Wasting is a major problem on construction sites. A concept where the minimization of waste
is central is called lean manufacturing. This essay aims to investigate how improvement work
is used on construction sites. The current systems for improvement were analyzed and
suggestions for improvement were given.
Interviews were used to examine how improvement work on construction sites was used.
Self-control and working preparations were used as quality systems on the construction sites.
It turned out that they have no system for quality improvement. Because no system was used
a system had to be developed from scratch.
The PDCA-cycle is a method of improvement which forms the backbone of Lean. This
method was the basis for the design of the improvement process. The company has
procedures for the safety work that this improvement work adapted. The result was Quality
Round which has a similar design as the company's safety and environmental rounds. The
Quality round is used as health and environmental rounds once a week at the construction site
where problem areas are identified and then specified in an FMEA-like template. The Quality
round provides the opportunity to work with the entire PDCA-cycle on construction sites.
To notice the problems and solving them is one thing, to ensure that the solutions are
distributed and used is however more difficult. Standardization is a problem at construction
sites because unlike in the industry business where the production is stationary the facilities
are constantly moved depending on the projects location. Each project is unique and there is a
constant exchange of staff and management. Working preparations used in the company
could serve as method for standardization. The best method is selected and then described in
detail with the amount of material, equipment, number of workers, etc. In order to add value
so that even experienced staff will use these, they could also serve as checklists and
calculation tools.