On the Categorization of Production: The Organization-Product Matrix

Trond Bølviken1

1Director, Strategy and Improvement, Veidekke Entreprenør AS, P.O. Box 506 Skøyen, N-0214 Oslo, [email protected] (Veidekke Entreprenør AS is a Norwegian subsidiary of Veidekke ASA, a major Scandinavian construction and real-estate-development company)

Abstract

Lean Construction is both a theoretical and a (theory-based) practical approach to the construction industry. It is strongly inspired and influenced by Lean Production and the Toyota Production System adopted by manufacturing industries. However, in order for learning across industries, organizations or forms of production to take place, the similarities as well as the differences between the industries, organizations or forms of production involved must be considered and properly understood. A fundamental question for Lean Construction is therefore: “What Kind of Production is Construction?” This paper reviews the literature on existing ways to categorize production before presenting a new model for such categorization: the Organization-Product-Matrix. Use of the matrix is exemplified through two examples, one on strategies targeting productivity and one on work-place safety.

Keywords

Forms of production, production systems, production theory

Files

Reference

Bølviken, T. 2012. On the Categorization of Production: The Organization-Product Matrix, 20th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , -. doi.org/

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