22nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction - Oslo, Norway - 2014

Recommendations for Practical Application of Transparency in Construction Site

Rafael Cardoso Valente1 & Dayana Bastos Costa2

1 Civil Engineer, CIVIL Construction Company, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil,
2 Assistant Professor, Polytechnic School, Department of Structural and Construction Engineering and Master of Environmental and Urban Engineering, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Phone: +55 71 3283-9731,[email protected]

Abstract

Lean construction is a new set of ideas that seeks to achieve perfection by eliminating waste that may be waste of materials, time, effort or even satisfaction. One of its principles is transparency and can be used as an instrument to increase the motivation of workers for improvement, reduce the propensity of errors and, most certainly, increase the visibility of errors. The aim of this paper is to propose a set of recommendations for the application of transparency practices aiming to improve production planning and control, quality and cost processes, while also evaluating its benefits. The main research strategy used was case studies, which initially involved a benchmarking study carried out in three different industries (hospital, car factory and retail store) in order to identify good transparency practices to apply in construction sites. Based on this and in the literature review twenty transparency practices were selected, being implemented during the construction of a commercial building. The main results of this research are related to experiences gained in the practical application of the principle of transparency and the identification of positive effects of these practices in different managerial processes such as better consistency in decision making, participation and motivation of employees, more effectiveness in scheduled activities and quick understanding of and response to problems. Also, new practices of transparency are suggested and practical recommendations for new applications were established.

Keywords

Lean Construction; Transparency; Visual Management; Benchmarking.

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Reference

Valente, R. C. & Costa, D. B. 2014. Recommendations for Practical Application of Transparency in Construction Site, 22nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 919-930. doi.org/

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