STUDY OF THE SUBMITTAL PROCESS USING LEAN PRODUCTION PRINCIPLES

misbe2011 Tracking Number 172

In the Architecture, Construction and Engineering (AEC) industry office activities link the information flows from project teams and the production processes on the field. Despite their importance to the overall project, office activities have been overlooked and several authors point out that they are often mismanaged, lack planning, or are buffered to account for the great amount of variability within processes developed at the office level, eventually resulting on site inefficiencies and cost overruns. This paper presents a study of the submittal process through the use of Lean Thinking. Submittals are documents exchanged between the general contractors, subcontractors, the project architect and its team of designers and consultants. Submittals carry information about products and processes used to deliver a project, and are submitted from the parties constructing the project, or supplying materials to it, to the designers so that the submitted information can be checked for conformance to project specifications. The study shows that for the project investigated the submittal process lacked transparency, had low workflow predictability, and showed low levels of reliability. The study concludes that the submittal process can be streamlined by enhancing communication and information sharing amongst stakeholders, through the understanding of the causes of variation in lead times and the understanding of participants’ needs.