„The focus will not be on Lean’s equipment, but on how we operate” – the ‘Lean in the Construction Industry’ conference in November

A key part of the ÉVOSZ conference, „Lean in the Construction Industry”, will be a series of panel discussions based on the experiences of Hungarian professionals. „The aim is not to present new methods and tools, but to take a step back and examine: how Hungarian construction projects operate today, and what happens when we want to change the way they operate?” – we learnt from Réka Pap, chair of the ÉVOSZ Lean working group.

We draw on our personal experiences

According to Réka Pap, chair of the ÉVOSZ Lean working group, it is particularly important to discuss how the system works because the tools of Lean will only yield genuine results if we understand the system within which we apply them and are prepared to make changes to it.

The experiences of Hungarian professionals are particularly valuable in this regard; after all, they can speak from first-hand knowledge of real-life projects and situations within the Hungarian construction industry. Through their own examples, they can demonstrate where change has stalled, what has helped drive progress, and what lessons might prove useful to other project teams as well.

The day-to-day reality of construction projects is often all too familiar: tight deadlines, constant changes, coordination with subcontractors, capacity shortages, material issues, redesigns and the need to respond quickly to these challenges. In many cases, a significant amount of the project management team’s energy is taken up not by planned operations, but by dealing with problems as they arise.

Take, for example, a piece of information that arrives late, preventing a work process from starting on time; the team is left waiting or has to switch to another task, and then, because of the delay, the work of the next stage in the process also has to be rescheduled. A single information problem thus quickly turns into an organisational and coordination challenge affecting several parties.

But to what extent can this be regarded as an inherent feature of the construction industry, and to what extent is it a consequence of the way we organise and manage projects?

These issues apply to all players in the construction industry value chain, regardless of company size. The scale of application of Lean may vary, but the fundamental operational issue remains the same.

The first part of the panel discussions begins precisely here: How do domestic projects currently operate, what are the recurring losses and problems, and when does a project or a company reach the point where business as usual is no longer sustainable?

What happens when we want to make a change?

The introduction of Lean may seem straightforward at first glance. We learn a new method, try it out on a project, and then gradually roll it out. The reality, however, is far more complex than that.

Réka Pap emphasised that, in an overburdened project, time must be set aside for change. Colleagues who already have a huge workload must be involved. Certain established ways of working need to be changed, and in the process we often find that the new method alone is not enough to change old ways of thinking.

Change does not simply mean introducing a new planning tool; it also concerns how we work together on a day-to-day basis, whether we actually involve those carrying out the work in the planning process, whether we identify obstacles in good time, whether we clarify the terms of our commitments together, and whether, when problems arise, we simply look for a quick fix or also try to address the root causes.

If these remain unchanged, a new Lean device will simply give the old way of working a new form.

Therefore, a key question in these discussions will be which proves more difficult: introducing new tools or changing established ways of working?

And, of course, we’ll also be discussing those attempts that didn’t go quite as planned. After all, the experience of rolling out the Lean includes failures, half-finished initiatives and those „this won’t work for us” moments just as much as it does the initial successes.

At times like this, we must ask ourselves: did the instrument itself fail, or was the organisation unable to create the conditions under which it could have functioned?

Is the Lean ultimately a matter of culture?

The more we talk about the use of Lean in the construction industry, the harder it becomes to separate the processes from the organisational culture.

What do we do if highlighting the problem triggers a defensive reaction rather than openness? What does trust mean in a project environment where the final outcome depends on the collaboration of several companies, subcontractors and specialist fields? How can we foster collaboration where, previously, individual or organisational interests were the primary driving force?

Moreover, trust has a direct impact on how the project operates. If staff members fear that reporting a problem will result in blame or negative consequences, they may delay reporting obstacles – and the later a problem becomes apparent, the less time there is to take action, the greater the likelihood of having to redesign the project, and the less predictable the project’s operation will be.

This is how the link between trust, the flow of information and predictability becomes apparent.

And perhaps the most important question: is it possible to establish genuine Lean operation without trust?

When will it actually start working?

One of the most interesting aspects of the introduction of Lean is the first instance where the method no longer appears to be just another corporate initiative, but where the project team recognises its benefits in their own day-to-day operations. This can manifest itself in very concrete results: less waiting time between work phases, less work that needs to be redone or corrected, fewer last-minute reschedulings, more reliable fulfilment of weekly commitments, obstacles becoming apparent in good time, and more predictable collaboration between departments.

At this stage, Lean is no longer simply an established method, but an integral part of the project’s operations.

However, it is just as important to consider what we would do differently today. After all, a Lean transformation is not valuable because everything succeeds at the first attempt, but because the organisation is able to learn from its own operations.

The domestic panel discussions at the conference therefore ultimately revolve around one overarching question.

If we know that business as usual keeps producing the same problems over and over again, how can we really work differently?

And once we have experienced that things can be done differently, the question will perhaps no longer be „Is Lean needed in the construction industry?”, but rather how we can apply the Lean approach in a way that is both workable and sustainable within the reality of the Hungarian construction industry.

Participation is free for voluntary members of BKIK; for everyone else, there is a nominal fee of 10,000 forints, which will be donated to charity.

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PROGRAMME

Opening address: László Koji

International outlook:

• Pawel Lochnicki, STRABAG (Poland)
• Nemanja Danilovic, PERI (Serbia)

Panel discussions:

PANEL 1: THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AS IT OPERATES TODAY „Why are Hungarian construction projects like this?”

Moderator: János Bene

Participants: Máté Ganter (BMW), István Fekete (KÉSZ), Balázs Lengyel (Spányi), Ádám Ritter (Moratus), Miklós Csikós (Cordia), Béla Varga (Tecton)

PANEL 2: WHEN WE WANT TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE „Why isn’t it enough to know that things could be better?”

Presenter: Zoltán Kalmár

Participants: Béla Markovich (Mapei), Roland Szabadics (Szabadics), Dr Balázs Sztrapkovics (BME), Áron Tóth (Tudásépítő), Dávid Tibor (Masterplast)

PANEL 3: WHAT LIES BEHIND THE METHODS: „Technology, trust and culture”

Presenter: Péter Kincses

Participants: Márton Hittner (Strabag), MÁTÉ Kassai (Bang & Olufsen), Zoltán Varga (Közlekedési és Beruházási Minisztérium), Csaba Huszár (Gépész Centrál), Sándor Benkei (Óbuda)

PANEL 4: WHEN IT’S NO LONGER „LEAN” „How does an initiative become operational?”

Presenter: Réka Pap

Participants: Krisztina Ekler (Szabadics), Csaba Darabos (Hunép), István Szép (Dryvit Profi), Sophia Mikle (Axora), Csaba Tarnai (KÉSZ), István Kiss (Market)

In the afternoon, workshops and specialist presentations await participants.