33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) - Osaka and Kyoto, Japan - 2025

https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0294

From Projects to Systems: the Alberta Facilities Production System (AFPS)

Lynn Shehab1, Jason Russell2 & Farook Hamzeh3

1PhD Candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., Hole School of Construction Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2708-3550
2Project Manager, MSc Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., Hole School of Construction Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7030-8384
3Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept., Hole School of Construction Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3986-9534

Abstract

The integration of academia-industry collaboration has a crucial role in advancing innovation and improving efficiency in the construction industry. Most of these collaborations remain fragmented, with academia pursuing theoretical research while industry focuses on practical business first execution. This is one of the obstacles to making Lean implementations truly effective, since continuous learning, adaptation, and system-wide integration are essential for such implementations. Although the benefits of Lean production systems are well-documented, construction projects tend to adopt isolated Lean tools on an individual project basis, lacking a structured framework for sustained implementation across many projects. This paper introduces the Alberta Facilities Production System (AFPS), a conceptual framework that bridges the academia-industry gap through the integration of Lean principles into large-scale public sector construction. Inspired by the Toyota Production System (TPS), AFPS ensures that academic research reinforces industry practice, while industry challenges and experiences drive academic research. The University of Alberta serves as a "Live Lab" to test, refine, and scale Lean strategies, in order to eventually optimize construction processes. By establishing a structured and data-driven partnership between academia and industry, AFPS aims to promote continuous improvement, waste reduction, and knowledge transfer. This paper contributes a roadmap that will help governments, universities, and industry practitioners collaborate effectively and efficiently.

Keywords

Lean methods, PDCA cycle, academia-industry integration, collaborative framework, continuous improvement.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Shehab, L., Russell, J. & Hamzeh, F.. (2025). From Projects to Systems: the Alberta Facilities Production System (AFPS). In Seppänen, O., Koskela, L., & Murata , K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) (pp. 1333–1344). https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0294

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Shehab, L., Russell, J. & Hamzeh, F.. (2025). From Projects to Systems: the Alberta Facilities Production System (AFPS). IGLC33. https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0294

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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