Since lean construction emerged in the 1990’s it has grown from a concept to a very successful methodology with demonstrated results. Lauri Koskela, a researcher from Finland, studied the Toyota Production System and its legendary success in auto manufacturing to identify principles that could be adapted and applied to the construction environment.
Contributions from other noted researchers such as Glenn Ballard, Greg Howell, Sven Bertelsen, and others helped to combine important principles into a practical framework that construction industry practitioners could use successfully. Many years later, we have seen numerous examples of projects that experienced both cost and schedule savings. But we would be mistaken if we lost sight of how these successes can influence customer loyalty.
While delivering on time and within budget are highly desirable project outcomes, we have no doubt seen situations where poor relations between the supplier and customer would make repeat work highly unlikely! If a building is completed early with significant cost savings most owners would be happy. But if there are ongoing failures of the building envelope and the air conditioning and plumbing systems, for example, that would quickly result in great dissatisfaction.
The following article goes back a few years, but it is still a timely reminder that the customer is most important. It discusses customer loyalty in construction and references the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) that was initiated in 1987 to promote national competitiveness in many aspects of the manufacturing and service sectors. As organizations have competed for that coveted award during the past 30 plus years, they have clearly improved the quality of the nation’s products and services as well as the expectations of customer satisfaction. The allocation of points for the quality criteria has changed with the passage of time but the MBNQA is still the gold standard for providing quality and high levels of customer satisfaction. Ironically, few design or construction organizations seem to have responded to its challenge.
It is important to note that lean is an excellent project delivery system that enables practitioners to deliver outstanding value to customers and stakeholders. It should also be viewed as a philosophy that enables other aspects of organizational performance. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are not developed overnight, but lean can hasten the journey if design and construction practitioners combine it with a sound organizational strategy that embraces providing the customer with outstanding value and quality.
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