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PergamonInternationalJournalofProjectManagementVol.16,No.4,pp.215-221,1998©1998ElsevierScienceLtdandIPMA.AllrightsreservedPrintedinGreatBritain0263-7863/98$19.00+0.00PlhS0263-7863(97)00052-5ConstructionprocessimprovementmethodologyforconstructionprojectsAlfredoSerpell*andLuisFernandoAlarc6nDepartmentofConstructionEngineeringandManagement,SchoolofEngineering,PontificiaUniversidadCat6licadeChile,Casilla306,Correo22,Santiago,ChileAmethodologydevelopedforconstructionimprovementandwastereductionispresented.Thismethodologyhasbeensuccessfullyappliedduringthelast3yearstoseveralconstructionsitesinChile,throughconsultingservicesandresearchstudies.Theapproachincludesasetofstructuredactivitiesandtoolsthatareperformedandappliedfortheidentificationandevaluationoftheproblemsthatproduceconstructionwaste,andthecausesassociatedtothem.Asecondstageoftheapproachcorrespondstothedevelopmentofbothshortandmid-termsolutionsinordertoactonthefactorsthatproducetheseproblemswiththepurposeofreducingoreliminatingtheireffects.Asummaryofthemajorimprovementsachievedthroughtheapplicationofthisframe-workisalsoincludedtoshowthepotentialofthisapproach,speciallyincountrieswheretheconstructionindustryischaracterizedbytheloweducationallevelofitsworkersandthemanytechnologicallimitationsthatstillpervadesomeconstructionsectors,particularlythehousingconstructionsector.©1998ElsevierScienceLtdandIPMA.AllrightsreservedKeywords:constructionimprovement,wastereduction,constructionmanagement,methodology,appliedresearchIntroductionAnincreasingnumberofconstructioncompaniesareapplyingactionstoimprovetheirprojects'perform-ancebyreducingallkindsofwasteduringthecon-structionprocess.Thistrendhasbeenprogressivelyincreasingduringthelast3yearsofferingmanycon-sultingandresearchopportunitiestotheauthorsofthispaper.Duringthistime,anstructuredmethod-ologyforimprovementhasbeendevelopedandappliedwithincreasingsuccesstoseveralconstructionprojectsinChile,particularlyinthehousingconstruc-tionsectorduetoitstechnologicallimitationsandthefactthatmostofitsworkershaveaverylowedu-cationallevelwhencomparedwithothersectorslikeindustrialorminingconstruction.Thisapproachisthefocusofthisworkanditisdescribedinthefollowingsections.AgeneralmethodologyforimprovementoftheconstructionprocessToensuretheeffectivenessofimprovementactivitiesitisnecessarytouseanstructuredyetflexiblemethod-ologythatservesasaguidelinefortheseefforts.Thisstructuredapproachhasbeengeneratedfromexperi-*Authorforcorrespondence.enceobtainedduringtheexecutionofseveraltypesofimprovementactivitiesinmanyconstructionsitesduringthelast6years.Alloftheseeffortshavebeendirectedtoconstructionperformanceimprovementthroughthereductionofwasteandtheeliminationofnon-value-addingactivities.UnderlyingconceptsandbackgroundWastehasbeendefinedbyAlarctn~asanythingdifferentfromtheabsoluteminimumamountofresourcesofmaterials,equipment,andmanpowernecessarytoaddvaluetotheproduct.Ingeneral,allconstructionactivitiesthatproducecost,directorindirect,butdonotaddvalueorprogresstothepro-ductcanbecalledwaste.Then,anyimprovementeffortshouldbefocusedonidentifyingwasteintheconstructionprocess,analysingthecausesthatproducethiswaste,andactingoverthesecausestoreduceoreliminatethem.ThemethodologyforimprovementisbasedontheconstructionprocessmodeldescribedinFigure1z.Accordingtothisfigure,therearethreeareasorel-ementsofinterestwherewastecanoccurandimprove-mentscanbecarriedout:1.Flows,bothinternalandexternalwhicharetheinputstotheconversionactivitiesandcanbeclassi-215Constructionprocessimprovementmethodologyforconstructionproiects.ASerpellandLFAlarc6n\ENVIRONMENT/IFigure1Constructionprocessmodelfledintotwogroups:constructionresources(ma-terials,labourandequipment);andconstructionin-formation.2.Conversionprocessesandresultantproducts,whicharetheprocessesthattransformtheflowsintocom-pletedandpartiallycompletedproducts.3.Flowsandprocessmanagementwhichcorrespondstothemanagementactionsanddecisionsthatdeter-minethewaythingsaredoneandtheapplicationofconstructionresources.Thismanagementisre-sponsiblefortheperformanceoftheconstructionprocessandischaracterizedbydifferentstylesorapproachesaccordingtocompaniesandmanagers.ProblemsolvingmethodologyThegeneralapproachutilizedforperformanceimprovementwasadaptedfromtraditionalproblemsolvingmethodology.Generalproblemsolvingaddressesasituationwherewhatishappeningislessthandesirable,withtheaimofrectifyingthesituation3.Inthiscase,themethodologyisgenerallyappliedtoanongoingconstructionprojectthatisstudiedforimprovement.Figure2displaysaflowdiagramofthemainstepsincludedinthemethodology.Asshowninthefigure,themethodologyhasseveralloopstocorrectproblemsthatcanariseduringtheimprovementprocessduetothecharacteristicsoftheparticularsituation(managementstyle,labourcharac-teristics,performancerequirements,etc.).Also,afteritsrepeatedapplication,themethodologyprovidessev-erallessonslearned,thatbecomeanimportantsourceofinformationforfutureimprovementprocesses.Thisisaveryimportantfeatureofthisstructuredapproach.Diagnosticofcurrentsituation.Thefirststepofth