Lean Logistics: Helping to Create Value by Bringing People, Information, Plant, Equipment and Materials Together at the Workface

Alan Mossman¹

Abstract

In the early days of IGLC, logistics was covered in the Supply chain and logistics management championship. Recently logistics per se has disappeared from the list of championships. It was clear from comments at the 2007 mid-year meeting that those present felt it had been correctly subsumed in the current Supply Chain Management theme. Work with constructors suggests that the logistics function is just as important as managing the assembly processes at the workface and needs focused attention. Taking Baudin (2004) as a starting point, lean construction logistics is defined as “all the operations needed to deliver a structure or building, except for the making/assembly of the structure or building”. An examination of IGLC papers mentioning logistics against this definition suggests that up to now construction logistics is too narrowly cast. A case is made for a separate championship of Construction Logistics within IGLC and a distinct discipline of Construction Logistics within Construction Management education. This study draws on a variety of experiences of construction logistics in the UK, makes links to nD design, Last Planner and other lean tools and examines the contribution that Construction Logistics can make to optimizing the end-to-end construction process while minimizing waste and energy use. It concludes that the Last Planner System is first and foremost a Logistics Planning System.

Keywords

Lean Construction, Lean Logistics, Construction Logistics, Logistics Planning.

Files

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Reference

Mossman, A. 2007. Lean Logistics: Helping to Create Value by Bringing People, Information, Plant, Equipment and Materials Together at the Workface, 15th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 198-211. doi.org/

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