APPLICATIONS OF LEAN PRINCIPLES FOR OPERATIONS OF ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING DESIGN OFFICES

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the application of lean principles into the construction industry, specifically the Architectural and Engineering Design Offices. Ever since 2001, the Toyota Way was developed as an efficiency framework to streamline Toyota Motor Corporation’s operational procedures. With the implementation of the Toyota Way, Toyota Motor Corporation was able to propel their business revenue and become one of the largest automobile corporations in the market. As such, this study approaches the lean concepts of Toyota Way by first drawing an understanding of each principle and the struggles of this model before understanding the operational structures of the Architectural and Engineering Design Offices. At the same time, the barriers to implementation of Toyota Way and the challenges faced in the day-to-day operations of Architectural and Engineering Design Offices were also raised within this report to pave the way for deeper analysis into the opportunities for implementation.

As a point of reference, this study takes into consideration of the industry standard for operation model that have been set in stone by each specialist organization, such as Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), The Institution of Structural Engineers (ISE) and Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). As such, the Plan of Work for architects and engineers were also highlighted as a framework for the operations within each office. In this study, in-depth analysis was also conducted by drawing statistical data from a survey questionnaire and references from a series of interviews that were conducted with existing industry players to further substantiate the research findings. Based on the research study, it is observed that the Architectural and Engineering Design Offices were unfamiliar with the concepts of lean principle even though they are aware of its importance in their daily operations. Even though they are skeptical about the implementations of the lean concepts, some of these lean principles are still implemented in their own fields of work.

To conclude, a 4-phase framework was introduced, with the help of the industry player’s recommendations, in this research as a roadmap for the Architectural and Engineering Design Office to implement the lean concepts into their daily operations. At the end of this research, the 4-phase framework would also be tested for feasibility based on the SWOT analysis and recommendations were suggested to the readers to further explore the applications of lean principles in Architectural and Engineering Design Offices.