Paper Title
Effectiveness of Implementation of Lean Six Sigma Techniques in Construction
Abstract
It has become imperative for construction companies to improve the quality of their work, increase work
effectiveness, reduce waste and costs, and increase profit. The goal of Lean Construction is to build the project while
maximizing value, minimizing waste, and pursuing perfection. Six Sigma concepts seek to improve quality and reduce
variability and error and play a complementary role to lean. This work integrates Lean and Six Sigma with the goal of
improving the construction process. The work is proceeded at first and foremost by reviewing various authors work on the
Lean Construction techniques. Questionnaires are prepared based on the literature study to identify the major causes of
wastes in construction industry. The data collection is carried out among experts in the field. The collected data is ranked
using SPSS and the major factors causing wastes in construction industry are identified. One way ANOVA is done to
determine if the major factors of construction wastes identified varies significantly with the type of organization. Current
Value Stream Mapping for Ready Mix Concrete Manufacturing process identifies the non-value added activities. A fuzzy
inference system is developed with the input functions as the lean and six sigma performance indicators and the output gives
the lean performance rating. Formulation of process improvement measures is undertaken to improve lean performance
rating. A revised value stream mapping is proposed, with the identified wastes (non-value added activities) eradicated or
minimized, to achieve process improvement.
Keywords - lean; six sigma; Pareto; Anova; Ready Mix Concrete; Value Stream Mapping; Fuzzy Inference