Study On Theory And Application Of Kanban Management In Construction

Many problems exist in construction project. Management aiming at lean construction can help reduce the huge wastes during construction, effectively control construction schedule, ensure accurate execution of plans, and also can improve quality of construction products, as well as situation of personnel safety during construction. So far, study on Lean Construction and Kanban management, and their implemention in our country both fall behind the developed countries. In view of the situation of construction industry, study on kanban management of construction possess an important significance.This paper mainly focuses on theoretical research and design of application of kanban management in construction.Firstly, theory of Lean Construction was summarized and analyzed, connotation and principles were explained, with combination of Last Planner System, Just-in-time and other lean tools, theoretical framework of Lean Integration Kanban Management was proposed.Secondly, thinking of kanban management was elaborated. Problems existing in construction in our country were analyzed. Form works, reinforcement works, concrete works were taken as the objective of management. Improvement of progress, cost, quality and safety was regarded as the ultimate goal. During supply, processing, distribution and onsite flow of materials, reasonable selections of suppliers were made before materials procurement at first. Then Radio Frequency Identification technology was adopted to monitor the materials supply chain throughout the process. The idea of interim storage was used for more effective inventory control. Centralized processing and distribution of forms and steels were implemented. Thus, professional and commercial procurement, processing and distribution of three main materials were realized. Mechanism of e-kanban system as the master control, could realize ’pull control’, then achieving Just-in-time, while accidents of quality and safety were prevented. Adding Last Planner System to optimize schedules, action mode of kanban system in material flow, work flow, information flow was designed finally. The e-kanban system adopted includes six subsystems (Kanban operating system, supply chain management system, inventory manangement system, cost control system, site management system, quality and safety control system) that could respectively control cost, progress, quality, safety and so on.Finally, based on the above design of kanban management system in construction, one construction project in Jurong Jiangsu was picked as the case study. Implementation strategy and method of kanban management system were proposed. Framework of kanban system operation and model of kanban business towards the project were mapped. Application mode of kanban system in construction was clearly presented. This paper draws a conclusion that kanban management could play its ability to optimize business in construction, saving more resources for the society. However, its actual usages and effects requires practical tests and improvement.