Efficient building processes with Lean Construction System (LCS)

Drees & Sommer developed the Lean Construction System (LCS) to prevent costly time-consuming waste on the building site, such as unnecessary movement and unorganized storage of materials. It optimizes construction processes by applying Just in Time principles directly on site, resulting in an increase in efficiency of up to 50 percent.

The Japanese car maker Toyota developed the Lean Management principle to cut production costs while increasing performance and quality. Drees & Sommer's LCS applies these methods to the construction industry, eliminating unproductive and unnecessary processes. Waste in the form of disorganized work processes can be found on every building site: poor logistics and sloppiness, unorganized storage of materials, unnecessary movement and transportation. Defects and rework resulting from planning errors cause delays and budget blowouts. LCS ensures coordinated zero-defect processes and accelerated construction.
As a first step to implementing demand-oriented production workflow, all processes are defined that truly add value. Using a planning chart system, Drees & Sommer process consultants work with the employees to analyze uneconomical processes and to eliminate causes of waste. This integrated planning process can achieve efficiency increases of up to 50 percent. The key to success is involving all employees in overall process management. The LCS has been proved in practice in the Hohenzollern residential development in Holzgerlingen, Germany. The system brought optimized communication processes, reduced coordination and waiting times, and a significantly lower defect rate to the construction project. Overall productivity was increased by at least 20 percent. But the benefit to the companies involved is not limited to the Hohenzollernpark project: They will continue to use the expertise gained on future building sites, independently optimizing construction processes on site.

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