Assessing the effect of Lean Construction Techniques as a method of reducing wastage in the Construction Industry in Kampala

Abstract

Most construction projects face a problem of non-value value adding activities which absorb resources but do not give any value in return. Previously the manufacturing sector faced similar challenges which were solved by the adoption of Lean techniques. The construction industry therefore also adopted these techniques in order to minimize the non-value adding activities (wastages). These techniques have also been used in the Ugandan construction industry, Kampala to be specific. This report therefore assesses the effect of lean construction techniques as a method of reducing wastage in the construction industry in Kampala. The Lean construction Techniques include; Last Planner System, Just in Time, Increased Visualization, Daily Huddle meetings, First Run Studies, 5Whys and the 5S. During this research, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used during the data collection. Both primary and secondary data were obtained from previous research and questionnaires. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling methods were used to select the construction companies and the respondents. Questionnaires were distributed to the various respondents and the quantitative data collected was analyzed. The study identified the absence of most of the non-value adding activities in Kampala’s construction industry. These included; transport, motion, underutilization of skills, inventory, over processing, overproduction and waiting. However, defects are still being experienced. Among the lean construction techniques that were being assessed, it was found out that the last planner system, Just in Time, First Run Studies, and the 5S were being practiced with them reducing the wastages. The 5 whys were practiced but they did not help in the minimizing of these wastages on construction projects in Kampala. However, Daily Huddle meetings and Increased Visualization were absent on the construction projects in Kampala