Waste Identification in the Operation of Structural Engineering Companies (SEC) According to Lean Management

Felipe Muñoz-La Rivera, Juan Carlos Vielma, Rodrigo F. Herrera and Elisa Gallardo
Additional contact information
Felipe Muñoz-La Rivera: School of Civil Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2147, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Juan Carlos Vielma: School of Civil Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2147, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Rodrigo F. Herrera: School of Civil Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Av. Brasil 2147, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Elisa Gallardo: Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de la Frontera, Francisco Salazar 1145, Temuco 4780000, Chile

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: Although the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry is highly relevant to national development, it suffers from significant productivity challenges. Beneath the design and documentation of structures, a dynamic, complex process is taking place, with constant modifications and feedback involving numerous professionals from different fields and their respective approaches and work developed using various computer programs. This diversity of factors converges within an iterative trial-and-error process and does not stop until a refined model is achieved. To understand traditional structural engineering companies (SECs) in Chile involved in building private procurement projects, 25 non-value-adding SEC activities were identified and classified according to typical lean management waste categories. These were initially validated by a panel of experts and then confirmed through a survey of 37 companies. The identified activities reduce the productivity of SEC organizations, contributing to low AEC industry indicators.

Keywords: structural engineering companies (SECs); engineering workflows; structural design problems; lean management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4249/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4249/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4249-:d:534149

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().