchange data among project team members is critical to collaboration.

To download a copy of the Lean Construction SmartMarket Report, visit analytisstore.construction.com/LeanSMR13 or www.3ds.com/industries/architecture-engineering-construction/.