Constructability in industrial plants construction: a BIM-lean approach using the Digital Obeya Room framework

• Main Authors: Daniel Luiz de Mattos Nascimento, Elisa Dominguez Sotelino, Thiago Pires Santoloni Lara, Rodrigo Goyannes Gusmão Caiado, Paulo Ivson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University 2017-11-01
• Series: Journal of Civil Engineering and Management
• Subjects: BIM; construction projects; interdisciplinary management; Lean Thinking; PDCA; Obeya Room
• Online Access: http://journals.vgtu.lt/index.php/JCEM/article/view/1262

One of the main problems the construction industry faces is the high cost and slow execution time due to inadequate planning, which results in poor use of human resources. A common solution for reducing time and costs is the adoption of prefabricated components (prefabs). This paper proposes a novel methodology for interdisciplinary man­agement of construction projects by integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Lean Thinking to improve the production planning and control of pipe-rack modules in an industrial facility. The article first presents a literature review to assess the key synergies between BIM and Lean Thinking. These led to the development of a new integrated work methodology named Digital Obeya Room. This model focuses on the required workflows, the analysis of collected data, and the visual management of construction planning and control. A real-world empirical study in the Oil and Gas industry evaluated how the newly devised practices could improve prefabrication and preassembly planning. The pro­posed methodology was capable of reducing the welding-time in 8.7% related on global prefabrication average in con­struction projects from Fails Management Institute (FMI) prefabrication report survey 2017.