Quality Management Tools for Lean Production - Moving From Enforcement to Empowerment

Abstract

The recent, worldwide, push for improved construction quality has led to the attempted implementation of ISO9000 in many countries. This has resulted in the application of a bureaucratic management model to both design and construction processes. However, as the principals’ and head contractors’ motivation to use these bureaucratic management models was contractual risk shedding rather than the desire to control the process, in most instances, the resulting quality systems tend to be abstract and have scant relevance to the actual construction process on site. In this paper the shortcomings of current quality management approaches are discussed, suggestions for a new conceptual framework are made and management tools developed from a process control perspective are presented. This new framework combines the logic of Last Planner™ for creating reliable processes through careful planning with a PLAN-DO-CHECK loop that brings quality assessment and improvement into the weekly planning and review cycle. It also embraces lean philosophies with regard to quality control and worker empowerment.