Bakgrunden till projektet som resulterat i denna rapport, ligger i ett behov att förbättra effektiviteten i fabriken hos Englundshus AB. Syftet är att se över fabrikslayouten, hitta flöden, flaskhalsar och slöseri. Den teoribas som använts, finns inom ramen för Lean Production även kallat Lean Construction inom byggbranschen. Studien har genomförts i tre steg med lika många företagsbesök. Vid det första besöket studerades hela fabrikslayouten och samtliga delprocesser. Besöket resulterade i ett konstaterande att det som i teorierna beskrivs som 5S snabbt skulle skapa mervärde till hela fabriksprocessen. I samband med det andra besöket fokuserades på de två största processerna som är vägg- och golvtillverkning. Ur företagets tidsuppföljning konstaterades att väggtillverkningen var flaskhalsen för delprocesserna. Under besöket drogs även slutsatsen att materialflödet är kritiskt och bör ses över.För att hitta aktiviteten som orsakar flaskhalsen i väggtillverkningen gjordes under besök tre en värdeflödeskartläggning. Den visade att den sista stationen, där panel monteras, är flaskhalsen inom delprocessen.För att minska slöseriet och få ett bättre flöde genom fabriken och därmed minska effekten av flaskhalsen har ett förslag på ny fabrikslayout tagits fram. Förslaget innebär att borden omplaceras så att varje station ges möjlighet till ett bättre materialflöde.

All companies have an operations strategy; a pattern of decisions made in operations with the purpose to support the business strategy. Lean Construction can be seen as an operations strategy. The aim of this research is to present the generic decision categories in an operations strategy and discuss their characteristics in contrast to the Lean Construction framework. A literature study identified ten decision categories: process technology, capacity, facilities, vertical integration, human resources, organization, quality, production control, product development, and performance measurement. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with managers on the tactical level at three construction companies with a Lean implementation. The results indicate that Lean construction companies emphasize quality, production planning, and vertical integration in their operations strategy. Facilities, process technology, capacity, and organization receive less attention. Quality, production planning, and vertical integration are keywords also in Lean Construction, while it is intriguing that organization receives little attention. Facilities, process technology, and capacity are ever changing between construction projects and are candidates for decision categories that could be less relevant for formulating an operations strategy in construction.

All firms have an operations strategy, but it is not always explicit. The operations strategies of construction firms are poorly described as they receive less attention than those of project management, although operations strategies (and operations management) are important actions and processes on the permanent firm level. Within many construction contractors, there is a gap between the tactical and operational levels which, for example, is resulting in business strategies being poorly executed on the project level. In this paper, the operations strategies of construction contractors are compared with those reported in business school literature in terms of the prioritisation of decision categories. The findings based on the semi-structured interviews with the tactical level managers inside the three construction contractors clearly indicate that the priorities when forming an operations strategy in construction differ from patterns commonly specified in business school literature. It is initially recommended that construction contractors should plan their operations strategies with a focus on organisation, quality, human resources and planning.

Denna rapport beskriver de studier som en grupp av forskare vid Institutionen för Samhällsbyggnad, Luleå tekniska universitet, genomfört beträffande vissa centrala delar av projektupplägget vid byggandet av kulsinteranläggning MK3 vid LKAB:s anläggningar i Vitåfors under perioden Nov. 2004 till Dec. 2006. Vid tidpunkten för investeringsbeslutet för kulsinterverket MK3, som är det första i en rad av planerade stora investeringar, var LKAB i en situation där man hade dragit ner egna projekterings- och projektledningsresurser efter att ha genomfört stora investeringar under 1990-talet. I det läget var det en strategiskt viktig beslutsfråga för företagsledning och styrelse hur MK3 projektet skulle styras och organiseras för att säkerställa projektets höga målsättningar beträffande tid, funktion och ekonomi. Dessutom är projekt av typen MK3 ofta dynamiska till sin natur (kort ledtid, snabba informations- och kommunikationsbehov), tekniskt och administrativt komplexa och med många risker och osäkerhetsfaktorer som måste hanteras kontinuerligt under projekttiden. LKAB har för projekt MK3 valt att söka samverkanslösningar för att med be- gränsade egna resurser kunna följa upp och påverka projektets funktionsut- formning, tid för genomförande samt projektets investeringskostnader. Sålunda har byggdelen av MK 3 upphandlats med transparent ersättningsform och strukturerad samverkansform, typ partnering. Genomförandeformen är totalentreprenad (ABT 94) där byggentreprenören administrativt ansvarar för detaljprojekteringen. Till huvudentreprenör på byggdelen och med samordningsansvar även för installationsfasen av separat upphandlade processdelar har valts NCC. Enligt de resultat från genomförda studier som redovisas i denna rapport anser en stor majoritet av i projekt MK3 medverkande beställar-, entreprenörs- och konsultrepresentanter att valet av upphandlingsmodell med klar samverkansprofil för projektet varit lyckad. En majoritet anser också att detta varit av avgörande betydelse för att kunna nå projektets målsättningar beträffande funktion, tid och ekonomi. Bland de fördelar som upphandlingsmodellen medfört är att samarbetsklimatet mellan aktörerna upplevts som bättre än vid konventionellt upphandlade projekt. Detta har ett egenvärde i sig men är framförallt en nödvändig förutsättning för att kunna nyttja strategiska viktiga kompetenser och kunskaper på ett effektivt sätt för att projektets målsättningar skall säkerställas. Effekterna av det goda samarbetsklimatet är speciellt tydliga i det sätt projekteringen av anläggningen kunnat bedrivas i effektiv samverkan mellan kund, entreprenör och konsulter (Concurrent engineering). Vid projektgenomförandet har även De IT-stödsystem, speciellt 3D modellering och VR använts på innovativt sätt som kommunikations- och informationsverktyg. Användandet av detta i projekteringen har på många sätt bidragit till att skapa mervärde för kunden och minska byggfelen i produktionen. Enbart besparingarna i en effektivare projektsamordning torde ha bekostat investeringen i 3D och VR med råge.

The Swedish construction sector has for some time struggled with problems that result in increased costs, delays and faults. To sort out and analyse these problems, the federal government appointed a commission that produced the report "Skärpning gubbar" (2002). This report highlights that despite ongoing work with quality management and internal quality surveillance, improvements still lack. Risk management is about thinking ahead and calculating the risks and uncertainties involved in a project, which is mostoften part of the quality management system in an organization. The systems available have been developed to focus on medium to large sized projects, leaving behind the smaller projects needs, conditions and application. However, the smaller projects are an essential part of the construction sector, with 83% of all projects smaller than 15 MSEK.In this study the research questions have focused on the smaller projects and their tools and methods to handle risks, and how the theoretical framework in the field of risk management corresponds to routines in the involved companies. The study also presents previous research in the field of risk management in construction. Finally, the drivers and obstacles for risk management in small projects are also focused upon.An interview study was carried out to answer the research questions. Triangulation was done using document and literature searches. Ten projects were involved with three key role individuals in each; site manager and project managers from the client and construction company, totaling 28 interviews.The results from this study show a need for improvements regarding risk management in small sized construction projects. Present risk management lacks both system and application. The results also show that risk management education and training is low, almost non-existent, in the studied projects. Also, the management system is more of an obstacle than of beneficial use for efficient risk management, with frustrating routinesthat are too extensive. Previous research similar to this study shows that the reliance on the individual experience and background is high and that the most commonly used tools are different types of checklists. This could, however, not be considered systematic risk management. Critical to how risk management works at site are the individuals and their judgments. The management systems adopted on site have not been essential or in some cases not even of any use.This thesis, as well as the report "Skärpning gubbar" (2002), and previous research, show that merely using management systems is not enough to attain efficient control of construction projects. This thesis suggests continuing with research that focuses on theindividuals and their attitudes, the organizations culture and the maturity in relation to risk and risk management.

The Swedish construction sector has for some time struggled with problems that result in increased costs, delays and faults. To sort out and analyse these problems, the government appointed a commission which culminated in the report Skärpning gubbar (2002). The report highlights that, despite ongoing work with quality management and internal quality surveillance, improvements are still lacking. Risk management is about thinking ahead and preventing things from going wrong and about stimulating and searching for better solutions. Small projects rely on few individuals, yet are significant in number in the sector representing 83% of the projects between 1-15 MSEK (in 2003). This dominance highlights the importance of working efficiently with risk management in order to address the concerns and problems identified in Skärpning gubbar. The research is focused on small projects and how risk management, including the tools and techniques employed, is undertaken. This paper presents results from an interviewbased survey of risk management at the site level. 28 interviews were conducted on 10 different projects in Sweden. The respondents occupied key positions on those projects, representing the contractor as well as the client. The results show that there is a low to non-existent level of education in risk management amongst the respondents. The use of formal risk management is low and there is a lack of a systematic approach. The paper concludes that the risk management system applied on small projects is rather poor. Project staff rely on their own intuition, experience and personal judgments to control the projects. Control is mainly performed in a traditional way through schedules and detailed work plans and not through management systems.

Risk management in construction is traditionally based on the experience and individual judgements made by site managers, especially in smaller projects. The site managers in construction should also be regarded as key individuals, with a prevailing picture of being tough and possibly also risk prone in their behaviour .This study follows up a previous study by the researcher which found that the management system itself does not have such a large influence on the way risks are managed at a construction site. The construction site manager, as an individual, is regarded as having a greater impact on the project performance related to risk. The question raised in this study is therefore what individual impact the site managers have on the effects of risk management. To be able to answer this question, it is also important to determine the extent to which it is possible to measure the effects of risk management at construction site level. The results of this study present a model for measuring the effects of risk management on site and at individual level in a construction project, using specific indicators. These indicators are related to profit, safety, quality performance and predictability. Further, this model has been tested using authentic data from a construction company. These data do not reveal strong correlations between the chosen indicators and, as a result, reliance on profit is dominant. The individual impact on risk management performance focuses on two aspects of the character of an individual; personality and background information, such as education, age and experience. Personality traits measured by the PAPI test reveal three significant traits that correlate to economic performance on site. They are need for change, need to be forceful and social harmoniser. None of these traits was, however, found to be related to risk management performance. Moreover, the characteristic personality of construction site managers is compared with that of managers from the general labour market to see whether there are any significant differences that could help to explain the prevailing picture of the character of construction site managers. The most powerful difference is the trait of need for change, indicating that construction site managers are more conservative than other managers. In this comparison, it is not possible to assign attributes to site managers as being more risk prone than other managers. Instead, a picture emerges of individuals who focus on details, are keen on following routines and also have a work pace indicating stress tolerance. The conclusions from this study are that there are indicators that ought to work as indicators of risk management performance, but the amount of data required to find significant correlations needs to be vast. It is also concluded from this study that, due to the site managers' aversion to change, they remain at the less demanding rule-based level of problem solving instead of moving up to the more time-consuming, knowledge-based level of problem solving. It is also concluded that site managers from construction are not more risk prone than managers from the general labour market. The final conclusion is that the individual impact on the effects of risk management is fairly small. There are other issues, possibly related to organisational context, that have a greater impact.

Operations strategies focus on how a firm delivers value, while business strategies focus on what to deliver and where. Lean is an operations strategy prioritizing flow efficiency. In construction, empirical underpinning of operations strategies has been limited. The aim is to capture how perceptions of operations strategy in construction practice aligns with existing theories of operations strategy organized in decision categories. Nine in-depth interviews with contractor middle managers were transcribed and analyzed to capture their perceptions of operations strategies. Results show: (1) decision categories in construction differ from manufacturing, and (2) differences between resource and flow efficient operations strategies exist. A resource efficient strategy focuses cost and delivery as competitive criteria, while customer value is targeted in a flow efficient strategy. Proposed structural decision categories are standardization, organization and production planning, supply chain, and infrastructural decision categories are human resources, continuous improvement, long-term perspective, process vs. project, and performance measurements. Infrastructural categories are more difficult to replicate and render competitive advantage if successfully aligned with business strategy. An operations strategy strictly focused on project delivery, such as lean construction, is not automatically aligned with the business strategy, but can achieve satisfactory project performance.

Lean is about finding a flow efficient way to deliver value to the client. To do so reducing variation is vital. The construction industry is project-based and variation in project deliveries is more the rule than the exception. Being able to predict economic variation in projects is important for contractors and other project-oriented firms since it affects the total turnover for the firm. The aim of this research is to capture the variation in economic profit in a project, estimate the effect this variation has on the aggregated firm level, and discuss the implications for flow efficient operational strategies to adhere. Economic reports were collected from 1000 projects, throughout 2 years at a large Swedish contractor. The data contains quarterly economic prognoses and results per project. From the data, the variation in profit was deducted. The variation was used in a statistical model of the firm, reflecting five levels of financially liable units. The results show that variations in the economic results on the project level are evened out on the firm level. Thus, the reduction of variation sought in Lean implementation does not emerge as positive in accounting. Measuring economic results on the project level drives a focus on resources in the value chain. This is a hindrance for implementation of a flow efficient operational strategy as Lean. Therefore, key performance indicators capturing flow efficient strategies for control on project and firm levels need to be developed.

Purpose–A comprehensive intervention test platform, Valla Coach, including quantitative and qualitativemethods to measure and improve workflows on site and promote coaching and collective learning has beendeveloped jointly by researchers and practitioner. The study aims to describe the methodologicalunderpinning of the platform, and discusses the preliminary results and implications.

Design/Methodology/Approach–Expansive Learning Theory grounded in a cultural–historicalperspective underpins the conceptual realisation of the test platform. The viability of the platform was testedin four contextually different construction sites (and contractors), combining established and newmeasurement tools, qualitative intervention approaches and coaching according to the production challengesat hand.

Findings–Valla Coach created a space on site where researchers-as-coaches and operatives converged toco-construct (new) knowledge and learn together. The knowledge that emerged from the interactions gained legitimacy through its situatedness and practical value for the operatives.

Research Limitations/Implications–Valla Coach provides opportunities for researchers andpractitioners to probe the taken-for-granted. Moreover, a variety of methods and tools are tested in different contexts. The interventions prompt questioning of assumptions and make contradictions visible. Valla Coachremains work-in-progress and needs further evaluation and validation.

Practical Implications–We contribute insights from negotiating socio-technical complexities, evaluating digital measurement tools and technologies and experiences of operatives. Tensions at the interface between the organisation and project are rendered visible.

Originality/Value–A bottom–up approach that is a combination of practice-based tools and methods and of theories of learning and sustainable and continuous improvements where the operators are the main actors that enable productive activity.

Research Question: How do different flow dimensions and their interrelations appear in Swedish construction settings?

Purpose: To contribute to the ongoing discussion on flow in construction by providing empirical data to a proposed flow model and widening the current understanding within Lean Construction with theory from industrialized construction and operations management.

Research Design: Transcriptions of nine in-depth interviews with managers at different Swedish contractors were utilized to identify different flow dimensions.

Findings: Results show different patterns which describe contractors’ focus on different flow dimensions.

Limitations: The study is performed in Swedish construction companies with limited generalizability to construction in general. Data collection based on interviews might struggle with objectivity and multi-case studies do not coincide with in-depth research in each single case.

Implications: Different flow dimensions are relevant within construction contractors and should be addressed by either management activities or an operations strategy.

Value for practitioners: Increased understanding of flow in construction based on empirical data enables management of different flow dimensions to evolve contractors’ operations strategies towards Lean Construction or industrialized construction.