Towards Lean Construction Site 4.0: Integrating Lean and Digital Technologies

In this chapter, the synergy between Lean construction methodology and Construction Site 4.0 is outlined. While Lean Construction has been practically used for more than 20 years, the Construction Site 4.0 framework has emerged in the last five years. This framework especially refers to the use of field information from multiple sources to support data analytics, artificial intelligence, augmented and mixed reality, sensors and wearables, Building Information Modelling, and interconnectivity of projects. These technologies are presented, and their applicability in site management is illustrated, especially from a Lean viewpoint. The joint implementation of Lean and Construction Site 4.0 is examined through a case study. It shows that the Lean principles of connecting people can be facilitated by digital technologies to allow fragmented teams to share live project data, presented visually, to target and highlight areas for improvement. This promotes targeted discussions by identifying where enhanced collaboration is required. However, there are also concerns. As previously observed by researchers, if information technology is applied to an immature process, it can negatively affect productivity instead of improving it. This implies that the implementation of Lean, on one hand, and the digital solutions, on the other hand, should be progressed in parallel.