Lean construction is the project's operating system — not a set of tools. Here's the playbook.
Why lean matters
The 30% (the waste's — the project's; the eliminated), the 20% (the duration's — the compressed; the reliable), the 10% (the cost's — the reduced; the value's), and the 0 (the injuries' — the target; the 6S's). The lean's — the operating system.
The Last Planner
The master (the milestones' — the 10's; the pulled), the phase (the 6-week's — the collaboration; the sticky's), the lookahead (the 6-week's — the constraints'; the removed), the weekly (the commitments' — the 100's; the PPC's), and the daily (the huddles' — the 15-minute; the roadblocks').
The PPC
The 80% (the target's — the PPC's; the 100's — the promised), the 5-why (the missed — the root's; the 100's), the constraints (the removed — the 6-week's; the 90%), and the learning (the weekly's — the retrospective's; the 1's — the improvement).
The takt
The 5-day (the takt's — the 1,000 sq ft; the rhythm), the 10-trade (the train's — the sequence's; the 50-foot), the buffers (the 1-day's — the 10's; the absorbed), and the 20% (the duration's — the compressed; the reliable).
The 8 wastes
The defects (the 5%'s — the rework's; the eliminated), the overproduction (the 10%'s — the early's; the stored), the waiting (the 20%'s — the crews'; the 30-minute), the transport (the 5%'s — the double's; the handled), the inventory (the 10%'s — the stored; the JIT's), the motion (the 15%'s — the searched; the 6S's), the overprocessing (the 5%'s — the gold's; the plated), and the talent (the 100%'s — the unused; the engaged).
The 6S
The sort (the 1st's — the red-tagged; the removed), the set (the 2nd's — the shadowed; the placed), the shine (the 3rd's — the cleaned; the inspected), the standardize (the 4th's — the 1-page; the posted), the sustain (the 5th's — the audited; the 90%), and the safety (the 6th's — the 0's; the target).
The bottom line
Lean is the project's operating system — the Last Planner promising the reliable, the takt pacing the rhythm, the 8 wastes revealing the 30%. Pull the master schedule, plan the 6-week lookahead, commit the weekly PPC at 80%, and eliminate the 8 wastes. The contractor who runs lean finishes 20% faster at 10% less cost; the one who doesn't paves the 30% waste into every estimate.