TY - CONF TI - Revealing Lean-aligned practices in Indonesian small contractors: a preliminary study C1 - Singapore, Singapore C3 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) SP - 1016 EP - 1027 PY - 2026 DO - 10.24928/2026/0153 AU - Abduh, Muhamad AU - Hasiholan, Budi AU - Puri, Eliza AU - Wirdianto, Anang AU - Linas, Hudan AU - Nainggolan, Patar AD - Professor, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia, abduh@itb.ac.id, orcid.org/0000-0001-6926-6665 AD - Lecturer, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia, hasiholan.budi@itb.ac.id AD - Lecturer, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia, eliza.puri@itb.ac.id AD - Ph.D. student, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia, 35025001@mahasiswa.itb.ac.id AD - Master’s student, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia, 25024029@mahasiswa.itb.ac.id AD - Master’s student, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia, 25025067@mahasiswa.itb.ac.id ED - Hamzeh, Farook ED - Poshdar, Mani ED - Garcia-Lopez,, Nelly P. AB - Indonesia’s construction industry is dominated by small contractors, whose operations are inefficient due to limited resources. While Lean Construction offers a solution to enhance performance, small contractors show reluctance to adopt it, as they perceive it as a new technology and complicated. However, little is known about whether Lean principles may already be present in their practices. This preliminary study addresses that gap by examining whether small contractors may implement Lean-aligned practices as internal organizational innovations. Data were gathered using an exploratory mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews, and site visits with 20 small contractors in Jakarta and Bandung. The analysis examined the nine types of waste, the production system, and the production processes. Observed practices were categorized into Lean-aligned (reflecting Lean principles) and non-aligned (conventional, standard, but suboptimal). The findings suggest that while most practices remain reactive, some contractors already exhibit Lean-aligned practices informally, such as collaborative planning, learning, and variability management. These results indicate that Lean principles may develop organically in a small contractor environment. Although preliminary, the findings could contribute to the Lean Construction literature by promoting Lean-aligned practices as internal organizational innovations. Moreover, future research could address regional and cultural variations of small contractors in Indonesia. KW - Continuous improvement KW - PDCA KW - production system KW - variability KW - waste. PB - T2 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) DA - 2026/06/22 CY - Singapore, Singapore L1 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2470/pdf L2 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2470 N1 - Export Date: 19 June 2026 DB - IGLC.net DP - IGLC LA - English ER -