Using Organizational Modeling to Assess the Impact of Lean Construction Principles on Project Performance

Marcelo Concha1, Luis Fernando Alarcón2, Claudio Mourgues3 & José Luis Salvatierra4

1M.Sc. on Civil Engineering in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, I+D+i Consultant, Centre of Excellence in Production Management, GEPUC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Edificio Mide UC 3er Piso, Macul, Santiago, Chile, Phone +56 2 2354 7050, [email protected]
2M.Sc. on Civil Engineering in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, I+D+i Consultant, Centre of Excellence in Production Management, GEPUC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Edificio Mide UC 3er Piso, Macul, Santiago, Chile, Phone +56 2 2354 7050, [email protected]
3M.Sc. on Civil Engineering in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, I+D+i Consultant, Centre of Excellence in Production Management, GEPUC, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Edificio Mide UC 3er Piso, Macul, Santiago, Chile, Phone +56 2 2354 7050, [email protected]
4Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Av. Ecuador 3659, Estación Central, Santiago, Chile, Phone +56 2 27182818, [email protected]

Abstract

This article delves the use of organization modeling to assess the impact of Lean construction concepts on project performance. The research calibrated four virtual models of construction project organizations developed using the Virtual Design Team (VDT) method and SimVision® VDT computational tool. The models were validated comparing their predictions with actual results obtained in the projects, and the assessment and approval of technical experts of the companies in the study. Then, the four models were used to evaluate the impact on project performance using alternative organizational designs, each of them inspired in Lean production concepts and principles. The results proved that VDT models can be used to evaluate the impact of the Lean concepts in projects performance, representing these notions in the organizational design and showing the benefits of implementing them. In general, the models predicted positive impact in terms of cost, time, variability and waste reduction in organizations inspired by Lean principles and concepts. These outcomes contribute to expand the uses of VDT methodology, proposing a method to include Lean principles in the organization design, and allowing companies to model Lean Project Management concepts at the planning and design phase, achieving improvements in terms of cost, schedule and variability

Keywords

IGLC23, organizational design, VDT, lean Construction.

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Reference

Concha, M. , Alarcón, L. F. , Mourgues, C. & Salvatierra, J. L. 2015. Using Organizational Modeling to Assess the Impact of Lean Construction Principles on Project Performance, 23rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 711-721. doi.org/

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