Sign Up for Purdue's Six Sigma Training

The engineering and construction industry is increasing moving toward a lean/six sigma mindset.  This is coming from the natural evolution that construction is and will increasingly adopt many of the ideas and techniques of manufacturing.  If you want to be more like Toyota, you are going to need civil engineers comfortable and skilled in the techniques of the Toyota production system.  This includes lean and six sigma techniques.

From the current issue of ENR:

""We are implementing lean techniques throughout the company," says Pat Di Filippo, executive vice president of Turner Construction. He says the firm is analyzing numerous methods for eliminating waste. For example, Turner is using modular subassemblies so that everything above the ceiling is manufactured in outside shops, shipped to the site and installed as the component is needed.

Careful scheduling of material and supply deliveries is another lean technique. "We track schedules carefully on tablets and bring the assemblies in only when it is ready to install. That way, nothing touches the floor," Di Filippo says.

SpawGlass is another proponent of lean construction, according to Joel Stone, CEO. "We have driven lean into all aspects of our business, and we are beginning to see the product of our investment." Stone estimates that, through the use of lean on one of its projects, SpawGlass was able to achieve a work-in-place volume per day of half a million dollars.

Prefabrication increasingly is becoming a critical tool in lean construction practice. Measuring project performance in the field using various scanning technologies, as well as lean processes and prefabrication, contribute to "enhancing our understanding of field production and continuing to wring waste out of the process of construction," says Brad Dimeo, CEO, Dimeo Construction Co." 

Link to the Purdue site on their training opportunities.