Lean in Construction

Key to Improvements in Time, Cost and Quality

By: Ade Asefeso MCIPS MBA

Narrated by: Forris Day Jr.

Lean Construction is a way to do more and more with less and less; less effort, less equipment, less time and less space whilst providing customers with exactly what they want. A Lean system, process, and organisation is one that is waste free. Lean is not about size or number of people employed. A reduction in employees may cut costs, and eliminate the waste of those employees, but does not decrease the proportion of waste to value adding within the organisation or process.

Most waste is through products waiting to be worked on by succeeding activities. Construction is possibly the last frontier for lean. Although manufacturing's productivity has improved during the last 40 years, the construction industry has experienced a slight decline. Even though the construction world has embraced high-tech tools, we still manage projects the same way we always have, and we are still getting the same poor results. Less than thirty percent of projects come in on time, on budget, and within specification. The answers to improving construction productivity are not in more software or technology.

©2014 Ade Asefeso, MCIPS MBA (P)2014 Ade Asefeso, MCIPS MBA

Good summary

I found the presentation and facts useful, and that may have been because I am familiar with most of the subjects and acronyms used. I could see how the alphabet soup of acronyms and abbreviations would be confusing, and since these are terms generally used in the field this book could have been better for people starting out if it didn’t use them so much. I imagine for them it could be overwhelming. Clearly though, he has a good handle on the form and substance of the topics discussed, and as a short book a professional would gain a lot from a few readings, as the performance is quite good at 1.5 speed.

Great narration. Good material.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Having listened to a number of Lean-related audiobooks, I found this one interesting, fairly quick to get through and easy to listen to.

Would you recommend Lean in Construction to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes.

Have you listened to any of Forris Day, Jr.’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

My first book by Forris Day Jr. I found his delivery very clean and easy to listen to. Much better quality than many of the other audiobooks I've purchased here. I'll definitely be looking for more by him.

Worst reader ever

This info is jargon rich and concept heavy. It's great as an introduction for those of us who are unfamiliar with the material. But the reader makes it almost useless. Emphasis is sporadically placed in pattern that distracts from the content. Stephen Hawking would have done better. At least we wouldn't be worried about the "chain of casaulty."

Too much Jargon

For an audio book, there is too much jargon. I find that I must concentrate too hard on the speaker's voice to track the multiple clauses in each sentence and the many compound noun jargon phrases in order to follow the thought process. The editor could expand the thoughts into a longer volume and trade efficiency in word count for ease of understanding.