Quantitative assessment of the impacts of BIM and lean on process and operations flow in construction projects

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to test, measure and quantify the impacts of lean construction and BIM implementation on flow in construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Detailed control data from a set of 18 high-rise residential construction projects executed between years 2011 and 2020 were analyzed using the construction flow index (CFI), a measure of workflow quality. Seven comparable projects with a diverse range of LPS, BIM, VDC and 5S implementation were selected to compare the impacts of these innovations on flow.

Findings

Implementing BIM in the big room and applying the last planner system and other lean construction techniques increased the CFI from 4.31 to 8.12 (on a 10-point scale). Avoiding trades crossing one another's paths between tasks was the most significant aspect of improved flow. Moreover, the benefits of implementing lean practices with BIM or VDC were found to be measurably greater than when these approaches were implemented separately.

Research limitations/implications

The primary limitation of the study is that the degree of confidence in the results is limited by the nature of the case study approach. Although 18 is a respectable number of case study projects, it cannot offer the degree of confidence that a broader, representative sample of projects could. Similarly, the case studies are all drawn from the same construction context (residential apartments) and the same geographic region, which necessarily limits confidence concerning the degree to which the findings can be generalized.

Originality/value

The research is the first of its kind to quantitatively assess the impacts of BIM and lean construction on flow. Use of the CFI to quantify flow quality also highlights the potential value of CFI in providing project managers and planners a clear view of the smoothness or irregularity of flow and of differences between subcontractors' production rates.

Citation

Maraqa, M.J., Sacks, R. and Spatari, S. (2021), "Quantitative assessment of the impacts of BIM and lean on process and operations flow in construction projects", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 28 No. 8, pp. 2176-2198. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-12-2020-1068