The Strategies of Lean Planning at Selected Construction Sites in Klang Valley, Malaysia: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

Lean thinking has already had a substantial impact on construction industry in Malaysia. At a certain level, the action to change project organization and procurement systems is to remove the traditional culture of fragmented design and construction processes in construction projects. It emphasizes the importance of strategic modeling for the implementation of lean construction. This paper aims to evaluate the strategies for lean planning at 18 selected construction sites in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The method of interview with the project team (consultants, clients, contractors and developers) was utilized to identify the barriers of the implementation of lean construction techniques at the construction sites. Using a structural equation modeling approach, the model fitness of lean construction techniques at the construction sites was developed and evaluated based on the questionnaire data collected for the study. Based on the study outcome, after checking the fitness of the model with regard to the barriers and strategies of lean construction, it was discovered that the proposed model can enhance the effectiveness of implementing lean construction techniques at the construction sites by (1) Developing efficient communication and integration among top managers and project team to adopt lean construction techniques at the construction sites, (2) Setting up concise goals among various construction firms, (3) Creating a leadership style of project managers to adopt lean construction techniques, (4) Encouraging clients and contractors to invest in lean construction techniques for implementation at the construction sites and (5) Convincing the government to provide incentives for lean construction implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]